Escalated disorderly situations in the classroom and the improvement of these situations

Abstract

Results are presented of an extended case study of a teacher who was confronted with severe discipline problems. This teacher changed the aggressive disorder in her lessons into a good working atmosphere with the help of a teacher educator. With a systems communication perspective in mind, we have analysed the pupil-teacher interaction in this teacher's lessons. In the paper we first describe the development of the disorderly classroom situations using communication concepts. Then we review the characteristics of the disorderly situations. We then describe the ways the teacher was able to change the aggressive communication pattern. Finally, we describe characteristics of the procedures by which she stimulated a pleasant classroom atmopshere.