in academic performance. For instance, research shows that differences in academic progress between African American and white students in the United States can be solely accounted for by differences in disciplinary climate (Arum and Velez 2012). In fact, in schools benefiting from a solid disciplinary climate, African American students have been progressing at the same pace as white students. Such empirical results underline not only that disciplinary climate is a major issue weighing on performance, but that fixing discipline is an efficient tool to boost student performance.

# **Conclusions and Recommendations**

**School safety and classroom disciplinary climate directly impact teacher performance and student** learning outcomes. Teachers who spend more time on classroom management are less able to direct efforts toward teaching and learning processes. In MENA, classes tend to be disrupted more often than in other regions, and hostile and violent outbursts in the classroom are more frequent. This is alarming, not only because it has a direct impact on learning, but also because it is a plausible reflection of the norms and behaviors students, and teachers, find acceptable to use.

Across the MENA region, teachers are not well equipped to manage highly aggressive and hostile environments. The corporal practices of decades past still resonate with many school teachers and leaders. In many instances, corporal practices are the go-to approach for managing extreme disciplinary problems. For instance, a study conducted in Jordan in 2007 found that, of the 3,130 children surveyed, 57 percent experienced “severe” violence, defined as hitting the child with an object such as a rod, rope, or cane and biting or burning the child. Another 50 percent of the children experienced “mild” violence from teachers or school staff, defined as slapping, pinching, pulling hair, pushing or shoving and twisting arms or legs (Elayyan 2007). Some Palestinian students living in refugee camps in Lebanon were reported to refuse attending school because of the unsafe environment, the violence and unkind treatments they suffered from their teachers (Abu Sharar 2009). While one in four Lebanese students taking part in a school-based health survey in 2005 reported being physically assaulted by a teacher or school staff, and almost 56 percent of students in the Republic of Yemen, aged 12-17 reported being violently assaulted by a teacher or school staff (WHO 2007; Ba-Saddik 2013). Corporal punishment is also reinforced at home, where parents use violent forms of discipline at a higher rate compared to other regions (El Kogali and others 2015).

Teachers in the MENA region mainly receive training on subject content and pedagogical practices, much of which is still enforcing traditional approaches to learning. Training is not provided on student aggression, behavioral, or social problems, and these have now become an even more serious problem with the unfolding refugee crisis, and the increased occurrence of students dealing with trauma or posttraumatic stress. Moreover, aggression prevention programs, and student psychological and social support services are not equitably provided across and within countries. Positive relationships between teachers and students are one means for managing classroom misconduct that has yet to infiltrate teaching practices and policies across the region.

How schools, school leaders and teachers foster positive relationships with students, even when faced with extreme situations of misconduct, is a key determining factor in the ability of a student to perform better (Hamre and Pianta 2001; O’Connor, Dearing and Collins 2011). Positive relationships are more likely to foster self-esteem and to enhance the quality of relationships with peers. As students feel more secure, they are more likely to learn more easily, adopt appropriate norms and behaviors, and feel more confident in raising their own expectations. Moreover, socially disadvantaged students tend to benefit more from positive relationships, perhaps because some may be more likely to experience stress and disrespect in their family environment (Murray and others 2005; Wentzel 2002) _._ Positive studentteacher relationships have been directly connected with high socioemotional skills (Silver and others 2005) as well as decreased behavioral difficulties (Meehan and others 2003; Rimm-Kaufmanand others 2009).

Thus, education systems must support positive school learning and social environments that focus on building positive teacher-student and student-student relationships. Schools are a primary context for social development making it a natural point for the development of positive relationships and behaviors.

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