They must find ways to keep behavior problems to a minimum. And they must decide how to deal with those discipline problems that inevitably arise. Of course, there is no simple recipe. To help teachers and principals get off to a good start this year, Education Update interviewed a number of experts on classroom management. This issue is a summary of their advice.
Classroom management poses bigger challenges today than in the past, most experts agree.
Today, students are more likely to challenge a teacher's authority. Students' role models from sports and movies promote confrontation, not obedience, he notes. Traditional approaches to classroom management based on rewards and punishments are proving less effective today, experts find. Moreover, if teachers rely on punishments, students weigh the cost of misbehavior. Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline .