As a student teacher in Ottawa, Canada, I had two practicum experiences. In one of my placements, I worked with a teacher in a Grade 9 Mathematics class. I remember being overwhelmed and stressed when I had to teach the class. I had no worries about the Maths content, but I had no idea how I would manage the class. In my weeks of observation, I had seen few effective strategies demonstrated by the teacher, and felt poorly prepared to teach.
Chapter 4: Coaching Classroom Management is written by Wendy M. Reinke, Randy Sprick and Jim Knight. The authors discuss the importance of good classroom management strategies for student and teacher success in the classroom. It is difficult for teachers to focus on other classroom issues, such as learning, when they have to deal with many behaviour problems. This makes it crucial for teachers to learn how to effectively manage their classroom. However, it is difficult for teachers to change their classroom management without adequate practice and support. While it can be useful for teachers to encounter new classroom management approaches and strategies at conferences, this is seldom effective in changing the teacher’s classroom because the teacher does not get an opportunity to internalize the approach. Unless a teacher has internalized a classroom management strategy (through practice), he will revert to his approaches that are familiar and thereby more accessible in the high stress situation of classroom misbehaviour. In addition to practicing the strategy, teachers need support during the process of changing their classroom management because one change in the classroom may cause other changes. A coach is necessary for teacher’s support as she can help the teacher anticipate the impact of an intervention on the students and classroom environment, and can observe the classroom to provide feedback to the teacher for determining when the intervention has become entrenched in the routines of the classroom. For coaching of classroom management to be effective, the administration of the school needs to clearly define the vision of coaching, establish the roles of the participants and provide training and accountability measures to support the attainment of the vision.