L’incidence d’un dispositif de soutien
en gestion de classe sur les pratiques disciplinaires
et le sentiment d’efficacité d’enseignants débutants

Abstract The purpose of this quasi experimental study was to develop, test and assess the effectiveness of a support measure for new entrant teachers. One of the characteristics of this measure called “Support tool for classroom management” was to focus on the development of classroom management skills. The study extended over one school year and involved about thirty new primary school teachers in a disadvantaged neighborhood in Montreal. Based on Archambault and Chouinard’s three-phase theoretical model (2003), the tool consisted of three training cycles: develop classroom dynamics, maintain and support academic focus, and act to solve behavior problems. Each cycle began with a training session during which theoretical content was presented, and then followed by hands-on sessions. Afterwards, teachers practiced implementation in their classroom. To complete the cycle, another type of meeting called the “follow-up” meeting was scheduled to, among other things, objectify the practice. The original aspect of this support measure was to provide the first training session one week before the start of the school year. The objective of this first session, themed “Getting off to a good start in classroom management”, was to support new entrant teachers in establishing classroom dynamics.  To determine the tool’s effectiveness, we based our assessment on the following three dimensions: development and maintenance of order and discipline, self-efficacy and career motivation. The perceptions of a group of new entrant teachers who participated in tool-related activities (n = 27) were compared with the ones of teachers in a control group (n = 44). Globally, participants had on average 2.9 years of experience and were between 23 and 56 years of age. The data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire that was administered in two stages, in the second and eighth months of the school year. New entrant teachers reported improvements on all study variables. In addition, repeated measures analyses of variance revealed that the tool had had a triple positive impact, as was demonstrated by interaction effects. New entrant teachers who used the tool increased their ability to enforce classroom rules, their self-efficacy at managing learning situations, and their motivation on the job. While they reported significantly lower results at the beginning of the study, the results of the treatment and control groups had become equivalent at the end.  The results also indicated that treatment group participants had gained confidence in their teaching skills. The study also revealed that the sense of personal effectiveness at managing behavior problems and the capacity to manage behaviors were significantly reinforced over time amongst all new entrant teachers. Finally, two out the eight study variables did not have a significant effect: sense of personal effectiveness at making an impact on student behavior, and classroom rules enforcement.  Ultimately, these results are encouraging. They demonstrate that new entrant teachers can benefit from professional enrichment when they are adequately supported. We believe that the training session on classroom dynamics that took place a week before the start of the school year played a central role in the success of the new entrant teachers who participated in the study. Therefore, we recommend this type of training, along with long-term monitoring, to increase the self-efficacy of new entrant teachers, and, ultimately, to enhance their career motivation.

Keyphrases: new entrant teachers, support tool, classroom management, self-efficacy, disadvantaged neighborhood