Back on track: Approaches to managing highly disruptive school classes

Grete S Vaaland

doi:10.1080/2331186x.2017.1396656

Abstract

AbstractTeaching and learning are at stake when classrooms become highly disruptive and pupils ignore the teacher’s instructions and leadership. Re-establishing teacher authority in a highly disruptive school class is an understudied area. This instrumental multiple case study aimed to reveal concepts and conceptual frameworks that are suitable for describing, analysing and discussing interventions in highly disruptive school classrooms. The tentative conceptual framework for turnarounds in highly disruptive classrooms revealed two main strategies: (1) a cognitive strategy appealing to pupils’ rationality and responsibility, which involves creating an awareness among students about preferred learning environments and training them to obtain the skills needed to behave in accordance with the chosen standards; (2) a systems strategy addressing the class as a social system in which the teacher’s loss of authority has become beneficial to some pupils. Re-establishing teacher authority implies a power takeover...

Highlights

Some disruptions are quite common in classrooms; a class can occasionally erupt into disruptive chaos, which makes learning nearly impossible (Rogers, 2000; Vaaland & Ertesvåg, 2013)
The purpose of the study was to increase knowledge underpinning practical strategies aimed at reestablishing productive learning environments in highly disruptive school classrooms
We present the results of further cross-case analyses related to RQ3, which leads to the framework of two main strategies for turnarounds

Summary

Introduction

Some disruptions are quite common in classrooms; a class can occasionally erupt into disruptive chaos, which makes learning nearly impossible (Rogers, 2000; Vaaland & Ertesvåg, 2013). This article concerns highly disruptive school classes and discusses approaches to managing such classes based on some experienced practitioners’ models for helping these classes get back on track. By “highly disruptive class”, we mean a class in which teaching is hindered on a regular basis. According to Rogers (2000), a class is considered “hard” when the frequency and intensity of disruptive behaviour by a number of its pupils significantly affect the teacher’s well-being and productive teaching and learning, and this condition lasts for some time. Rogers’ specifications of “hard classes” are useful for highly disruptive classes, which is the term used in our study. Examples of disruptive behaviours are talking out of turn, walking around when expected to sit down, irritating peers, bullying, violence, refusing to follow the teacher’s instructions, and ignoring the teacher

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Conclusion