How Teachers Learn to Be Classroom Managers

Abstract

Seven decades of research have documented the central importance of classroom management in providing quality instruction (see Brophy, 2006; Brophy & Evertson, 1978; Emmer, Evertson, & Anderson, 1980; Fuller, 1969; Gilberts & Lignugaris-Kraft , 1997; Kounin & Gump, 1958). Teacher educators (e.g., Doyle & Carter, 1996: Emmer & Stough, 2001; Evertson & Weinstein, 2006) have repeatedly argued that classroom management is a critical pedagogical skill that teachers must master in order to max-imize classroom instruction. Studies have also demonstrated that when teachers are eff ective classroom managers, their students achieve at a higher level (Freiberg, Stein, & Huang, 1995; Omoteso & Semudara, 2011; Stronge, Ward, & Grant, 2011; Stronge, Ward, Tucker, & Hindman, 2008) and display more interest in the subject matter of the class (Kunter, Baumert, & Koller, 2007). Plainly, teachers must learn to competently manage instruction and behavior if they are to become eff ective instructors. Several chapters in the earlier edition of this book (Brophy, 2006; Jones, 2006; Stough, 2006) provided in-depth reviews of research on the necessity of training in classroom management. In this current chapter, we provide an update on that research, noting where more recent fi ndings intersect with those established previously. First, we discuss recent research on the diff erent ways in which classroom management is integrated into preservice training. Second, we discuss research on in-service profes-sional development and present several eff ective models of classroom management that have been used in school settings. In our last section, we summarize the current status of research on training teachers to be classroom managers.