'Behavior misunderstandings': pedagogical orientations, teacher and student behavior

The purpose of the study was to better understand (1) how teachers view their purpose as educators; (2) what teachers expect of students within the classroom; (3) how student behaviors influence academic behaviors; and (4) what kind of lessons are being reinforced by both the hidden curriculum and the behavior management system within the school. Ultimately, teachers and students are influenced whole school expectations and policies. The researcher engaged in participant observation, spending seven months with a single eighth grade cohort throughout the course of their academic school day in five separate core curriculum classes: Science, Social Studies, Math, Reading and Writing. These observations were accompanied by a journal of field notes. The researcher found that a student’s ‘bad’ behavior could decrease their academic grades, a teacher’s expectations may be implicit or unrelated to education, and that the school-wide behavior management system is generally inconsistent with daily routine. Based on these findings, the researcher recommends unifying all teacher expectations, differentiating instruction, changing the current class schedule, and increasing the frequency of administration observation of teachers.M.S., Global and International Education -- Drexel University, 201