Handbook for Promoting a Positive Learning Environment

Juan Lopez

Introduction:

Before a teacher can effectively promote a positive learning environment, they must first develop

their own model for discipline. This model should be based around a ‘consistently formulated and

carefully articulated personal philosophy of education’ combined with a clear understanding of the

compatible theories’. In order to apply positive and effective preventative, supportive and

corrective strategies in the classroom, this handbook will use ‘leadership theories’ as its theoretical

bases (Edwards 2000). To apply effect preventative strategies teachers must; understand student

needs, work to fulfil student needs, and understand the ways in which students learn to be able to

apply effective strategies. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Glasser’s Choice Theory and Dreikers’

Democratic Classroom will be used to address student needs in the classroom. To provide teaching

strategies that address the ways in which students learn, Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s work on

Constructivism will form the bases. Levin and Nolan’s Hierarchy for Management Intervention will

provide the bases for Supportive strategies at first, and then move into the corrective sphere.

Dreiker’s Logical Consequences will also be used as well as long term strategies from Levin and

Nolan to be applied to chronic misbehaving students in an attempt to bring them back into the

realms of acceptable behaviour.

Preventative:

Charles states that ‘you can prevent most misbehaviour if you treat students sensitively, provide an

interesting curriculum, and use a helpful teaching style (Charles 2002). In order to discover the

methods to achieve this end, this handbook will apply Maslow’s, Glasser’s and Drieikers’ theories to

the first aspect regarding treating students sensitively and Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories to

provide an interesting curriculum with a helpful teaching style. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

outlines a set five groups of human needs, moving from basic needs at the bottom, to the more

complex needs like for self-actualisation at the top (see appendix 1). Understanding these needs

can be used as a base for the first steps toward preventative strategies and Charles builds upon

them for a classroom context commenting that teachers must be aware of their student’s needs for

security, hope, acceptance, dignity, power, enjoyment and competence (Charles 2002). By applying

Glasser’s Choice Theory and Dreikers’ Democratic Classroom, strategies can be implemented that

address the students’ needs. Choice Theory is a needs based approach that focuses on creating the

conditions for students to apply their own internal motivation for learning and therefore take

responsibility for their own behaviour. Unmotivated students are more likely to exhibit disruptive

behaviours while motivated students are more likely to behave responsibly (Erwin 2003). Similar to

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Choice Theory is built around the notion that ‘throughout our lives,

the aim of all our behaviour is to meet one or more of our innate basic human needs;... to survive,

love and belong, gain power, be free, and have fun (appendix 2)’ (Erwin 2004). In conjunction with

this, Dreikers’ theory, The Democratic Classroom, promotes the idea that ‘children should be given

a choice rather than forced to behave [and that] human beings all have a need to belong and be

accepted (Edwards 2008). In order to achieve this, Charles suggests that with student input, a

teacher should reach joint understandings about behaviour that serves rather than harms the class,

and frequently discuss those understandings while providing a positive model for your students

(Charles 2002). By implementing inclusive strategies that aim to fulfil student needs, students begin

to feel as though they have a stake in the class and develop a sense of belonging (Edwards 2008). In

order to support this, teachers should also help to improve students’ self confidence and positive

identity. Setting achievable tasks that can be completed successfully and providing positive

feedback to students regarding their progress, in the form of praise, can also assist in maintaining

motivation and boosting self-confidence (Brady & Scully 2005 & Snowman et al 2009). Academic

achievement and pro-social behaviour occur when students perceive that their teachers care for

and are committed to them and mutual respect and trust between students and teachers fosters a

sense of belonging in the learning community (McInerney & McInerney 2002).

Strategies:

- Learn each student’s name as soon as possible - Greet all students as they enter the classroom - Let students get to know your personality - Provide opportunities for students to get food, water or fresh air - Develop consistent classroom procedures and routines that add to a sense of order and

security (Erwin 2003)

- Involve students in the decision making process regarding what is studied, and formulating rules (Edwards 2008)

- Regular classroom meetings dealing democratically with issues; class rules, appropriate

behaviour, discipline (McInerney & McInerney 2002)

- The teacher should exemplify the behavioural traits that students are to emulate (Charles

2002)

- Set achievable tasks to allow for student success (Snowman et al 2009)

- Give positive feedback regarding student progress and praise to build self-confidence and motivation (Brady & Scully 2005 & Snowman et al 2009)

Case study 1: Praise and Preparation

Piaget and Vygotsky outline the process for children’s development through the theory of

Constructivism. Piaget’s theory of Cognitive Constructivism suggests that ‘ideas are constructed in

individuals through a personal process’ while Vygotsky’s theory of Social Constructivism views ideas

as being ‘constructed through interaction with the teacher and other students’. The theories are

linked by the concept that ideas are constructed from experience and have a personal meaning for

students and that a teacher’s role in the classroom is that of a facilitator and guide rather than

director or dictator (Powell and Kalina 2009). Piaget believed that humans could not simply be

given information that could be immediately understood and used. Instead, humans must construct

their own knowledge through assimilation; where a child is able to integrate new knowledge into

their own thinking and; accommodation when they are forced to change their thinking in order to

accommodate new knowledge or information (Powell and Kalina 2009). Vygotsky believed that

social interaction in the classroom was an integral part of learning and linked with a student’s

personal critical thinking process. This theory promotes building a classroom where interaction is

prominent (Powell and Kalina 2009). To assist with student learning, Vygotsky employed a concept

called the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The ZDP works on a social constructivist method

‘where students act first on what they can do on their own, and then with assistance from the

teacher, they learn a new concept based on what they were doing individually’ (Powell & Kalina).

In this video the teacher is able to

successfully implement consistent

classroom procedures and routines that

add to a sense of order and security.

She also uses praise throughout to

build self-confidence and keep students

motivated and on task.

Time: Entire Video

To assist in this process Vygotsky also employed the use of Scaffolding. A teacher can use

scaffolding by asking a student to perform a task that already has some meaning to the student but

also has some difficulty in order for its completion. With support from the teacher, the student

should ultimately be able to solve the problem and therefore increase their ZPD (Powell & Kalina).

For this method to be successful learning activities must be seen as purposeful and the procedures

and expectations for completing them clearly understood by all students (McInerney & McInerney

2002). By understanding what a student already knows, a teacher can provide an interesting

curriculum that students will feel has relevance to them by building upon and making connections

between their current knowledge and new knowledge. This process is then supported by a teaching

style aimed at helping students achieve tasks that will increase their ZPD, taking them to the next

level of understanding.

Strategies:

- Learning activities to take place in a caring, supportive environment where teachers show their willingness to help

- Only require students to learn what can be demonstrated as valuable, useful skills and information in students’ lives

- Help students recognise the link between quality work and positive and pleasant feelings (McInerney & McInerney 2002)

- Challenge student thinking by providing opportunities for them to find links between the

new knowledge and existing knowledge. - Ensure that information given to students is close enough to current levels of understanding

so that links can be made. - Take into account what students can do independently and what they can do with social

support. - Focus instruction on the range of students’ ZPD and what can be achieved with scaffolding

(Krause et al 2003) Case study 3: Too Much Talk

In this Video the teacher is able to

implement Vygotsky’s theory on social

learning where a student was able to

ask another student for help in

answering a question. Later in the

video the same student is given the

chance to answer the question again in

their own words, giving him a chance

to display his learning and succeed.

Time: 10:30 & 12:30

Case Study 4: The Need For structure

Supportive:

Charles explains that at times students will become restive and begin to misbehave despite a

teacher’s best efforts to the contrary. At this time, supportive strategies are required to ensure

students remain and task and engaged (Charles 2002). Dreikers states that all behaviours, including

misbehaviour, are aimed toward achieving social recognition. When this need goes unfulfilled

children misbehave in order to gain status and fulfil their desire for attention (Edwards 2008).

Dreikers has identified four ways that children strive to fulfil their needs for social recognition;

gaining attention, exercising power, exacting revenge and displaying inadequacy (appendix 3). Levin

and Nolan have produced the Hierarchy for Management Intervention (appendix 4) that outlines ‘a

sequence of hierarchically ordered teacher behaviours beginning with student centred strategies

designed to be subtle and non-intrusive in order to allow students the opportunity to control their

own behaviour’ ( Levin & Nolan 2005). As the misbehaviour increases the strategies become more

teacher centred and move into the area of corrective strategies, however the idea behind the

supportive strategies is to intervene quickly and diffuse the situation in order to lessen the

disruption felt by the rest of the class (Levin & Nolan 2005). When dealing with misbehaviour,

Dreikers suggests that teachers should always avoid a contest of power and fighting with the

student as ‘even though a teacher may win the contest [it] breeds more hostility’ (Edwards 2008).

The hierarchy begins with non-verbal intervention for supportive strategies. Benefits include;

disruption to the learning process is less likely to occur; hostile confrontation with the student is

less apt to happen; the student is provided with the opportunity to correct their own behaviour;

and a maximum number of remaining alternative interventions is preserved (Levin & Nolan 2005).

In this class John Bayley suggests using

Footballers in a starter in order to

engage her students with something

familiar. This helps in a constructivists

context as students are able to begin

with a topic that they are already

familiar with and then build upon this

to learn new knowledge.

Time: 3:20

Strategies:

- Planned ignoring when a student whistles, calls out or interrupts the teacher - Signal interference to communicate to a student that their behaviour is inappropriate;

making eye contact, pointing to a chair when a student is wandering, shaking of the head to indicate ‘no’ and holding up an open hand to stop calling out. (Levin & Nolan 2005)

- Proximity Interference and movement toward the disruptive student - Confident body language with energetic movement to communicate confidence and

leadership (McInerney & McInerney 2002)

Case Study 5: Attention Seekers

Verbal intervention may be required if non-verbal strategies fail to stop the misbehaviour, or the

misbehaviour requires a more direct strategy. Levin and Nolan suggest some key things to

remember when implementing verbal strategies;

- To minimise risk of student becoming defensive or hostile, keep intervention as private as

possible

- Keep intervention brief to minimise the disruption to learning

- Speak to the situation and not the person to ensure that the student understands that it is

the behaviour that is being addressed as inappropriate and not the student themselves

- Avoid using sarcasm or any other means that will belittle the student

- Begin by using a technique that is as close as possible to the student centred end of the

hierarchy (Levin & Nolan 2005)

Strategies:

- Adjacent Peer reinforcement: Kounin’s work on the Ripple Effect can be used in two ways;

reinforce positive behaviour of a student therefore promoting desired behaviour or correct

misbehaviour of a student in the hope that the rest of the students will heed the warning.

(Matthews Supportive Strategies 2015)

In this clip the teacher uses planned ignoring as a

supportive strategy in dealing with attention

seeking students who are calling out to her. In

conjunction, she also uses the Ripple Effect by

praising students who are exhibiting acceptable

behaviour and raising their hands when they wish

to speak.

Time: 8:30

- Calling on the student to answer a question / name dropping to redirect the student’s

attention and address misbehaviour

- Humour that is directed at the teacher or situation rather than the student can diffuse

tension, redirect students to appropriate behaviour and help build positive relationships

with students (Levin & Nolan 2005)

- Taking an interest in the student’s work and asking cheerful questions or making favourable

comments (Charles 2002)

Case Study 5: Underachieving Boys: The Plays the Thing

Corrective:

Despite a teacher’s best efforts to prevent misbehaviour, students will break the rules at times and

corrective strategies need to be employed. Charles suggests that if this is addressed in a sensitive

manner, teachers can help students return to appropriate behaviour with no ill feelings (Charles

2002). Here, the Hierarchy for Management Intervention moves into the corrective sphere with

more teacher centred strategies.

Strategies:

- Questioning student awareness of the effect that their behaviour is having. Research shows

that students with chronic discipline problems learn to control their behaviour when they

are forced to acknowledge its effects on others

- Sending an ‘I’ message to help students recognise the negative impact of their behaviour.

Delivered in three parts (a) description of disruptive behaviour (b) description of its effect

on others (c) description of the teacher’s feelings regarding the effect of misbehaviour

- Direct appeal to a student to stop the misbehaviour

- Positive phrasing to identify the positive outcomes of appropriate behaviour in order to

redirect a student’s misbehaviour

In this clip the teacher calls upon a

student to answer a question therefore

redirecting his attention back to her

addressing his misbehaviour.

Time: 7:00

- Reminder of the rules to stem misbehaviour if effective classroom rules have been

established from the beginning and committed to by students

- Glasser’s Triplets to direct students to appropriate behaviour by asking three questions; 1)

what are you doing? 2) Is it against the rules? 3) What should you be doing?

- Explicit redirection asking a student to stop misbehaving and return to acceptable

behaviour

- Canter’s Broken Record of giving a student an explicit redirection and repeating the

statement until the student complies (Levin & Nolan 2005)

Case Study 6: Manage That Class:

The Final stage in the hierarchy is level 3; the use of Logical Consequences. When consequences are

applied to misbehaviour, they should be ‘logical’ and relate closely to the misbehaviour so that

students can see the connection between the action and the outcome (McInerney & McInerney

2002). Dreikers’ Logical Consequences states that ‘employing logical consequences helps [students]

understand that it is their unacceptable behaviour that brings unpleasant results, not the

arbitrariness of teachers’ (Edwards 2008).

Strategies:

- Logical consequences must be explained, understood and agreed upon by all students

- Students should help to construct logical consequences

- Logical consequences should be given to students in a pleasant, helpful manner

- Teachers must apply logical consequences consistently (Edwards 2008)

After the initial misbehaviour has been addressed, a teacher should then look at implementing long

term corrective strategies to restore positive student behaviour. Levin and Nolan suggest that the

most effective teachers in this area aim at addressing the behaviour in-class by working with the

problem student and building positive relationships. Many of the strategies incorporate elements

from the preventative strategies; building on student needs such as belonging and safety through

relationship building, praise and a sense of achievement through breaking the cycle of

In this clip a student is given an explicit

redirection to stop his misbehaviour, playing on

his mobile phone, and return to acceptable

behaviour. At the same time he is also given the

choice to put the phone in his pocket or it will be

taken away. This gives him the opportunity to

take responsibility for his own behaviour.

Time: 8:40

discouragement (appendix 5) and behavioural contracts that provide students with the opportunity

to be successful (Levin and Nolan 2004).

Strategies:

- Build a positive relationship as research shows that chronically disruptive students were

able to turn their behaviour around by developing a close, positive relationship with an

adult

- Disregard negative feelings toward the student

- Be patient and consistent

- Break the cycle of discouragement by engaging in behaviours that will help to meet student

needs of significance, competence, power and virtue

- Help the student acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes to meet needs of belonging,

mastery, independence and generosity

- Create classroom situations in which knowledge, skills and attitudes can be used

- Focus on student’s positive behaviour

- Find appropriate opportunities for students to make responsible choices

- Apply behavioural contracts that students perceive as manageable and are rewarded upon

completion, providing opportunity for student success. (Levin and Nolan 2004)

Case Study 7: The Unteachables

Conclusion:

In order to promote a positive learning environment, teachers must work to understand student

needs and apply appropriate strategies as a result. Most student misbehaviour can be avoided by

implementing effective preventative strategies that draw on the work of Maslow, Glasser, Dreikers,

Piaget and Vygotsky. If mild misbehaviour occurs, Levin and Nolan’s Hierarchy for Management

Intervention can be applied in order to apply student centred strategies to bring their attention

Principal William Atkinson applies

logical consequences to a student who

has applied graffiti around the grounds.

He makes the connection from the

behaviour to the consequences and

asks that the student clean up all of the

graffiti that she has made.

Time: 30:00

back on task. If these supportive techniques fail the Hierarchy moves down into more teacher

oriented strategies that aim at correcting student misbehaviour. From here, applying long term

strategies for correcting misbehaviour can be applied in order to work positively at meeting student

needs and therefore bring them back to acceptable behaviour.

Appendices:

Appendix 1: Maslow’s Hierarch of Needs

Only when the previous needs are met can the next needs be achieved:

Physiological needs; oxygen, food, water. Basic biological needs and the strongest as they come first in

the person’s search for satisfaction;

Safety Needs; Security, Protection. Adults usually only display this need in times of emergency or

disorganisation in the social structure. Children often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be

safe.

Social Needs; Love, Affection and Belongingness. People seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and

alienation. Involves giving and receiving love, affection and a sense of belonging.

Esteem Needs; Self-Esteem, Recognition Status. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high

level of self-respect, and respect from others. When these needs are met, a person feels self-confident and

a valuable person in the world. When they are not met, a person feels inferior, weak, helpless and

worthless.

Self-actualisation Needs; a person’s need to be and do that which the person was ‘born to do’. A

musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write. This need is shown through signs of

restlessness.

Appendix 2: Glasser’s Choice Theory basic needs

Survival: food, shelter, physical comfort, safety, sleep, clothing. (step 1 &2 on Maslow’s

Hierarchy)

Love and Belonging: need to love and belong, connect with others, cooperate, give and

receive affection. This has a profound influence on overall physical and mental wellness.

(step 3 on Maslow’s Hierarchy)

Power: Power over; something or someone. Power within; learning, achieving success and

enjoying self-worth as a result. Power with; achieved when working cooperatively with

others. (step 4 on Maslow’s Hierarchy)

Freedom: Freedom to; having choices. Freedom from; physical and emotional discomfort

such as fear, stress, disrespect or monotony.

Fun: stress impedes learning and play reduces stress, helps build positive relationships.

(Erwin 2004)

Appendix 3: Dreikers’ Goals for Misbehaviour

(Matthews

Chronic Behaviour 2015)

Appendix 4: Levin and Nolan’s Hierarchy for Management Intervention

(Levin & Nolan 2005)

Appendix 5: Breaking the Cycle of Discouragement:

(Levin & Nolan 2004)

Bibliography:

Brady, L and A. Scully. Engagement: Inclusive Classroom Management, Frenchs Forrest: Pearson,

2005

Charles, C.M. 2002, Building Classroom Discipline (7th ed.), New Jersey: Pearson.

Edwards, Clifford, H. 2000, Classroom Discipline and Management (3rd ed.), Milton: John Wiley &

Sons.

Edwards, Clifford H. 2008. Classroom Discipline and Management (5th ed.), Hoboken: John Wiley &

Sons.

Erwin, Jonathon C. 2003. ‘Giving Students What they Need’ in Educational Leadership, vol.61 no. 1,

pp. 19-23

Erwin, Jonathan C. 2004. Giving Students What They Ned and Getting What You Want, Online:

Association for Supervision & Curriculum Development (ASCD).

Krause, Kerri-Lee, Sandra Bochner and Sue Duchesne. Educational Psychology for Learning and

Teaching, Southern Melbourne: Thompson Learning, 2003

Levin, J & J.F. Nolan. Principles of Classroom Management: A Professional Decision Making Model

(4th Ed.), Pennsylvania: Pearson, 2004

Levin, J & J.F. Nolan. What Every Teacher Should Know About Classroom Management.

Pennsylvania: Pearson Education Inc., 2005

Maslow, Abraham. Hierarchy of Needs: Basic Hierarchy Description. Retrieved from My Uni, Lecture

Materials, week 1, Lecture 2.

http://www.sa.mtu.edu/vp/documents/student_training/Maslow%20Handout.pdf

McInerney, Dennis M and Valentina McInerney. 2002. Educational Psychology: Constructing

Learning (3rd ed.), Frenchs Forrest: Prentice Hall.

Powell, Katherine C and Cody J Kalina. 2009. ‘Cognitive and Social Constructivism: Developing Tools

for an Effective Classroom’ in Education, vol 130, no. 10, pp.241-250

Snowman, Jack, Eva Dobozy, Jill Scevak, Fiona Bryer, Brendan Bartlett & Robert Biehler. Psychology

Applied to Teaching, Milton: John Wiley & Sons, 2009

Robert, Matthews. Support Strategies Slide Show, PowerPoint presentation. My Uni Adelaide

University, Lecture Materials, week 6, 2015

Robert, Matthews. Chronic Behaviour, PowerPoint presentation. My Uni Adelaide University,

Lecture Materials, week 7, 2015

Videos:

SchoolsWorld.TV. ‘Manage That Class’, viewed 22/04/2015 http://www.schoolsworld.tv/node/1752

SchoolsWorld.TV. ‘Praise and Preparation’, viewed 22/04/2015

http://www.schoolsworld.tv/node/273

SchoolsWorld.TV. ‘Too Much Talk’, viewed 22/04/2015 http://www.schoolsworld.tv/node/271

SchoolsWorld.TV. ‘The Need for Structure’, viewed 22/04/2015

http://www.schoolsworld.tv/node/272

SchoolsWorld.TV. ‘Attention Seekers’, viewed 22/04/2015 http://www.schoolsworld.tv/node/1044

SchoolsWorld.TV. ‘Underachieving Boys: The Play’s the Thing’, viewed 22/04/2015

http://www.schoolsworld.tv/node/900

Channel4.com. ‘The Unteachables’, Episode 2, viewed 30/04/2015

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-unteachables