Classroom management

It has been heard many-a-times from many new and old teachers that the children in the class do not let them teach or create one or the other disturbance and this phenomenon is across the globe and not only in our country and it has been there for centuries. But at the same time, there are many teachers who never have any such problem in managing their class and have always enjoyed being with their students.Everybody will agree that  one of the most important qualities of a teacher is to first create an environment of learning in the class and then only learning can take place. There may be different reasons for negative behaviour of the students and it is the responsibility of an intelligent teacher to analyse and understand the cause and take corrective measures.I would like to mention a few reasons because of which there can be disturbances in the class.There are different kinds of disturbances reported from the classrooms, the children not listening to the teachers, talking in groups among themselves,some of them using foul language in the class,some drinking water(which may not be treated as the disturbance if the child is really thirsty),eating the grub during teaching,throwing chalks,making paper aeroplane and flying them ,not taking the notes,doing the work of some other subjects,asking questions very often and not letting the teacher proceed further and the list is endless.You will notice that some of the so called disturbing factors are not really the disturbances but natural reactions or requirement of the children

Now, let us try to understand, why all this happens in the class of some of the teachers.

First, the children might not have got influenced by the speech and the personality of the teacher(communication problem).Second, the teacher might be trying to be too much authoritative in the class.Third, the teacher might not be very confident about himself/herself.Fourth, the subject knowledge may not be upto the mark.Fifth, the students could not feel connected to the topic being discussed or to the teacher.Sixth, they might have become habitual of behaving as they have been doing the same in the other class in the previuos periods and could not control themselves ( though these teachers might not be having above mentioned problems)and so on and so forth.This is true that the new teachers are always tested by the students and if they could influence and impress the students in the early days then the problem of class disturbance will never haunt them .One thing to be understood by all is that whatever may be the reasons and the causes, it is the responsibility of the teachers to manage the class in whatever way they feel it appropriate but without being angry or shouting or using any other method which would create more problems than the solution.I do not mean that the teacher may not be strict in the class but being strict does not mean harming a child but the intention should be to improve a child.

I would like to cite two example of two great teachers who could manage to control the class by counselling and helping the so called disturbing children in the class. In one case the teacher showed exemplary patience and power of tolerance that despite the child had insulted her a number of times in the presence of the whole class and did not allow her to solve the problems of the other students but she did not react negatively rather kept advising(it was more of a request than the advise)the child and could make other children feel that this teacher cares for them and is not egoistic for her own respect. To do this you need to have a big heart and love for your students and understand the nobility of the teaching profession.The other teacher got even more insulting treatment than the mentioned above(which I would avoid mentioning here) but she also had a high degree of patience and despite the fact the child initially was very rude to her, she has managed to earn the respect of the same child now after about six seven months. When I tried to understand these children(they were labelled as very indiscipline children in the school), they had serious problems in the family. The parents were not able to give time to these children except sitting with them once in a while and at that time also nothing else was done but scolding for not doing well  in studies or not showing a proper demeanour. The two teachers could get the reasons of their inappropriate behavior and hence had sympathy towards them and decide to help them to become better behaved children.I am happy to share that both the children are showing considerable improvement in the behavior and studies.There may be many more such examples which sometimes are shared by the teaches and most of the times go unnoticed.

I, on behalf of all, convey my sincere gratitude to such wonderful teachers.

Now, I would like to talk about the quality of the teachers, whose mere presence make the class attentive and there is no problem what so ever. First of all, they are emotionally intelligent teachers and secondly, they use this powerful emotional presence very effectively .The teachers with this presence demonstrate congruence between verbal and non verbal behavior which means there is no difference between their words and the body language. For such teachers what is said and what is done is complementary.We must understand that the teachers use two types of voices which are credible and approachable voices and the  teacher should be master at using them.The credible voice is the voice of authority.This voice is used when the teachers give instructions or establish a class routine.It has only a small degree of modulation and tends to go down at the end of the sentence.For example, the teacher saying, "Would you please finish your food, now!"The approachable voice is invitational and pre primary and primary section teachers master it so well ,though the teachers who are successful at senior level are also intelligent at using them properly.It has considerable modulation and usually curls up at the end of the sentence. For example, the teacher saying, "Children would you like me to read a story for you?"When we want the children to think critically the approachable voice would help us the most.If we use credible voice it would be interrogative and will curb thinking but should not be considered to be negative because proper and appropriate use of this voice is also very important.

The intelligent and appropriate use of the credible and approachable voice is so critical in the management of the class that it can mar or make the learning in the class. As mentioned above the use of credible voice should not be contemptuous as it is really very effective to maintain the order in the class.This voice makes every one attentive and prepare them for learning.This is not necessarily to be used in the beginning of the class always but as and when the teacher feels the need of using it and this should be done very carefully.The use of approachable voice will facilitate the development of the creative and independent thinking and the children will pay attention and participate in the class room activities willingly, which will result in better and endured learning. The teachers who are not able to differentiate between the use of two voices and use it inappropriately suffer and may not be happy  with their children and at times even might give up the profession .

This is one of those topics which is very close to my heart and the reason is that if understood with open mind it shows the direction to the new as well as the veteran teachers.So think upon it seriously and try to understand the reasons behind, why some children behave in a negative manner and how you can solve the problems of the class by mastering the proper use of your two voices.Those who master the appropriate use of these two voices will prove to be wonderful teachers.

In the end, I would like to say that unknowingly all teachers use these voices but  they may not understand the implications of the improper use of these voices, because of lack of knowledge of the impact of credible and approachable voices.The sooner we realise this,the better it would be for the teaching fraternity, as it will facilitate a smooth teaching in the class.