Promoting a positive

learning environment

Liam Hay | Student Teacher Interaction in the Classroom | a1646489

An assertive teacher is one who clearly and firmly communicates [their] expectations to
[their] students, and is prepared to reinforce [their] words with appropriate actions. [They]
respond to students in a manner that maximizes [their] potential to get [their] own needs to
teach met, but in no way violates the best interest of the students. Canter & Canter (1976)
Intro
This handbook will outline the essential aspects of promoting and maintaining a positive
learning environment in the classroom. It will first discuss multiple educational theories
and their practices, followed by classroom strategies referring to examples. The classroom
strategies will be organized under three section headings provided by Charles (2002);
preventative, supportive and corrective actions.

Educational Theories
Vygotsky
Lev Vygotsky (1896 1934), a Soviet psychologist, theorized that the role of social
interaction in the development of cognition is a pivotal role in the processes of reasoning
and in Vygotskys terms, making meaning. Vygotsky found that the cognitive
development of children varied depending on their individual culture and that the
development was not uniform worldwide. He stated that cognitive development stemmed
from the social interactions from the more knowledgeable other (MKO). Here he theorized
that there was a Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development

In reference to Figure 1, Vygotsky stated that if a student is unable to do a task at all then
that are C and require some form of assistance from a MKO to move into the B section.
For example, a child may not know or understand how to do a puzzle, and so they are C.
Then their older sibling provides some scaffolding and shows them how to solve the puzzle,
which brings them into B. Now that the child has solved the problem with a MKO they
can now use those skills to eventually become an A individual to solve puzzles.

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Piaget
The Swiss theorist Jean Piaget (1896 1980) did not look into what or how much a child
could learn, but in process of how they think, see the world around them and the specific
language that they use to explain so. By the process of data collection through observations
and sessions with children he found that we will learn when things no longer make sense
to us and feel in a state of tension. This cognitive conflict is what drives us to learn and that
when we are faced with tension, we naturally move ourselves to resolve it. Once this conflict
is resolved we have found equilibrium and learnt.

He argues that there are two ways to resolved this cognitive conflict:

Accommodation:
o Our cognition changes and schemes reconstructed to make sense of a
new experience.
Assimilation:
o An experience is forced to fit into existing cognition, and so the
experience already fits into and reinforces a pre-existing understanding.

Figure 2: Piaget's stages of cognitive development

Piaget also noted that a child would undergo multiple stages of intellectual development
including thought, judgment and knowledge from infancy to adulthood. He acknowledged
that some children would advance through at difference paces compared to the average
ages shown in Figure 2. However, he insisted that the cognitive develop would always follow
this sequence and that some children may be in more than one stage at a given time.

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Jung
Carl Jung (1875 1961), a Swiss psychiatrist, proposed and developed the concepts of
psychological types which could categorize people in terms of their personality patterns.
The theory he suggested was based on the fact that people are of two different personalities,
extroverted or introverted, shown Figure 3.

Figure 3: Key words associated with Extroverts and Introverts

Jung found that the characteristics of extroverted learners preferred:

Direct experience.
Working in groups.
Compiling ideas from external sources.
Immediate participation.
Willingness to provide opinion.

Comparatively, introverted learners preferred:

Independent work.
Generate ideas from internal sources.
Absorb information by listening, watching and reflecting.
Observation of others before attempting a new skill.

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Kounin
The Kounin Model, theorized by Jacob Kounin (1912 - 1995), is focused on the key behaviours
of a teacher to maximize the on-task time of students by being proactive, not reactive. His
key behaviours indicated were:

With-it-ness
o Teacher being aware of their surroundings and proposing alternative
behaviour at first sign of misbehaviour.
o All students within your eyesight at all times.
Transition/Lesson Expectations/Avoid Satiation
o Clear expectations and objectives of each lesson.
o Lessons continually flow smoothly with different transition times.
o Stay on task with lesson agenda.
Ripple Effect
o Correcting a students behaviour, naming the students and the
behaviour and why it is wrong. Thus, deter others from misbehaving.
o In turn, students call others out on said misbehaviour.
Group Alertness
o Entire group engaged with students answering peer questions.
o Creating challenges for individuals and groups to complete.

Stop-Think-Do
Lindy Peterson, an Australian child, clinical and family
psychologist, created the Stop-Think-Do approach to assist
children with behaviour difficulties. It has since been tested and
proven with effectiveness to be a successful means for
preventative behaviour management in the classroom. The
theory lies in a cognitive behavioural base and focuses on
students to develop their problem-solving and decision making
skills. The program also includes reflection on how they feel
initially, and then into what they can do and how to implement
their approach.

Figure 4: Stop-Think-Do

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Classroom Strategies to Behaviour
Preventative Actions
Ultimately, preventative actions will be ensuring that students are presented with
stimulated curriculum that involves students so successfully that they are unable to spend
time misbehaving.

Time Keeping: By reminding the class that they have a certain amount of minutes
remaining for a task you are consistently keeping them connected. Ensuring that a
specific amount of time is stated and that you stick with it to show that you are true
to your word.
o [Appendix A: 4:30 Jenny reminds class how much longer the task will be
continued for.]
o [Appendix B: 1:44 Amy tells students that they have 1 minute to get a
textbook from her desk.]

Self-Reflective Behaviour: By implementing Lindy Petersons Stop-Think-Do

approach in class, students will then have the ability to prevent themselves from
acting out in class and misbehaving. This must be a pre-existing strategy in the class
that you must teach students to give them the skills to use for the year.

Clear Objectives: By preparing a whiteboard with clear objectives for the lesson,
the teacher is able to focus more on the behaviour of students. This relates to Kounin
and a teachers ability for with-it-ness by having all eyes on the class and seeing
everything.
o [Appendix B: Amy has a prepared whiteboard and believes in high
preparation and giving herself the freedom to deal with behaviour in the
classroom].

Praise: An efficient tool to motivate students and keep them engaged and on task
is to praise them for their good behaviour, effort and accomplishment and their
involvement in the classroom. It is important not to specifically praise their ability
but to praise their effort and their journey. Eg. Its easy to see how hard you worked
to prepare for this test. Great work!
o [Appendix B: Throughout the entire video, Amy uses extensive praise for the
simplest tasks to her students such as raising their hand, otherwise they may
stray and become off task.

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 Clear Whiteboard: With a clear and visually appealing whiteboard students are
able to understand what they need to do, when and how. With these clear
instructions, students will spend less time wondering what they need to do and will
less likely distract others.
o [Appendix B: 5:00 Amy uses colours to let students know what is to be done
in class. She uses green for key words, black for the work that they must
write down in their books, blue is an instruction for what students need to
do and red is other specific information]

Consistency: Being consistent in what your expectations for your class to do is

crucial. Whether it is what they bring to each lesson, how they start and enter the
lesson (wait outside the door) or even the format in which they write in their book,
being consistent in what you expect and how you will treat incorrect behaviour is
vital. Operant Conditioning can be used for consistency in the classroom, where bad
behaviour is given a negative stimulus, and positive behaviour is given positive
stimulus or the removal of negative stimulus.
o [Appendix B: Amy doesnt not let her students enter the classroom until they
are quiet and listening. She also asks the students whether they have their
textbooks or not. For those that do not, it is their last warning before they
must face consequences.]

Figure 5: B.F. Skinner's Theory of Operant Conditioning

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Supportive Actions
Students are inclined to misbehave Charles C.M (2014)

As stated, any student will misbehave at some point during their educational journey, and
so teachers must be equipped with strategies that will re-engage and bring the student back
on task. Usually only the student who is misbehaving will know that the supportive action
has been used as the teacher will attempt not disrupt class momentum.

Positive Reinforcement: By noting and praising those students that are behaving
in the classroom, you can raise the misbehaving students to the behaving students
level.
o [Appendix B: 2:30 Amy writes on the board in front of the class those
students who are behaving well and engaging in the tasks that she has set.
The students all react well to this and attempt to behave well to get their
name on the board as well].
o [Appendix C: Jane thanks and praises those students who continually put
their hands up which then encourages the misbehaving and attention
seeking students to do so. This can tie in with Vygotskys theory as the
behaving students are the MKO showing how to behave in a class and
succeed.

Proximity: By moving to close proximity of a student or moving close and

whispering in their ear, you are able to give them a guiding word to stop what they
are doing and change their attitude/behaviour.
o [Appendix A: Jenny moves across to Vulcan whilst he his playing with the
chemical bonds. Her movement deters his actions and he drops the
equipment.]
o [Appendix B: Amy whispers into a students ear and says is this your seat
knowing that it is not hers. This encourages the student to get up and move
over to her allocated spot.
o [Appendix D: David stands half next to the entrance to his classroom and
gives eye contact to each of his new year 9s as they enter the room.]

Wait Time: If a class as a whole does not provide silence for teaching to occur, then
you can walk away to the side of the class and keep your position still. Wait for the
silence and the return back and proceed to the lesson. This movement and action
separates the misbehaviour from the lesson and the learning of the classroom. This
is a low/mid-level action as the whole class must become silent for the lesson to
proceed, but no consequence has been asked of the class.
o [Appendix A: 3:00 Waits for class to stop talking and moves to side of class.
Class then pays attention and Jenny returns to the board and begins teaching
again]

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 Inclusive: By including all students, and not just those that are willing to
participate, a teacher is able to engage those that are most likely to misbehave and
keep them with the momentum of the class.
o [Appendix E: 6:30 Abigail asks students become roles in a play that she has
introduced to the class. By introducing the boys that most likely would be
off task, the class stays on task as a whole and the boys become invested in
the play.
o [Appendix G: Even though Jess continually calls out in class, Hannah ensures
that others that have their hand up get a chance to answer questions. This
eventually guides Hannah to raise her hand and want to be even more
involved with the lesson.
o This strategy relates to Kounins Model and the ripple effect. If the teacher
is able to get some of the most misbehaving students to learn and
participate, then the rest of the class will follow.

Corrective Actions
Below is the Hierarchy of Management Intervention created by Levin and Nolan, where
corrective actions are weighted next to student and teacher centered interactions.

Ultimately, with ground foundations in preventative actions and supportive actions,

corrective actions shouldnt be required. However, students in the class will most definitely
misbehave to the point where they must be corrected directly and steered back in the right
direction.

Figure 6: Hierarchy of Management Intervention Diagram (Levin & Nolan, 2005)

Name Calling: By clearly naming a student aloud when they are not paying
attention whilst you are teaching a lesson, you can bring their attention back to you.
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 This is a low level corrective action as you are identifying a student directly out loud
that they are misbehaving but not giving any official warning.
o [Appendix A: 2:30 Calling Vulcan, and Habib.]
o [Appendix E: Abigail calls out students in the class to be roles in the play.]

Stillness: Paired with wait-time and silence, a teacher can bring the entire class
attention to them. By making an example of this, students will always react to your
stillness and silence with silence themselves.
o [Appendix D: When David wishes to tell the students about the 2 golden
rules going into class, he keeps incredibly still so they must look directly at
him. He also stands very still in the doorway as the enter to show that he is
in control of the class.]

Monogram instructions: Repeating a command to all students to reengage and

lock their attention back to the teacher.
o [Appendix A: 4:50, Pens down___ Looking this way.]

Ultimatum: Eventually a student will misbehave so much and that you need to give
them an ultimatum; a choice that if they do not do their work or stay on task, then
they will receive a detention of some form.
o [Appendix D: David teaches his new year 9s the detention consequence if
they do not bring their text book 2 times. He then validates the detention
sentence which they then understand.]
o [Appendix F: Nicola said to a group in her finance class, You guys are not
behaving like year 10s and I am only helping year 10s today so if you want
my help you will need to get back on task.

Planned Ignoring: By clearly ignoring misbehaving students, they will understand

that you will not give them any attention until they are well behaved and back on
task.
o [Appendix F: Nicola continually ignored two girls at the front of her finance
class until they were back on task, then she went over to help them.
o This strategy also ties in well with Kounins Model and the ripple effect.
When other students observe that the teacher is ignoring bad behaviour and
only helping well behaved students, the class will behave, knowing that that
is the only way to receive assistance.

Explicit Instruction: Giving a clear and direct instruction to a student or class will
move the class towards the direction you choose. Giving an explicit instruction, the
class will be disrupted but it is a direction led by the teacher that must be obeyed. If
not, they could be given an ultimatum.
o [Appendix D: David explicitly defines the class rules for the first 25 minutes
of the lesson. He also directly instructs different students on their dress,
showing that he is in control.

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Appendix
A) Manage That Class Year 8 Friday
http://archive.teachfind.com/ttv/www.teachers.tv/videos/manage-that-class-year-8-
friday.html

Jenny Campbell teachers a year 8 class of 18 pupils on a Friday Afternoon (Period 4). John
Wootton uses ICT to observe Jenny teach during the lesson and give her advice and
encouragement throughout.

B) Teaching with Bayley Praise and Preparation, QLD Teacher

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkXRjrSsMQg&feature=youtu.be

Amy is a teacher who believes in a high amount of preparation for her classes with clear
objectives for students to follow. She also gives the students many compliments and praise
throughout the class.

C) Teaching with Bayley Attention Seekers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXhtwDK4oHw&t=3s

Jane Wright is a part-time French teacher who is struggling with students who are
attention seeking and disrupting others (who follow).

D) Bayley on Behaviour Tough Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ec0v4kzYkCY

Former Teacher David Torn takes on an infamous year 9 class. The video follows through
his tough love on taking on the class.

E) Teaching with Bayley Underachieving Boys The Plays the Thing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9196qkVWaLw

Teacher Trainee, Abigail Mac, uses preparation and highly interactive material to keep the
class engaged.

F) Teaching with Bayley Girl Talk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3OxKAxpOdo

Nicola Lam teaches personal finance to a year 10 class. In the class, she has a group of
incredibly chatty girls of which she struggles to control.

G) Teaching with Bayley The Trouble with Girls Winning Them Over
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJArhSPWTH0

Hannah Johns, head of Psychology, teaches a lesson on Social Harmony. She has taken on
Jess, a female student who has given other teachers at the school strife.

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Reference List
Bochner. S, Duchesne, S. Krause. K, (2003) Education Psychology for Learning and
Teaching, Thomson, Ch 2.

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

Cherry. K, (2016) Learning Styles Based on Jungs Theory of Personality,

https://www.verywell.com/jungs-theory-of-personality-learning-styles-2795160

Cover Image, Accessed at

http://positiveschooldiscipline.promoteprevent.org/sites/positiveschooldiscipline.pr
omoteprevent.org/files/Benefits_of_PSD_0.jpg

DJR Media (2017) Piaget image, Accessed at http://www.djrmedia.com/

Extraverted and Introverted Keywords image, Accessed at http://www.personality-

central.com/images/E-I.jpg

G. Lyons, M. Ford, Arthur-Kelly. M, (2003) Classroom Management Chapter 1:

Classroom management theory & Chapter 2: Cognitive Development, CENGAGE

Jacobi, J.(1996) Jung, Carl Gustav (1875-1961), Colliers Encyclopedia.

Kounin, J. (1977), Discipline and group management in classrooms, New York: Holt,
Rinehart and Winston

L. Peterson (2017), Stop-Think-Do, http://www.stopthinkdo.com/

Matthews, R. (2017) Lecture Materials Behaviourism and Education University of

Adelaide

McLeod. S, (2007) Vygotsky | Simple Psychology,

https://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html

Nolan, Levin, (2005) Hierarchy of Management Intervention Diagram,

Stop-think-do infographic, Accessed at

https://shop.acer.edu.au/media/catalog/product/cache/1/base_image/9df78eab3352
5d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/a/7/a702hg_1.jpg

WebMD (2015) Piaget Stages of Development

http://www.webmd.com/children/piaget-stages-of-development#1

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