Unit 102082 Philosophy of Classroom Management Document 1

Developing your philosophy of classroom
management
John De Nobile
School of Education, Macquarie University
With adaptations by Roberto H Parada , School of Education, University of Western Sydney
This resource consists of a series of linked activities chapter-by-chapter to Lyons et al.

Classroom Management: Creating positive learning environments 4E. These activities enable
you to progressively work on and develop your own philosophy, plan and style of classroom
management.
A classroom philosophy, simply put, is a statement of what you believe about how to best
manage a class and how you will go about achieving that vision. This resource will help you
build it bit by bit. Complete the activities linked to each chapter of the text and by the end
of chapter 10 you should be able to bring your work together to form your classroom
philosophy.
(Week 1) Chapter 1: Modelling classroom management
In this chapter you have gained a small insight into the hectic world of teachers starting out,
and have been exposed to the bases of a good classroom management plan through the
Lyford Model. The following activities are designed to get you thinking about your own
model of teaching and classroom management.
1.1 What is a good teacher? Think about the teachers from your days in primary and
secondary schooling. What qualities did they have that made them good? Make a list
in the box below.
A good teacher has many qualities, a few of which include the following:
1. Engaging
2. Respectful
3. Humourous within boundaries
4. Actively seeks to know students and their likes/dislikes, learning methods, etc
5. Modifies teaching content in order to ensure best learning takes place in class environment
1.2 Using the Lyford Model as a starting point, what do you think are the key considerations
when a teacher is planning their strategy for classroom management? After making
some rough notes, pick out the most important ones and list them below.
The Lyford Model is based on the principle of creating a positive learning environment where
students and teachers thrive. The Lyford model helps pre-service/early career teachers design,
develop, implement, review and improve classroom management plans ultimately guiding them to
develop their own approach/model/plan/pedagogy. A few important key considerations an
educator should keep in mind when planning their strategy for classroom management are:
1. Positive learning environments: Where the educator enables an environment of efficient
teaching wherein the student feels safe, happy, and has a sense of belonging
2. Ecological Perspective: This is influenced by the Ecological Systems Theory of Urie
Bronfenbrenner focusing on the complexity of interrelationships between schools, individual
children, their families and the community.
3. Sociocultural and psychoeducational perspectives: Where the educator takes into account
the interations between individuals and society. This basically helps provide explanations on
why certain actions/non-actions should be taken in the classroom.
1.3 With your responses to the last two activities as a source of ideas, complete the
sentence in the box below.
I believe good teaching is about student-centred teaching where the student is provided
with a positive learning environment that allows them to reach their potential and develop
their ideas. Having a safe and encouraging environment that allows them to express
themselves and learn from their peers, as well as a heady sense of well-being will enrich the
classroom with a more positive and well-behaved body of students which will go toward
helping classroom management.
(Week 2)Chapter 2: Classroom management theory
In this chapter you have been introduced to some theories of behaviour/classroom
management. More are presented in the online companion. Some of these might have
caused you to react in some way, either negatively or positively. Of the ones you developed
a positive feeling about, was there a particular theory that stood out? Was there a theory or
approach that you felt might fit your view of how children should be treated and how
teaching happens? Think about this before responding to the activities.
2.1 In the box below, list the theories that you think are not for you under the heading
Not me, and the theories that you think are more favourable under the heading More
like me.
Not me More like me

Applied Behaviour Analysis [Paul Beyond Bribes and Threats [Alfie
Alberto & Anne Troutman] teacher- Kohn] student-centric, ways to
centric, authoritarian, punshiment to bring about a strong classroom
decrease misbehaviour community that caters to student
Goal-Centered Theory [Rudolf interests and connections, a
Dreikurs] teacher-centric classroom where curiosity and
simplistic students seek social cooperation are emphasized
acceptance and misbehaviour usually Cognitive Behaviour Theory [Joseph
occurs as a side effect of power plays
Kaplan & Jane Carter] student-
or from a source of diminished power
centric, students have the ability to
Reinforcement theory [Skinner]
distinguish between right and wrong
teacher-centric simplistic allows
and should be enabled to
the teacher to settle for getting rid
independently make the right choice
of misbehaviour without getting to
Choice Theory [William Glasser]
root cause by getting students to
student-centric, students behaviors
behave using positive reinforcement
are based on their attempts to meet
and conditioning.
their needs. Teachers should try to
help students figure out what needs
they are trying to fulfil with their
behaviour and then point them
toward enabling mechanisms which
will help them fulfil their needs
without resorting to misbehaviours
Lesson Movement theory [Jacob
Kounin] with-it-ness, overlapping,
momentum, smoothness, and group
focus tactics in order to get students
to respect the teacher and pay
attention while using above theories
also in order to maximize classroom
learning
2.2 Now take a closer look at the theories you placed in the More like me column. Read
the suggested readings provided in this chapter and the online companion. Get to know
the theories more intimately. Use this new knowledge, specifically the key philosophies
behind the theories (or theory), to develop your own statement of belief about the sort
of places classrooms should be. Complete the following sentence and perhaps add
another to accompany it.
I believe classrooms should be places where students believe themselves to be in a growing

community that thirsts for new understanding and knowledge while at the same time is a
place of relaxed, communal safety secure in the knowledge that safe boundaries are present
and that the teacher is there in order to help the students learn while reinforcing said safe
boundaries.
(Week 3)Chapters 3 & 6: Relationships, communication & Professional
reflexivity
Effective communication is a key component of effective classroom management, and
quality teaching depends on it. This chapter describes some very useful skills for dealing
with inappropriate student behaviour in a non-confrontational and positive way. Being
aware of non-verbal cues will lead a teacher to be more sensitive to how their messages are
being received as well as how to send messages and provide feedback more effectively.
Active listening allows teachers and students to interact with minimal interference from
underlying emotional factors. I-messages provide the teacher with a tool to convey to
students how their behaviour is affecting the class in a non-submissive, informative and
positive manner.
Teaching philosophies often describe the way a teacher will interact with their students and
this, in turn, provides a window into the classroom climate that a teacher is trying to
establish. The following activities should help you to identify your preferred way of
communicating with the class generally as well as in dealing with inappropriate behaviour.
After completing them you should have a better idea of how your classroom philosophy will
describe your communication style in the classroom.
3.1 After reading this chapter and doing some of your own follow-up reading, list in the
boxes below which communication methods you are most attracted to, and which ones
you have not tried but would not mind practising to see if they might work for you.
My preferred communication style Things Id like to try out

My preference is to be an active listener. I need to incorporate cultural awareness in
This involves asking leading questions. my communication as I tend to sometimes
Empathy for student concerns, awareness of talk before I think in tense situations. Also,
student energy levels as well as any using paraphrasing in order to dig into
background issues which might be affecting students learning or concerns as well as
individual students or the class as a whole, using the Behaviour window as defined by
will aid in my communication as well. Non- Gordon (Gordon training international,
verbal communication tools will also 2005-2007) in order to build a positive
underline my teaching style using body student-teacher relationship are some things
language, eye contact, gestures, facial that I want to incorporate in my
expressions, and presentation. All these will communication style.
be incorporated under the umbrella of
Lesson Movement Theory explained above.
3.2 You will need to pre-empt the communication paragraph in your philosophy with a
sentence or two underpinning or justifying it. Using your readings of the chapter, in
particular the Relationships and communication, Interference, Communication process
and Non-verbal communication sections, complete the sentence in the box below. You
might need to add a second or even a third sentence.
I believe that good communication between teacher and student is vital to a positive
classroom climate because it promotes a positive student-teacher relationship which will
proactively help reduce misbehaviours in the classroom. This means that there will be less
interference in the teaching process and more efficient learning will be enabled as
distractions (other students misbehaviours or misunderstandings with the teacher) will be
reduced.
3.3 To complete your paragraph on communication you will now need to identify the key
strategies you will use. Take another look at the lists in 3.1 and pick the most suitable of
these to complete the section below.
Therefore, I will use active listening underlined with non-verbal communication in order to
build positive relationships with my students. I will also ensure to incorporate cultural
sensitivity and appropriate negotiations within the behaviour window as expressed by
Gordon.
This week you also looked at how personal beliefs can help or hinder in your relationships
and communication with students.
3.3 Briefly outline your understanding of how beliefs can help or hinder your ability to
create positive learning environments:
Teacher personal beliefs affect the way we create Positive Learning Environments by
defining our reactions to and interpretations of students behaviours. If we are unable to go
beyond our own beliefs and be open minded, the learning environment will be ruled by our
pasts. If we succeed in being open-minded and culturally sensitive, we can promote
students well being and mental health in the classroom by shaping the content and
presenting in a more engaging manner, while reacting to students misbehaviours with
mindful, student-centric strategies.
Chapter 6: Professional reflexivity

The last of the four positive practices is professional reflexivity. Good teachers reflect on
what they do frequently, during lessons as well as afterwards. Examining how well things
worked, or how things didnt work as well as planned, helps teachers to inform their future
teaching and consequently improve their practice. This chapter discusses at length an action
research model that can be used to encourage professional reflexivity. There are, of course,
other models to consider as indicated in the reference list at the end of the chapter.
Your teaching philosophy should describe how and for what purpose you might engage in a
cycle of professional reflexivity, be it through critical analysis using various perspectives or
an action research model, or both.
6.1 Why should teachers engage in professional reflexivity? By reading this chapter you will
get a clear idea about the benefits of reflection on and in action. Once you have given
this some thought and done some further reading, complete the following sentence.
I believe professional reflexivity is important to my teaching because it will help me grow as

a teacher. A teacher whose methods are stagnant is not a good teacher. The class
environment continuously changes, and the teacher (myself) will need to change with it and
develop new strategies when old ones fail. The only way to figure out what fails and what
new options are available is through professional reflexivity. Professional reflexivity also
enables teachers to monitor and reshape their teaching philosophies and pedagogies, while
effectively shining the light on their teaching attitudes and beliefs. By constantly critiquing
their teaching strategies and pedagogies in the lens of the National Teaching Standards
which seeks to guide teachers in their career growth , by understanding and analysing their
educational practices using current research and literature, teachers will be safe from
stagnating and hence, not enabling students to achieve their potential.
6.2 Having thought up a justification for it, how will you go about engaging in reflection
about your practice in your teaching career? Once you have thought this out, think of
some practical and achievable ways you can engage in professional reflexivity and
complete the next sentence.
As a consequence of this belief, I will ensure that I engage in professional reflexivity

throughout and especially in the beginning of my teaching career by using other teachers
voices and advice, and research literature. While working on professional practice 1 and 2, I
will make sure to take notes on pedagogies which work for me personally as well as, and
more importantly, strategies that are either shown or explained by my mentor(s). I will also
make sure to keep my ears open to the conversations around the staff room (I already
noticed quite a few scenarios being bounced around just on my shadow day) and ensure to
participate constructively (by asking questions if the topic is new or asking if my ideas make
sense or have been used by other teachers) in the dialogues. Upon starting my career as an
in-service teacher, I will do my best to take advantage of team teaching and co-teaching
opportunities so that I get a greater chance to get advice from an experienced teacher as
well as use them as a sounding board for any ideas that I might have through reading
research literature. I will try to have a list of new strategies from reading at the beginning of
the year and will try to incorporate them into my lesson plans as they fit in, thus staving off
any stagnation that might try to creep up on me. If this works, I will try to make sure that I
do this every year. I will constantly reflect at the end of each lesson if the strategy worked or
not and if I need to change it (i.e. using the PIR process of planning, implementing and
reviewing). By keeping an evolving list of strategies, when they work and when they do not
work, as well as the type of students they work on, I will be able to have a handy go-to list in
times of stress.
(Week 4)Chapter 4: Classroom organisation and Curriculum, assessment and
pedagogy
Classroom management is not just about managing behaviour. At the heart of teaching and
learning are the curriculum taught, the pedagogy used and the assessment designed to
measure how well that curriculum was taught and how well the pedagogy worked. This
chapter takes you through these three areas one at a time.
The next part of your teaching philosophy will be about how you will deliver curriculum and
assess student achievement/growth. After reading this chapter, please reflect on the
following:
What will you take into consideration when planning your teaching program?
How will you know what to teach and where to start?
What are the many ways in which your students could demonstrate achievement other
than tests and quizzes?
What teaching approaches will you use and what philosophical views will your
pedagogies reflect?
4.1 Using the PIR Cycle as a stimulus, explain how you will go about planning your teaching
program in the box below.
The plan-implement-review cycle (PIR) allows educators to address the different stages of
learning to allow effective teaching through incorporating curriculum, assessment and
pedagogy to the PIR process.
In the planning stage, I will need to select the outcomes that I will choose to address with
the current lesson plan. With those outcomes in mind, I will need to figure out the most
engaging and potential maximizing manner in which to assess how well the students have
interacted with and incorporated the lesson into their learnings. I will do my best to use co-
operative and research oriented assessments in order to have a climate of curiosity and
community in my classroom as Alfie Kohns ideas made the most impact on me. Using the
assessments as a backdrop, I will then need to plan my daily lessons to ensure that the
assessments can be done within the time-frame required and that the knowledge is
disseminated in a way that assists the students to interact with the subject matter as best
possible. To finish it all, I will need to then break the lessons and activitys into daily plans
with a starter activity to get all the students engaged.
In the implementation stage, I will need to judge the level my students are at, and if the
levels are widely varied within a single classroom, I will need to differentiate my instruction
as needed. I will also implement scaffolds to assist my students learning to the best of my
ability. This is over and above ensuring that my non-verbal and verbal communication, as
well as my teaching style are serving my students needs while implementing my planned
strategies.
In the review process, I will need to monitor my implementation and students learnings
consistently and tailor my strategies as needed. I will also need to review any feedback I get
from students or other teachers and incorporate that into my teaching plans.
4.2 Why is assessment important? What types of assessment will you develop and why?
Answer these two questions below.
Assessment is extremely important as, in a big classroom, it is sometimes impossible to

know the minutiae of where the students stand in terms of their learning. Diagnostic
assessment will be necessary in order to see the level of knowledge the students are coming
into the lesson with and how to tailor my lesson plan in order to get the most engagement
and also in order to see how much I will need to differentiate my teaching across different
levels. Formative assessments are important, as the feedback they provide will help me to
modify already created lesson plans in order to better help the students, especially if some
strategies are not working or if certain lesson areas are not being integrated into the
students learnings. Summative assessments will be needed in order to gauge whether the
strategies employed worked as expected and which need to be changed/thrown
out/highlighted in the next lesson.
4.3 Pedagogy refers to how you will teach the curriculum. Usually, the type of pedagogy
you implement is influenced by a basic belief about how students best learn. After
considering your pedagogical approach and strategies, complete the sentences below.
I believe that students best learn through active, participatory learning. They should be
actively involved in the search for new knowledge and enthusiastically incorporate it into
their body of learning. The more involved the students are, by having their choices and
voices direct the pace and depth of the lesson as allowable, the more they will learn and the
better they will retain.
Therefore I will use collaborative learning strategies that will allow for students to group
into similar level groups or groups with mentor/mentee pairings within where I will actively
seek to guide them into enthusiastically searching and implementing new knowledge as
needed by the lesson. Hands on work and practicing of the learnings are also important, as
is scaffolding. I will clearly explain lesson goals, use modelling or other show and tell tools to
disseminate information, heavily include collaborative learning, provide consistent and
helpful feedback verbally or in writing, and ensure that I nurture meta-cognition while giving
each student as much time as possible to complete assessments or tasks as long as some
sort of formative assessment shows that they are working on it.
Chapter 5: Classroom organisation
As explained in this chapter, there are several dimensions to classroom organisation. Each of
these put together become the manifestation of your classroom culture. Your classroom
culture is, simply put, the way your class operates and incorporates:
rules and procedures
organisation of the physical space.
It is now time to think about how your teaching philosophy will describe these two aspects
and explain them in terms of an overarching set of beliefs or approaches. After reading this
chapter, complete the next two activities.
5.1 What values do you hold as important to establishing an orderly, productive and
positive classroom? Answer this question below, then list the key rules/expectations
you think flow naturally from those values and which you want to stress in your class.
Complete the section by explaining how rules and consequences will be established in
your classroom.
On the first day of class, I plan to create a 4 students committee who will be in charge of
rules and their policing under my supervision. The committee will be rotated 2 or 4 times a
year based on a vote put to the class. The first day, taking the first 15 minutes of class, we
will compile a list of rules and consequences. I will add the first few which will include:
- communication must be respectful and intelligent (curse words will hurt the climate
of the class, so only insults incorporating mature or proper english will be allowed
such as insane, drivel, mundane, etc.
- no talking over each other. If one person is monopolizing the class conversation, only
I (or if the students so vote, the class committee) can curtain his/her speech
- if the topic can be related to the class lesson past/future, then the topic is ok. If it is
completely off topic, we will table it for the last 5 minutes of class as long as it is an
acceptable topic
- each day, a group of 3 or 4 different students will be asked to come in 5 minutes
during their earlier lunch period in order to choose which activities and assessments
will be done in the following class (or it might be for a weeks worth depending on
students voices). The choice will be from the list of available activities that I will
provide for them, and I will guide them to ensure that different activities dont
overlap.
- All of the above will be explained in the first day of class. And a consequence of any
serious misbehaviour will be that the students voices (the individual or the class) will
slowly be curtailed.
5.2 What should your classroom look like to visitors entering it. Why? Think about this then
answer the question and explain how you might organise:
seating
classroom space (displays, colours, furniture, etc).
I plan on changing the furniture around each week (using students help) to allow for:
- circle groups
- big model work in groups
- floor chart work
- and other things that students might suggest
I plan on pushing my table to the side or not using it as much, as I will either be at the board
(not quite that often) or walking around among the students while having a running
dialogue with them. My hope is for my classroom to be a science/math playground with safe
boundaries and a communal feeling. I will need to tailor and modify as I progress in my
career but I plan on going in with high expectations for and from the students and the belief
that they are up to the challenge of a good mental workout.
I also plan to incorporate the displays that students make (if they choose to do it outside
school hours or that they make in class) and highlight different ones each week based on
the lesson plan. If the students are willing, we can get the students who choose the
activities to take photos or draw pictures which I will vet and can place around the room
each week which can help explain certain topics.
(Week 5).Chapter 7: Interventions & Evaluation
Interventions bring the focus of your philosophy back to the behaviour management aspect
of classroom management. The first part of this chapter explains intervention as something
that is done to one or more aspects of the classroom milieu to improve a situation that is
getting out of hand (or has the potential to), usually as a result of inappropriate behaviour
that threatens the stability of the learning environment. The chapter presents approaches
to intervention according to the three theoretical orientations introduced in chapters 1
and 2.
7.1 After reading this chapter ask yourself the following questions and record your answers.
Which approach am I most Why? How would I use this in

comfortable working with? practice?
(You can chose more than 1)
Kohns classroom of curiosity - nurtures students As in 5.1
and community with class meta-cognition
meetings and student - allows them to police
choices extolled their own behaviours
with me as overriding
voice
- gives them
independence and
choice in how and
where the lesson is
going
Consistency - helps students know By following the rules and
what is expected of allowing for the committee
them and how any to work as needed,
(mis)behaviours will consistency will be followed.
be handled Any signs of favouritism from
- ensures equity in the the committee will result in
classroom curtailed student
involvement and, after
meeting with the students,
only after certain actions are
met will their independence
be gained again
Humour - allows for improving Using self-deprecating
student-teacher humour to show how I might
relationships have found a lesson difficult
- can diffuse tense personally; diffusing tense
moments in the situations with humour;
classroom especially Allowing the students to take
if the humour is of over one notice board and
the self-deprecating fill it with science related
variety intelligent jokes and giving
points based on how many
students have heard them
before
Reflection - it is important to Daily reflection at the end of
understand if the each day to see how the
strategies in play are class reacted to the lesson,
working how much content was
appropriately and absorbed, engagement of
where changes need students, and figuring out if
to be made any strategies need to be
changed
7.2 Did you list more than one approach? If so, how might the two (or more) approaches
work together as a behaviour management strategy (or sequence of strategies in a
plan)?
All my approaches go together within Alfie Kohns classroom community. Behaviour

management will need to be supported by the student body and any further behaviour help
will need to be conducted in a one-on-one basis with individual students. The goal of the
classroom community is to be able to leave outside distractions behind and to whole-
heartedly be involved in the class community. If outside distractions are causing too many
difficulties, individual work can be assigned if specifically requested especially if timelines
need to be stretched. By consciously modeling an intelligent citizen, I hope to get the
students to behave in a similar manner, initially inside the class and later outside as well.
Respect, intelligent/mature behaviour, and helpful citizenship will be stressed in a pro-
active manner that will hopefully lessen misbehaviours. Engaging classwork and giving
students a heavy hand in directing the lesson plan also help students get more involved and
this should also reduce misbehaviour. Over an above this, serious misbehaviours will need a
functional behaviour assessment and behaviour plans in a one on one meeting with the
misbehaving student. However, knowing that the class will lose independence if there is too
much misbehaviour should keep most students well within the line.
7.3 Having thought through the approaches and how you would apply them, it is time to
nail down your intervention strategy. First, write about the approach (or approaches)
you believe will work best and why.
If intervention for behaviour management is needed, I believe that answered in 7.2
7.4 Now write about how you would put the above into practice.
In line with this thinking, I will answered in 7.2

7.5 Having written an overview of your intervention plan, go back to your earlier
statements, particularly your responses to 1.3, 2.2, 3.3 and 5.1. In light of 7.3 and 7.4 do
you need to modify any of these? If so, make the changes now.
This week we also discussed the importance of considering evaluation for interventions
7.6 Briefly outline below how you would go about documenting and monitoring an
intervention with a student(s) or class for effectiveness.
Taking into consideration the need to have objective measures of effectiveness of an

intervention I will monitor student progress in the following ways :
1) Using the PIR cycle to evaluate whether the criteria in the behaviour plan are being
met and the misbehaviour is reducing, while the replacement behaviour is increasing
2) Documenting the behaviour consistently as an extension of the Functional Behaviour
Assessment and Behaviour plan
3) Use mentor or colleagues as sounding board to see if strategies can be improved
4) Organize a meeting with students other KLA teachers to see if behaviour issues are
replicated with them and how he/she can be helped
(Week 6) Chapter 8: Stories from the field (Personal Reading)
In this chapter there are 10 stories where teachers and others describe an aspect of their
experience with classroom management in the real world. The online companion website
presents even more. To complete the activity below please read between three and five of
these. They will provide you with a variety of models of practice in classroom management
and might trigger new ideas to include in your philosophy of teaching.
8.1 After reading some of the case studies (E.g., 8 in the text Lisa, 9 Andrew, 10 Wendy and
16, 19, 20 etc online), what would you add about aspects of your classroom
management that have not been mentioned so far in your philosophy? Add these in the
box below in rough draft form. You can refine them later in 10.1.
Knowing students medical, behavioural and cognitive issues is important as these will affect
their behaviour and if needed, contribute to the functional behaviour assessment and
behaviour plans. It is also necessary that I will be cognizant of the school philosophies and
policies and ensure that my conduct and classroom pedagogies fall in line with them in order
to ensure the students consistent appreciation of the school atmosphere. Using Kohns
philosophies, I will need to incorporate the school rules into the class rules and ensure that
the consequences are followed through by either me or the student committee.
(Week 7) Principles of Behaviour Modification. Zirporli T.J. (2012). Ch10 and
Killu, K. (2008)
This week we looked at fundamental aspects of behaviourism and learning. Ziporli and Killu
provide examples of the application of such theory and research to classroom management
and behaviour change. Important concepts such as reinforcement, functional purpose of
behaviour and behaviour shaping are discussed
7.1 After reading Ziporli and Killu and reflecting on the lecture content what would you add
about aspects of your classroom management that have not been mentioned so far in
your philosophy? Add these in the box below in rough draft form. You can refine them
later in 10.1.
Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) focuses on using positive reinforcement to change

defiant/misconduct behaviour. Reinforcement can be defined asany stimulus that maintains
or increases the behavior exhibited immediately prior to the presentation of the stimulus
(Zirporli, 2012 & Killu, 2008). Killu (2008) discusses how reinforcements can assist student
with behavioural issues. Positive reinforcement follows a target behaviour resulting in the
increase/maintenance of that action through providing a stimulus, whereas negative
reinforcement focuses on the removal of a stimulus to increase/maintain a target behaviour.
Overall, the type of reinforcing approach taken should be consistent to ensure its
effectiveness in attaining the desired outcome.
With regards to my teaching philosophy, I prefer to use positive reinforcements where

possible in order to maintain a sense of freedom and independence in my classes. However,
the reinforcements will not be material bribes or explicitly garrulous phrases but rather
satisfaction of a job well done with knowing the class community appreciates the student and
his/her work and/or improvement. Drastic misbehaviour will call for curtailing the freedom
and inclusion in the class community and if that doesnt work, I will move to the functional
behaviour assessment with a behaviour plan and finally to detention if all else fails.
(Week 8) Social Emotional Learning in Schools. Cohen, J. (2006) & Zins, et al

(2007).
Social and Emotional Learning brings your attention to focus efforts on promoting students
social and emotional competencies. Many leaders in the field underscore the importance of
skills-based teaching and learning to properly address this important facet of teaching the
whole child.
8.1 After reading Cohen and Zin and reflecting on the lecture content what would you add
about aspects of your classroom management that have not been mentioned so far in
your philosophy? Add these in the box below in rough draft form. You can refine them
later in 10.1.
Cohen (2006) puts forth the argument that the aim of education is to build social-emotional
skills and knowledge for pupils to effectively engage in a democratic society for an overall
improved quality of life. Overall, Zins et al. (2007) emphasize that students gain beneficial
outcomes through collaboration with teachers, interaction with peers and family support.
All of these will be incorporated through my implementation of Kohns classroom

community as the students will form a mini-democratic body with rights and rules and
consequences. They will also, hopefully, be able to hone their social-emotional skills through
the consistent use of collaboration with both me as the teacher and their peers in the
classroom. I have thus far not taken family involvement into consideration. I could perhaps
include that by inviting the students families at the end of each semester for a grand
showdown between groups or a seminar organized by the students or some such activity that
the students have a hand in suggesting.
(Week 9) Chapter 9: Your theory into practice
Early in the chapter you are asked to write up a statement of your theoretical approach to
classroom management. You should read the rest of the chapter, as it takes you through the
steps of constructing a philosophy of teaching. You already started this process in activities
relating to chapters 1 and 2, but now you have a chance to refine it by altering your
responses in 1.3 and 2.2. This may require changes to sentences or even some considerable
rewriting, but as the authors say, if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing it well.
9.1 Now that you have reviewed your overarching philosophy and settled, more or less, on
your approach to teaching and classroom management, it is time to combine the bits
that you have been working on into your first (draft) teaching philosophy. It is simple
now. All the hard work has been done. Simply cut and paste your responses in the order
suggested below, into the box.
Cut and paste in the following order leaving a line space between each section:
1.3 > 2.2 > 3.2 > 3.3 > 5.1 > 5.2 > 4.1 > 4.2 > 4.3 > 7.1 > 7.3 > 7.4 >8.1> 6.1 > 6.2
My personal reflection/teaching philosophy (Draft 1)
I believe good teaching is about student-centred teaching where the student is provided
with a positive learning environment that allows them to reach their potential and develop
their ideas. Having a safe and encouraging environment that allows them to express
themselves and learn from their peers, as well as a heady sense of well-being will enrich the
classroom with a more positive and well-behaved body of students which will go toward
helping classroom management.

boundaries.
reduced.
build positive relationships with my students. I will also ensure to incorporate cultural
Gordon.
Teacher personal beliefs affect the way we create Positive Learning Environments by
defining our reactions to and interpretations of students behaviours. If we are unable to go
beyond our own beliefs and be open minded, the learning environment will be ruled by our
pasts. If we succeed in being open-minded and culturally sensitive, we can promote
students well being and mental health in the classroom by shaping the content and
presenting in a more engaging manner, while reacting to students misbehaviours with
mindful, student-centric strategies.
such as insane, drivel, mundane, etc.
I (or if the students so vote, the class committee) can curtain his/her speech
- if the topic can be related to the class lesson past/future, then the topic is ok. If it is
completely off topic, we will table it for the last 5 minutes of class as long as it is an
acceptable topic
overlap.
All of the above will be explained in the first day of class. And a consequence of any serious
misbehaviour will be that the students voices (the individual or the class) will slowly be
curtailed.
- circle groups
- floor chart work
(not quite that often) or walking around among the students while having a running
dialogue with them. My hope is for my classroom to be a science/math playground with safe
boundaries and a communal feeling. I will need to tailor and modify as I progress in my
career but I plan on going in with high expectations for and from the students and the belief
that they are up to the challenge of a good mental workout.
I also plan to incorporate the displays that students make (if they choose to do it outside
school hours or that they make in class) and highlight different ones each week based on
the lesson plan. If the students are willing, we can get the students who choose the
activities to take photos or draw pictures which I will vet and can place around the room
each week which can help explain certain topics.
ability. This is over and above ensuring that my non-verbal and verbal communication, as
well as my teaching style are serving my students needs while implementing my planned
strategies.

into the lesson with and how to tailor my lesson plan in order to get the most engagement
and also in order to see how much I will need to differentiate my teaching across different
needed by the lesson. Hands on work and practicing of the learnings are also important, as
is scaffolding. I will clearly explain lesson goals, use modelling or other show and tell tools to
disseminate information, heavily include collaborative learning, provide consistent and
helpful feedback verbally or in writing, and ensure that I nurture meta-cognition while giving
each student as much time as possible to complete assessments or tasks as long as some
sort of formative assessment shows that they are working on it.
In terms of interventions and strategies, my main strategy is Kohns classroom of curiosity

and community with class meetings and where student choices underline the daily
classroom activity. This strategy is very useful because it:
- nurtures students meta-cognition
- allows them to police their own behaviours with me as overriding voice
- gives them independence and choice in how and where the lesson is going.
Consistency is important because it helps students know what is expected of them and how
any (mis)behaviours will be handled and ensures equity in the classroom. By following the
rules and allowing for the committee to work as needed, consistency will be followed. Any
signs of favouritism from the committee will result in curtailed student involvement and,
after meeting with the students, only after certain actions are met will their independence
be gained again. Humour is a very important component of the daily classroom. By using
self-deprecating humour to show how I might have found a lesson difficult personally, I can
build more positive student-teacher relationships. Also, diffusing tense situations with
humour and using tactics such as allowing the students to take over one notice board and
fill it with science related intelligent jokes and giving points based on how many students
have heard them before will improve the overall climate of my classroom. And finally,
incorporating a daily reflection at the end of each day to see how the class reacted to the
lesson, how much content was absorbed, engagement of students, and figuring out if any
strategies need to be changed is a must in my book.

need to be stretched. By consciously modeling an intelligent citizen, I hope to get the
students to behave in a similar manner, initially inside the class and later outside as well.
Respect, intelligent/mature behaviour, and helpful citizenship will be stressed in a pro-
active manner that will hopefully lessen misbehaviours. Engaging classwork and giving
students a heavy hand in directing the lesson plan also help students get more involved and
this should also reduce misbehaviour. Over an above this, serious misbehaviours will need a
functional behaviour assessment and behaviour plans in a one on one meeting with the
misbehaving student. However, knowing that the class will lose independence if there is too
much misbehaviour should keep most students well within the line.


Cohen (2006) puts forth the argument that the aim of education is to build social-emotional
skills and knowledge for pupils to effectively engage in a democratic society for an overall
improved quality of life. Overall, Zins et al. (2007) emphasize that students gain beneficial
outcomes through collaboration with teachers, interaction with peers and family support.
All of these will be incorporated through my implementation of Kohns classroom

community as the students will form a mini-democratic body with rights and rules and
consequences. They will also, hopefully, be able to hone their social-emotional skills through
the consistent use of collaboration with both me as the teacher and their peers in the
classroom. I have thus far not taken family involvement into consideration. I could perhaps
include that by inviting the students families at the end of each semester for a grand
showdown between groups or a seminar organized by the students or some such activity that
the students have a hand in suggesting.



make sure to keep my ears open to the conversations around the staff room (I already
noticed quite a few scenarios being bounced around just on my shadow day) and ensure to
participate constructively (by asking questions if the topic is new or asking if my ideas make
sense or have been used by other teachers) in the dialogues. Upon starting my career as an
in-service teacher, I will do my best to take advantage of team teaching and co-teaching
opportunities so that I get a greater chance to get advice from an experienced teacher as
well as use them as a sounding board for any ideas that I might have through reading
research literature. I will try to have a list of new strategies from reading at the beginning of
the year and will try to incorporate them into my lesson plans as they fit in, thus staving off
any stagnation that might try to creep up on me. If this works, I will try to make sure that I
do this every year. I will constantly reflect at the end of each lesson if the strategy worked or
not and if I need to change it (i.e. using the PIR process of planning, implementing and
reviewing). By keeping an evolving list of strategies, when they work and when they do not
work, as well as the type of students they work on, I will be able to have a handy go-to list in
times of stress.
(Week 9) Chapter 10: Contemporary issues (Personal Reading)
This chapter describes some of the current issues and trends that schools and wider school
systems are dealing with. After reading the chapter, you should consider if any of these
movements require presence in your teaching philosophy. For example, once you have
visited the AITSL website and examined the national teaching standards, do you feel the
need to address any of these standards in your teaching philosophy? After reading about
time outs, exclusion and expulsion, do you feel your classroom management intervention
approach needs to change or is it OK as it is? These are just two example of areas where
wider issues that teachers might want to address in their philosophy.
Ask yourself these questions after reading your draft philosophy from 9.1:
1 Have I covered everything I want to cover in my philosophy and if not, what do I need to
add? This might be from chapter 10, but dont forget about things you might have
written in 8.1. Now is the time to consider how they will fit into your draft.
2 Does the philosophy read right to me? If not, then make your changes. Move sections
around if you feel they sit better.
3 Do I need an opening quote/sentence and do I need a conclusion to round things off? If
so, jot down some rough notes.
10.1 After considering questions 1, 2 and 3 above, edit your teaching philosophy. It would
be a good idea to leave the draft you had in 9.1 alone, cut and paste that here and
make the changes here just in case you need to refer back to your original draft.
My personal reflection/teaching philosophy (Draft 2)
I believe good teaching should be student-centred where the student is provided with a
positive learning environment that allows them to reach their potential and develop their
ideas. Having a safe and encouraging environment that allows them to express themselves
and learn from their peers, as well as a heady sense of well-being, will enrich the classroom
with a more positive and well-behaved body of students which will go toward helping
classroom management.

boundaries.
reduced.
build positive relationships with my students. I will also ensure that I incorporate cultural
Gordon.
such as insane, drivel, mundane, etc.)
I (or if the students so vote, the class committee) can curtail his/her speech
- if the topic can be related to the class lesson of past/future, then the topic is ok. If it
is completely off topic, we will table it for the last 5 minutes of class as long as it is an
acceptable topic
overlap.
All of the above will be explained in the first day of class. And a consequence of any serious
misbehaviour will be that the students voices (the individual or the class) will slowly be
curtailed.
- circle groups
- floor chart work
or walking around among the students while having a running dialogue with them. My hope
is for my classroom to be a science/math playground with safe boundaries and a communal
feeling. I will need to tailor and modify as I progress in my career but I plan on going in with
high expectations for and from the students and the belief that they are up to the challenge
of a good mental workout.
I also plan to incorporate the displays that students make and highlight different ones each
week based on the lesson plan. If the students are willing, we can get the students who
choose the activities to take photos or draw pictures which I will vet and can place around
the room each week which can help explain certain topics.
ability.

into the lesson with, how to tailor my lesson plan in order to get the most engagement, and
also in order to see how much I will need to differentiate my teaching across different
needed by the lesson. I will clearly explain lesson goals, use modelling or other show and tell
tools to disseminate information, heavily include collaborative learning, provide consistent
and helpful feedback verbally or in writing, and ensure that I nurture meta-cognition while
giving each student as much time as possible to complete assessments or tasks as long as
some sort of formative assessment shows that they are working on it.
In terms of interventions and strategies, my main strategy is Kohns classroom of curiosity

and community with class meetings and where student choices underline the daily
classroom activity. This strategy is very useful because it:
- nurtures students meta-cognition
- allows them to police their own behaviours with me as overriding voice
- gives them independence and choice in how and where the lesson is going.
Consistency is important because it helps students know what is expected of them and how
any (mis)behaviours will be handled and ensures equity in the classroom. By using self-
deprecating humour to show how I might have found a lesson difficult personally, or
diffusing a potentially tense situation with a light joke, I can build more positive student-
teacher relationships. Using tactics such as allowing the students to take over a notice board
and fill it with science related intelligent jokes and giving points based on how many
students have heard them before will improve the overall climate of my classroom. And
finally, incorporating a daily reflection at the end of each day to see how the class reacted to
the lesson, how much content was absorbed, engagement of students, and figuring out if
any strategies need to be changed is a must in my book.

need to be stretched. Respect, intelligent/mature behaviour, and helpful citizenship will be
stressed in a pro-active manner that will hopefully lessen misbehaviours. Engaging
classwork and giving students a heavy hand in directing the lesson plan also help students
get more involved and this should also reduce misbehaviour. Over an above this, serious
misbehaviours will need a functional behaviour assessment and behaviour plans in a one on
one meeting with the misbehaving student. However, knowing that the class will lose
independence if there is too much misbehaviour should keep most students well within the
line.

satisfaction of a job well done with knowing the class community appreciates the student
and his/her work and/or improvement. Drastic misbehaviour will call for curtailing the
freedom and inclusion in the class community and if that doesnt work, I will move to the
functional behaviour assessment with a behaviour plan and finally to detention if all else
fails.
Cohen (2006) states that the aim of education is to build social-emotional skills and
knowledge for pupils to effectively engage in a democratic society for an overall improved
quality of life. Zins et al. (2007) emphasize that students gain beneficial outcomes through
collaboration with teachers, interaction with peers and family support. This will be
incorporated through my implementation of Kohns classroom community as the students
will form a mini-democratic body with rights and rules and consequences. They will also,
hopefully, be able to hone their social-emotional skills through the consistent use of
collaboration with both me as the teacher and their peers in the classroom. I have thus far
not taken family involvement into consideration. I could perhaps include that by inviting the
students families at the end of each semester for a grand showdown between groups or a
seminar organized by the students or some such activity that the students have a hand in
suggesting.
I believe professional reflexivity is important to my teaching because it will help me grow as

a teacher. A teacher whose methods are stagnant is not a good teacher. The class
environment continuously changes, and the teacher (myself) will need to change with it and
develop new strategies when old ones fail. The only way to figure out what fails and what
new options are available is through professional reflexivity. By constantly critiquing their
teaching strategies and pedagogies in the lens of the National Teaching Standards which
seeks to guide teachers in their career growth , by understanding and analysing their
educational practices using current research and literature, teachers will be safe from
stagnating and hence, not enabling students to achieve their potential.

make sure to keep my ears open to the conversations around the staff room (I already noticed quite
a few scenarios being bounced around just on my shadow day) and ensure to participate
constructively (by asking questions if the topic is new or asking if my ideas make sense or have been
used by other teachers) in the dialogues. Upon starting my career as an in-service teacher, I will do
my best to take advantage of team teaching and co-teaching opportunities so that I get a greater
chance to get advice from an experienced teacher as well as use them as a sounding board for any
ideas that I might have through reading research literature. I will try to have a list of new strategies
from reading at the beginning of the year and will try to incorporate them into my lesson plans as
they fit in, thus staving off any stagnation that might try to creep up on me. If this works, I will try to
make sure that I do this every year. I will constantly reflect at the end of each lesson if the strategy
worked or not and if I need to change it (i.e. using the PIR process of planning, implementing and
reviewing). By keeping an evolving list of strategies, when they work and when they do not work, as
well as the type of students they work on, I will be able to have a handy go-to list in times of stress.
Ready to roll
Now that you have made the changes, read it to yourself. How does it read now?
If you are happy with the result, you have your first teaching philosophy. Congratulations!
You have done it! Now its time to prepare your final submission. Look at the Unit Learning
Guide and now write your own personal reflection and philosophy Ability to clearly and
coherently reflect on specific learnings in this unit and their implications for their personal
philosophy in relation to the management of students challenging behaviour, learning and
wellbeing in a positive learning environment.
Into the future!

However, please be aware that your philosophy may well change as you gain experience in
teaching and are exposed to other ideas from your ongoing professional development, your
interactions with peers and other sources of inspiration. It will be an interesting task for you
to go back to this philosophy you have just completed in 10 years time and compare it to
the one you have then. Will it have changed much? How have your approaches evolved?
What kind of teacher have you become?

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Developing your philosophy of classroom

This resource consists of a series of linked activities chapter-by-chapter to Lyons et al.

Not me More like me

I believe classrooms should be places where students believe themselves to be in a growing

My preferred communication style Things Id like to try out

Chapter 6: Professional reflexivity

I believe professional reflexivity is important to my teaching because it will help me grow as

As a consequence of this belief, I will ensure that I engage in professional reflexivity

Assessment is extremely important as, in a big classroom, it is sometimes impossible to

Which approach am I most Why? How would I use this in

All my approaches go together within Alfie Kohns classroom community. Behaviour

If intervention for behaviour management is needed, I believe that answered in 7.2

In line with this thinking, I will answered in 7.2

Taking into consideration the need to have objective measures of effectiveness of an

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) focuses on using positive reinforcement to change

With regards to my teaching philosophy, I prefer to use positive reinforcements where

(Week 8) Social Emotional Learning in Schools. Cohen, J. (2006) & Zins, et al

All of these will be incorporated through my implementation of Kohns classroom

My personal reflection/teaching philosophy (Draft 1)

I believe classrooms should be places where students believe themselves to be in a growing

Assessment is extremely important as, in a big classroom, it is sometimes impossible to

In terms of interventions and strategies, my main strategy is Kohns classroom of curiosity

All my approaches go together within Alfie Kohns classroom community. Behaviour

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) focuses on using positive reinforcement to change

With regards to my teaching philosophy, I prefer to use positive reinforcements where

All of these will be incorporated through my implementation of Kohns classroom

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) focuses on using positive reinforcement to change

With regards to my teaching philosophy, I prefer to use positive reinforcements where

As a consequence of this belief, I will ensure that I engage in professional reflexivity

My personal reflection/teaching philosophy (Draft 2)

I believe classrooms should be places where students believe themselves to be in a growing

Assessment is extremely important as, in a big classroom, it is sometimes impossible to

In terms of interventions and strategies, my main strategy is Kohns classroom of curiosity

All my approaches go together within Alfie Kohns classroom community. Behaviour

With regards to my teaching philosophy, I prefer to use positive reinforcements where

I believe professional reflexivity is important to my teaching because it will help me grow as

As a consequence of this belief, I will ensure that I engage in professional reflexivity

Into the future!

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