Responsive Classroom Management: Empowering Students and Teachers in Urban Schools

• In Event: School-Based Preparatory and Retention Research Supporting Ambitious Pedagogies for High-Need Urban Schools

Abstract

Purpose
This poster presentation presents findings from an urban-focused multi-case study that underscores the importance of responsive classroom management as an empowering tool for teachers and students. This study was taken from a larger study, and it highlights ways that effective teachers foster success for their students, and in the process, preserve and strengthen their commitments to work in urban communities.

Theoretical Framework
Teachers who are effective with culturally and linguistically diverse students draw on approaches from schools of the past in which community and relationships were emphasized (Siddle Walker, 1996). Often standing in contrast to current practices in urban education that are discipline-oriented rather than community-oriented (Milner & Tenore, 2010; Noguera, 2003), these teachers are committed to developing nurturing relationships and classroom environments where learning is cooperative and engaging.

Methods
Participants in this multi-case study were graduates of an intensive, urban-focused accelerated preparation and master’s program, and were nominated and established to be effective teachers of diverse students. Multiple data sources captured the work of the teachers showing participants’ work as advocates for their elementary students in a variety of situations and locations. Similar to the work of Ladson-Billings (1994), this study utilizes a reverse design approach to link effective teaching to initial preparation; an approach that goes beyond positive shifts in attitudes and dispositions by tracing practices of effective teachers to elements of their teacher preparation program (Clift & Brady, 2005; Sleeter & Owuor, 2011).

Data Sources
Data sources for each participant include analysis of individual program documents, three independent interviews, and three field observations. Participants also engaged in three focus group interviews. Cases were analyzed both individually and across cases in a recursive, generative process to uncover similarities and differences between cases and to understand the role of contextual factors in the work of the teachers.

Results
Results of this study show that teachers used effective management to advocate for students by: (a) fighting labels and deficit beliefs by giving students power to transform; (b) protecting and increasing opportunities for ambitious teaching practices that require student autonomy; (c) guarding instructional time; and (d) increasing students’ interpersonal abilities and possibilities for transfer to other future situations. Teachers benefited from effective management, because there were fewer discipline problems and teachers felt more satisfaction with student progress.


Significance
One significance of this study is the acknowledgement that social and urban contexts complicate management of children who are often racially, culturally, economically different from many teachers (Weiner, 2003). Novice teachers and school administrators report classroom management is one of the areas teachers are least prepared (Melnick & Meister, 2008). This is particularly concerning regarding research that reports productive classroom environment may be more important than curriculum and strategies for success in urban schools (Brown, 2003). Research, such as presented here, reveals important connections between teacher preparation and effective teaching in urban high-need schools, which has practical implications for all stakeholders concerned with this population of students and families.

Authors

• Nancy Jo Schafer, Georgia State University

• Kim Stevens Barker, Georgia State University