A Comparative Assessment of High and Low Control Teachers’ Classroom Management Behaviors

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between teachers’ orientations to classroom management and their classroom management behaviours. Two teachers with different orientations to classroom management (low and high control) were selected and their students (n=91) were administered a questionnaire, which included 36 items under seven dimensions (empathy, enthusiasm, instruction, encouragement, control, feedback and correctives, and evaluation). The researcher also observed the classes of the two teachers in order to gather more indepth data on how the teachers managed their classes. Questionnaire data were tabulated in percentages, means, and standard deviations, and independent t-tests were conducted to compare the teachers to find whether there were any differences between the two teachers. In addition, data from the observations were processed through content analysis and interpreted by relating them to the findings coming from the questionnaire. The analyses indicated that the two teachers with different orientations differed significantly in all the dimensions except for enthusiasm. Significant relationships were found between the teachers’ orientations to classroom management and how they managed their classes.