What are Students’ Attitudes towards Different Management Strategies: A Cross-regional Study

Abstract

Previous studies have revealed that Singapore students seemed to show many disciplinary and behavioral problems in schools. Many teachers think their students are becoming harder and harder to deal with. Thus the strategies for managing disciplinary and behavioral problems have become a crucial factor in determining teachers’ success in their careers. Two previous studies (Cheng & Tan, 2000; 2002) reported Singapore teachers’ favorite management strategies and students’ attitudes towards these strategies. A big discrepancy was found in these two previous studies. Students showed very negative attitudes towards most of the management strategies which the teachers thought were very effective. The present study seeks to learn if students in different regions of China have similar attitudes towards these strategies. The attitudes of students from three regions, a big modern city, a medium size city and a remote mountain area in China were summarised and compared with Singapore students. The students from all different regions showed similar attitudes toward these management strategies. However, attitude differences between the students from the remote mountain area and the other regions exist and cannot be ignored. These students from the remote mountain area showed more tolerance to their teachers’ strategies which the others were strongly against. The results of the present research will help teachers to understand their students better and reconsider the use of appropriate strategies to deal with students’ disciplinary and behavioral problems.