EFFECT OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT ON THE CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF CHEMISTRY STUDENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Education is a means of development. Because of this it should be recognized beside every body of their country. Again the school, administrators, experts and parents cannot adopt in students achieving level to change or global change or cannot bring improvement on students’ academic achievement alone without critical effort of teachers. So there must be planned manageable and applicable class room management from beginning to genuine near the teacher through his class room activities to create the conditions under which learning can take place (Elina cited in Derbessa, 2006). So it is better to see the role of classroom management for academic performance of students.
In the 19th century it was believed that children should be seen and not heard unless called upon by the teacher. The teacher was viewed as a disciplinarian and was to be respected. It was the teacher’s responsibility to focus on the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic. According to Roskos & Neuman (2012), it was the expectation that children were to follow the “golden rule” and use courtesy, fairness, and good manners. If the children did not obey they would be hit with a hickory stick.
Science education is to develop scientifically literate individuals that are concerned with high competence for rational thoughts and actions. The objectives of science education in this country according to Maduekwe (2006) include the need to prepare students to observe and explore the environment, explain simple natural phenomena, develop scientific attitudes including curiosity, critical reflection and objectivity, apply the skills and knowledge gained through science to solve everyday problems in the environment, develop self-confidence and self-reliance through problem solving activities in science.
Chemistry is one of the science subjects that senior secondary school students offer at the senior levels in the Nigerian secondary schools, (FRN, 2004). Chemistry is a very important science subject and a requirement for further learning of a number of science-related professional courses like medicine, agriculture, pharmacy, and laboratory etc. In contemporary Nigeria, greater emphasis is placed on science and technological development. As a result, students
are being encouraged to take up science-related subjects. Today, Chemistry pervades literally every field of human endeavour, and plays a fundamental role in educational advancement. This is seen in all the technological advancement in the world today, which is because of scientific investigations. However, the issue remains that in most secondary schools in Nigeria, there is high rate of failure in the subject. Slavin, R. and Lake, C. (2008).
Classroom management in the 21st century has changed immensely along with our society. Corporal punishment and yelling are classroom management approaches of the past. Today’s teachers need to be professional and caring. The rituals and routines of the classroom need to be set and should include student input. Teachers need to have a plethora of interventions at their fingertips. There is also a need for positive teacher-student relationships (Marzano and Freiberg, 2003).
Classroom management has been highlighted across numerous research studies as a major variable that affects students’ academic performance (Marzono, 2003). The most obvious reason for this assertion is that, effective classroom management sets the stage for teaching and learning. It sets a tone in the classroom that captures students’ attention – as a necessity for effective teaching and learning (Marzono, 2003). This statement is obvious since a classroom which is chaotic and disorganized as a result of poor classroom management is highly unlikely to enhance expansive learning and students’ academic performance and might,
indeed, inhibit it. In chaos, according to Idopise (2004), very little academic learning can take place. According to Walter (2006), classroom management differs from one teacher to another because of the teacher’s personality, teaching style, preparedness, and number of students in the classroom.
According to Umoren (2010), the concept of classroom management is broader than the notion of student control and discipline, it includes all the things teachers must do in the classroom to foster students’ academic involvement and cooperation in classroom activities to create conducive learning environment. Morse (2012), relates that classroom management involves curtailing learner’s disruptive behaviors such as fighting and noise making, close observation, arrangement of classroom learning materials, and response to students who
suffer from poor sight (vision), poor hea3etb ring, poor reading, poor writing, poor spelling, shame, dullness, hyperactivity and poor study habits.
When classroom management is viewed in a more wider and holistic sense, incorporating every element of the classroom from lesson delivery to classroom environment becomes important (Nicholas, 2007). According to Nicholas (2007), this includes creating organized and orderly classroom, establishing expectations, inducing students’ cooperation in learning tasks, and dealing with the procedural demands of the classroom. This view of classroom management contrasts to a more narrow view of classroom management as it deals with just discipline and control. According to Bassey (2012), the wider view of classroom management
shows increased engagement, reduction in inappropriate and disruptive behaviors, promotion of student responsibility for academic work, and improved academic performance of students.
In effect, discipline, control and the consequences become authoritative or punitive approaches to classroom management. These have become much smaller part of the term classroom management. Thus, classroom management denotes much more than any of these words (Charlie, 2006). As put by Williams (2008), classroom management involves how the teacher works, how the class works, how the teacher and students work together and how teaching and learning takes place.
An analyses of the past 50 years of classroom management research identified classroom management as the most important factor, even above students’ aptitude, affecting students’ learning and academic performance (Wang, et al., 2009). Contrary to popular belief held by Pandey (2006), classroom management is not a gift bestowed upon some teachers.
While it is true that some teachers adapt to classroom management easily, making it felt by their colleagues as if they posses some innate talents. Classroom management is a skill that can be acquired like any other profession. It is a skill that must be practiced to achieve proficiency. Classroom management thus requires specific skills such as planning organizing, as well as an aptitude for team work. It requires a great deal of commitment, initiatives, teachers’ willingness to adjust, creative thinking and actions (Abel, 2011).
Poorly managed classrooms are usually characterized by disruptive behaviors such as sleeping, late coming, noise making, miscopying of notes, eating, calling of nicknames, verbal or physical threat to fellow students or the teacher (Ekere, 2006). These disruptive behaviors disorganize learning processes and hamper academic performance of students. Effiong (2007), suggests that teachers can deal with these disruptive behaviors in the classroom and reduce them to the minimum through effective classroom management so that effective learning can take place. Once teachers are able to effectively reduce or eliminate disruptive behaviors in the classroom, there would be increased academic attentiveness and
engagement which would pave way for better academic performance by students.
The use of verbal instruction is one of the techniques for effective classroom management that can be adopted by teachers. According to Good (2004), clear instruction on what should be done gives the students concrete direction to compliance. In this approach, teachers try to be consistent in enforcing the verbal instruction so that it produces the desired results.
Until recently, corporal punishments were used widely as an effective classroom management technique to curb disruptive behaviors in the classroom. It is now not commonly applicable through it is still practiced in some schools as an effective classroom management technique.
Instructional supervision is another technique of effective classroom management adopted by teachers in the classroom. According to Obot (2010), instructional supervision involves moving around the classroom to observe students closely, engaging students in academic activities, asking questions and employing both verbal and non‐verbal teaching methods to ensure that students are paying undivided attention and taking more from the lesson than simple facts.
Delegation of authority to learners is still another technique of effective classroom
management where the teacher delegates his/her authority to deserving students and assign them duties such as cleaning chalk board, time keeping, controlling noisemakers, managing learning materials, collecting assignment from students, copying lesson notes on the chalkboard, class representatives on behalf of the class (Nima, 2004). These contribute a great deal to making the classroom a conducive place since cooperation between students and teachers in the classroom is fostered.
Classroom management techniques are aimed at producing conducive learning environment where students can learn with ease and perform better academically. All of these techniques can be adopted in the classroom depending on the nature of the problem at hand. Based on the above statements, the researcher deemed it necessary to investigate the effect of
classroom management on the academic performance of Senior Secondary School
students in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
Classroom management and discipline consistently rank near the top of the list of the most difficult problems first year teachers experience. Because this is true, many seasoned teachers do not sponsor student teachers for a fear of their student’s test scores dropping due to the lack of classroom management.
A failure to implement effective classroom management can lead to a level of continued frustration that pushes beginning teachers to their breaking point; some of these extremely frustrated teachers end up leaving the profession all together (Durmuscelebi, 2004). In order to stunt the growth in percentage of teachers who end up leaving the profession, this paper is being written to inform
teachers of different classroom management Discipline as well as the research that explores classroom management and the frustrations behind being a beginning.
Effective education refers to the degree to which schools are successful in accomplishing their educational objectives. The findings of numerous studies have shown that teachers play a key role in shaping effective education (Hattie, 2009). The differences in achievement between students who spend a year in a class with a highly effective teacher as opposed to a highly ineffective teacher are startling. Marzano (2003) synthesized 35 years of research on effective schools and found the following results. Consider the following case: a student attends an average school and has an average teacher for two years. At the end of these two years, the student’s achievement will be at the 50th percentile. If the same student attends an ineffective school and has an ineffective teacher, the student’s achievement will have drop to the 3rd percentile after two years. If the student attends an effective school but has an ineffective teacher, his or her achievement after two years will have dropped to the 37th percentile. An individual teacher can produce powerful gains in student learning.
Effective teaching and learning cannot take place in poorly managed classrooms (Jones & Jones, 2012; Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003; Van der Grift, Van der Wal, & Torenbeek, 2011). Effective classroom management Discipline (hereafter abbreviated to CMD) support and facilitate effective teaching and learning. Effective classroom management is generally based on the principle of establishing a positive classroom environment encompassing effective teacher-student relationships (Wubbels, Brekelmans, Van Tart, &Admiraal, 1999).
According to Evertson and Weinstein (2006) define classroom management as “the actions teachers take to create an environment that supports and facilitates both academic and social-emotional learning”. This definition concentrates on the responsibility of the teacher and relates the use of classroom management discipline to multiple learning goals for students.
Following this definition, effective CMD seem to focus on preventive rather than reactive classroom management procedures (Lewis & Sugai, 2009). An example of a widely used –and generally effective – preventive Discipline among teachers in primary education is that classroom rules are negotiated instead of imposed (Marzano and Austin, 2003). Teachers, however, also frequently use reactive discipline (e.g., punishing disruptive students; Rydell & Henricsson, 2004; Shook, 2012), whereas it is unclear whether these discipline effectively change student behaviour. This may be caused by a lack of knowledge about the effectiveness of preventive discipline (Peters, 2012).
Teachers do not always believe in the effectiveness of particular discipline despite sample empirical evidence that the strategy has been implemented successfully in many classrooms (Smart & Brent, 2010). One example is that beginning teachers are generally advised to Effective classroom management and classroom discipline for educational practice be as strict as possible in the first week of their internship and then slowly to become less authoritarian, whereas first establishing positive teacher-student relationships has been proven far more effective in regulating student behaviour (e.g., Bohn, Roehrig, & Pressley, 2004). O’Neill and Stephenson (2012) emphasize that completing focused coursework units on classroom management in teacher training programs leads to increased feelings of preparedness, familiarity, and confidence in using CMD among student teachers. However, they stress that student teachers reported that they were confident in using only half of the discipline they were familiar with, and that they only felt partially prepared to manage the misbehaviour of students. When teachers feel uncertain about using preventive discipline, for instance, negotiating about classroom rules, they often keep using the (presumably less effective) reactive discipline (Rydell & Henricsson, 2004; Woodcock & Reupert, 2012).
Hoogma (2012) stresses that good teachers need to master a broad range of CMD, and that teacher training programs should provide student teachers with a large “toolbox” of CMD from which they can pick and apply particular discipline when necessary. Which discipline should (at least) be part of this so-called toolbox in current educational settings is still unclear.
The reason for this is that the books that are used in teacher training programs (e.g., Jones & Jones, 2012; Klamer-Hoogma, 2012; Teitler & Van Brussel, 2012) generally refer to studies that were conducted decades ago or used anecdotal evidence rather than empirical evidence.
However, daily practice in education has changed rapidly. It is increasingly characterized by student-centred approaches to learning (as opposed to teacher-centred), with a large emphasis on students’ metacognitive skills (e.g., self-regulated learning discipline; Dignath, Büttner, & Langfeldt, 2008) and cooperative learning (e.g., Kagan, 2005; Wubbels, Den Brok, Veldman, & Van Tart, 2006). Moreover, more and more technology is finding its way into classrooms, for example, the use of interactive whiteboards, tablets, and laptops (Schussler, Poole, Whitlock, & Evertson, 2007). These changes presumably have had a large impact on the demands placed on teachers’ classroom management skills (e.g., rules and procedures to facilitate cooperative learning). Although, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have been conducted to explicitly compare the effectiveness of particular CMD in more traditional versus more modern classrooms, an up-to-date overview of studies conducted in the last decade is expected to provide insight into which CMD have been proven (still) to be effective in modern classrooms.
Traditionally, teachers are encouraged to believe that the learning environment must be orderly and quiet. For some principals, a quiet classroom means effective teaching. With the growing movement toward cooperative learning, However, more teachers are using activities in which students take an active role. Sharing ideas and information with various activities occurring at the same time can make for noisy classrooms. But it would be a mistake to conclude that in such classrooms students are not learning (Carr et al. 1998). The classroom management and mastering order inside the classroom are the most important factors in educational process and basic requirements.
They are considered the basic problems which face the teacher since teachers complain about mastering the order inside the classroom, and it consumes much effort and time, and they are considered as sensitive, important and critical factors for the teacher’s success or failure in his tasks. The concept “classroom order” point to the learners behavior discipline according to the followed systems and rules which facilitate the process of classroom interaction towards achieving the planned goals (Marei and Mustafa 2009). Glavin (2002) states that the behavioral problems may appear as a result of: inappropriate skills which students learn, choosing inappropriate time for learning, and the restricted learning opportunities offered to students. Teachers do not generally want to give control to their students. They are instructed that the mark of a good teacher is the teacher who controls the class (Taylor 2008). The amount of control that teachers have in the class is often seen by the administration as a measurement of the quality of a teacher. Administrators are usually happy if a teacher never sends a student to the office and interpret this as proof that the teacher is in control and must be doing a good job ( Edwards 1994). The school behavioral problems considered the most dangerous ones, which face the components of the educational process (teachers, principals, parents, and supervisors) .The disorder, theft, properties vandalism, violence against teachers and student, are the matters that may threaten the educational process (Owidat and Hamdi 1997). Students that practice disruptive behavior cause disciplinary problems in the classroom and have negative efforts on student, it may also lead to low achievement. There are many academic and behavioral problems regarding students that face teacher in the classroom and has a direct impact on the teaching – learning process such as: forgetting school tools, frequent absence, lack of attention, hyperactivity, inappropriate talk in the classroom vandalism, disobedience, aggressiveness, re-fused to do tasks and school works. There is no instruction without any problems, as long the classroom has different achievement factors, and different personality. The reasons of academic and behavioral problems could be classified as follows (Al-Alga 2006).
This classroom management and discipline deals with how things are done. Its structure, procedure and routines to the point of becoming rituals
When procedure are explained to and practiced by students it is periodically reinforced by practicing, classroom management and control.
When procedures are learned, practiced and reinforced, instructions becomes efficient. This is the foundation of any classroom management and is a prime responsibility of the teacher.
Classroom management discipline is the responsibility of the student discipline has to do with appropriate behavior. To make classroom conducive for learning, the school is not to be focused on a view but rather being together contrasting opinion and attitudes so that the teacher can be given the way of which it is to be based on his conclusion. When teacher takes up the role of discipline students, they deprive young people of the opportunity of becoming more responsible. A far more responsible. A far more effective approach is for students to develop procedures to help redirect irresponsible impulse. In addition, the usual approach is for adult to impose some of the punishment when this occurs, students have no ownership in the decision to a victim hood mentality and have negative feeling towards the imposers.
There are some pointed out four rules of classroom management and these for rules can be applied in the classroom for effective teaching and learning they are:
Rule One: Get them In: – the process of getting them can be seen to involve the phrases of the very beginning of the classroom situation.
Rule Two: Get on with it: this refers to the main part of the lesson, the nature of content and the manner of its presentation
Rule Three: Get on with them: here the teacher develops good relationship with their pupils, by fostering mutual and trust and respects. To do this sensitively, the mood of the class as whole. This obviously means knowing track of what is who/ whom on.
Rule Four: Get them out: optimistically, the teacher here consider two phrases of concluding a lesson and dismissing the class.
Also this study will be of great help and immense benefit to the government and to the ministry of education whose primary objectives is to see students as the future teachers and leaders of tomorrow. It would also be a great significance to the ministry of education and teachers as well as their school authorities who deals directly with students on how to prevent classroom management problems among students in secondary school. On the other hand since continuous research is this field is not rules out, the findings of the study would like to use it as a base for future investigation.
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Classroom and management contributes to the building of discipline in a school and a pupil are students who lack discipline allowed to misbehaves is there any significant different between students who come late to school and those who come to school early. Are there any significant differences between the controls of groups that work cooperatively.
Un‐conducive learning environment in the public schools has posed serious problems to students’ academic performance over many decades ago. This trend has been on the increase on daily basis. Its prevalence has attracted the concern of the teachers, parents, the guidance counselors and many researchers. Effective classroom management has been discussed extensively at educational seminars and workshops, with efforts aimed at bringing lasting solution to the problem of students’ poor academic performance encountered in secondary schools.
In most cases, classroom teachers become tired of using verbal instruction in attempts to establish effective classroom management, but this method alone does not produce desired results. Many teachers use corporal punishment to instill fear and discipline in the classroom yet there are prevalence of disruptive behaviors in the classroom. A lot of teachers waste time and energy in intensive classroom supervision so that the classroom climate could be conducive for lessons. Some classroom teachers delegates authority to deserving prefects such as time – keeper, noise prefects, class prefects, etc. to share in the responsibility of ensuring a conducive learning atmosphere in the classroom. These methods are adopted by
teachers to enable the classroom become conducive enough for effective teaching – learning process and to facilitate higher academic performance of the students.
Researchers such as Udo (2002) have investigated on effective classroom management in other geographical locations of Ekiti State. It is necessary to examine effective classroom management and its effects on students’ academic performance among Senior Secondary School in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study was to examine effect of classroom management on the classroom discipline and academic performance of chemistry students among senior secondary schools in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
The objective of the study includes:
(i) To access the use of verbal instruction and how it could enhance students’ academic performance.
(ii) To examine the use of corporal punishment on the learners and its effects on
students’ academic performance.
(iii) To determine how the use of instructional supervision could affect students’
academic performance.
(iv) To evaluate how delegation of authority to learners could affect students’ academic performance.
(v) Find out the level of time management among academic performance of students in secondary schools.
(vi) Determine the relationship between teachers and academic performance of secondary schools students.
RESEARCH QUESTION
The following research question will guide the study.
- What is the level of time management among academic performance of students in secondary schools?
- What is the relationship between teacher and academic performance of secondary school students in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State?
- How does verbal instruction affect students’ academic performance?
- How does corporal punishment affect students’ academic performance?
- In what ways does the use of instructional supervision affect students’ academic performance in Ikere Local Government Area of Ekiti State?
- How does delegation of authority to learners affect students’ academic performance?
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
The following null hypotheses were formulated:
Ho 1: Corporal punishment does not significantly influence students’ academic
performance.
Ho 2 Instructional supervision does not significantly influence students’ academic
performance.
Ho 3: Delegation of authority to learners does not significantly influence students’
academic performance.
Ho 4: Verbal instruction does not significantly influence students’ academic performance.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will be significant as it will yield data that will help a number of individuals and educational stakeholders such as the Ministry of Education, researchers and PTA members to ascertain the extent to which effective classroom management affects students’ academic performance in secondary schools.
The findings provided in this study will help teachers in accessing the effects of their classroom management on student’s academic performance in the school. Likewise, Ministry of Education and the curriculum planners will use the results of this study to guide them in imbibing classroom management skills in teachers so as to improve students’ academic performance. The study is equally significant to PTA members in that they will understand how disruptive behavior can hamper students’ academic performance. It will create awareness among teachers and parent on the need to always establish a conducive learning environment for improved academic performance among children.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study is delimited to effect of classroom management on the classroom discipline and academic performance of chemistry students in senior secondary school in Ikere Local government Area.
The study will be restricted to Senior Secondary schools students, both male and female students. They were chosen because it is expected that they have spent three to four years in the school and they have acquired the experience of both positive and negative, and how it can affect their performance.
Organization of the Study
This thesis was organized into five sections. The first section holds the introductory part of the study which consists of background of the research, statement of the problem, significance, delimitation and limitation of the study. The second section deals with review of literature pertinent to the research. The third section discusses about research methodology. The collected data from the subject of the study was carefully analyzed and interpreted under the fourth section. The fifth section presents the research’s summary, conclusions drawn and recommendations made on the basis of findings of the study. Reference and appendix including questionnaire, interview format, focus group discussion and other related materials were part of the document.
Definition of Terms
Classroom management: is the actions teachers take to create a supportive environment for the academic and social emotional learning of students.
Classroom environment: is the setting in which student learning takes place. It concerns the classroom’s physical environment, the social system, the atmosphere, and norms and values.
Academic Performance: refers to the outcome for students in their education.
Classroom: refers to a room in a school or college where groups of students are taught,
Secondary school is an educational level that constitutes grades 9-10 above.
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