Christy Khouri
I choose to pose the question, how serious is disruptive behaviour
within schools, and is it a major issue? Also, why, who and where are these issues
arising- what social factors of the cultures and the identities of students are
influencing students to act in disruptive manners.
Based on my past schooling both primary and secondary, I
experienced classes made mostly of students who displayed erratic behaviour.
When I reflect upon the earlier years of secondary school, I recall spending
most of my class time waiting for a teacher who would be waiting for other
students to settle down, often having to spend many of my lunch times in
detentions because the rowdy bunch at the back felt like throwing their school bags
at the fans. Experience wise, behaviour was one of the most significant aspects
of schooling, where anyone who was in the ‘’baddest class’’ (yes we actually
used those words *facepalm) was
sure to not get any work done. Why were there so many naughty students? Well I always assumed it was just the
location, influences from home and such. Having attended a private school in a
place where students mainly ranged from lower socio economic classes, stemming
from immigrant parents whom often had minimal educational history, i concluded
that the wild nature of my educational experiences in primary and secondary
school was because of the contextual and social features of the majority of
students.
It is established that, ‘’factors in
the home as being the most important causes of disruptive behavior’’ (Maxwell 2006, p 203), where often students
may mirror or react against issues that arise involving their caregivers. Where
the Sydney Morning Herald informs that teachers have experienced ‘’lack of administrative support, onerous compliance measures and much
tougher emotional conditions than they expected to face, particularly in
economically depressed areas.’’ That there is a correlation between bad
behavior and students who originate from lower SES backgrounds and disruptive
homes. It seems, however, that many
teachers can no longer stand the heat of such students, which begs the question
of who needs to shape up. A teacher has sued the state government due to
students driving him to anxiety disorders and suicidal tendencies, where the
extend of such psychological harm raises the question of what schools are doing
to contain students, and whether its the schools job to do so. For successful
change it has been seen that
‘’school‐based strategies as the responses most likely
to succeed in reducing it, particularly in‐service training in class management skills,
greater pastoral care input and better liaison with outside agencies. A school‐by‐school analysis of staff attitudes showed that there were significant
differences in the extent to which the staffs believed that the problem of
disruptive behaviour is within the power of schools to control and some
preliminary evidence was presented to suggest that this may affect the schools’
abilities to prevent and/or respond constructively to disruptive behaviour when
it occurs.’’
(Maxwell 2006, p 203).
That action must be taken by the school and teachers to encourage and
provide for student’s who engage in disinterested and disorderly fashions. It
has been shown, however, that teachers are failing to maintain these qualities
and instead, "using sarcasm, aggression, responding negatively
to mistakes. They were there [originally] for reasons such as wanting to
enhance social equity, making a contribution to society, or having a personal
interest in teaching and working with youth." That teacher’s hold
intentions of reform and encouragement, but are not successful in maintaining
effective qualities.
It has therefore been established that social factors such as low SES
and disruptive homes, and also teacher’s attitudes, all hold major impacts on
student’s willingness to learn and comply with the demands of a classroom.
References:
Marshall, K 2013. Sydney Morning
Herald Homepage. Available from <http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/burnout-hits-one-in-four-teachers-20131005-2v13y.html
> 9th October, 2013.
Maxwell, W 2006. Teachers’
Attitudes Towards Disruptive Behaviour in Secondary Schools. Educational Review, vol. 39, no. 3, pp.
203-216.
Toscano, N 2013. Sydney Morning
Herald Homepage. Available from <http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/teacher-sues-over-difficult-students-20131008-2v6fd.html
> 9th October, 2013.
I’m commenting on your blog simply because I encountered many similar students who displayed ‘erratic’ behaviour throughout high school and asked myself the same questions at times. There is no doubt that I came to the similar conclusion that ultimately their behaviour is a result of an accumulation of issues within the realms of SES status, familial circumstances and location. But one must not put notions of simply individuality as a reason to the side. In my own experiences, there were a range of students who lived hackneyed, pristine lives with wealth and familial security, yet still acted out daily in their schooling environment. It is a naive flaw of youth to want to stand out from the crowd, or follow the crowd or at times, simply gain the attention they so desire. For instance, I’m sure everyone has seen those circumstances in which a student acts out and others will follow him in the pursuit of popularity and social power within the schooling environment. However, going off the more ‘credible’ reasons as to why students act out, a low SES status undoubtedly can be a fundamental cause. Cognitive functioning can become limited through various poverty effects and less educational resources. Similarly detrimental familial circumstances can at times determine cognitive functioning as there is often next to no home based cognitive stimulation within disruptive homes. Parents simply don’t care as much about their child’s education, usually because they don’t see it as necessary (possibly because they became successful without a ‘good’ education) and the student is then left with the mentality that school is something that has to be done simply as a social norm rather than a foundation of cognitive and social development. These students usually fall into the trap of a ‘reproductive habitus’ in which they become burdened with their disadvantages and essentially see no point to education. These students not only come from poor family environments, but also stem from families who may hold a family business in which the student will inevitably inherit. They see a set future with education providing no alternative.
ReplyDeleteIt is then the teacher’s job to promote a sense of ‘transformative habitus’ in which the student becomes impassioned to better themselves and set up their own future. It could possibly simply be done by searching for what the student is passionate about. No matter who you are, every individual is passionate about something in life. With the help of a teacher, that passion can at times be a way to escape the students perceived burdens in life and (hopefully) halt erratic behaviour as they have a purpose and they are able to establish a sense of meaning associated with their education.
Mike Howlett