Behavior Management Philosophy

Classroom Behavior Management

Behavior management in the classroom is an aspect that is dealt with in many different ways by all educators. As a future educator constructing my classroom behavior model is an aspect to determine now. After learning about the many different behavior management models I believe I represent a combination of ideas. “Medium control approaches are based on the philosophical belief that development comes from a combination of innate and outer forces.” (Burden, 2010) The aspect that I connect mostly with this approach is that; teachers that follow it accept the student-centered psychology that is reflected in the low control philosophy, but they also recognize that learning takes place in a group context. Curwin and colleagues developed a three-dimensional discipline plan that includes; prevention, action, and resolution. This discipline plan was developed to counter the possible causes of discipline problems by students that can be caused by student boredom, feelings of powerlessness, unclear limits, a lack of acceptable outlets for feelings, and attacks on their dignity.
There are aspects of the low control approach that I feel would be intertwined into my medium control behavior plan. The belief that students have primary responsibility for controlling their own behavior can be seen in Barbara Coloros’s Kids re Worth It! Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline. She “emphasizes guiding students to make their own decisions and to take responsibility for their choices.” (Burden, 2010) I hope to be able to incorporate her three aspects to bring good disciple into my classroom: treat students with respect and dignity; give them a sense of power in their lives; and give them opportunities to make decisions, take responsibility for their actions, and learn from their successes and mistakes. Teaching students to understand their actions and what is appropriate, and then to have them take responsibility for their actions is a technique I plan to use with all my students and my own children some day.
The combination of the medium and low control approaches will bring about the ideal classroom behavioral management plan for my classroom. The collaboration of approaches will allow myself to set my classroom to run the way I see it should, but to also allow the students to take a part in the running of the classroom and their personal behavior. These two approaches will also help to being a mutual respect between myself and my students, with the hopes of creating a comfortable and safe environment for all in the classroom.

Works Cited
Burden, Paul R. Classroom Management: Creating a Successful K-12 Learning Community. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010. Print.

Cited: Burden, Paul R. Classroom Management: Creating a Successful K-12 Learning Community. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2010. Print.