Blending Simulation and Traditional Instruction to Support Novice Teachers' Classroom Management Skills

• In Event: 66.058 - Experience and Interaction in Classroom Management

Abstract

This exploratory research developed and compared traditional and alternative students’ classroom management schema, dispositions toward management, and management efficacy before and after a multi-week unit of instruction that blended traditional didactic approaches with repeated opportunities to deliberately practice classroom management strategies in a mixed-reality simulation. Both groups reported strong levels of efficacy and moderate levels of behavioral control pre-post. Initial definitions of classroom management emphasized controlling student behavior whereas post-unit schema emphasized care. Both groups’ post-unit definitions contained more references to classroom management as teacher self-regulation. Finally, both groups selected controlling strategies for dealing with non-compliance whereas caring and self-regulatory strategies were selected to motivate students. Implications for meeting the professional needs of novice teachers on diverse paths are discussed.

Authors

• Joan M.T. Walker, Pace University

• Jennifer Pankowski, Long Island University