Pre-Service Teacher Preparation Related to Classroom Management Techniques

Teachers are likely to encounter children with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) at least once throughout their career. These students demonstrate internalizing or externalizing behaviors that have a negative effect on their education. Pre-service teachers reported that almost a fourth of their students portrayed some forms of challenging behavior (Westling, 2010). These behaviors were described as defiance, noncompliance, disruption, and socially inappropriate behavior. Westling (2010) reported that dealing with these challenging behaviors take up a significant amount of teacher’s time, reduces their effectiveness as teachers, and inhibits the ability of the other children’s learning. Despite most teachers feeling inadequately prepared to work with children with EBD, it is believed that more preparation increases one’s confidence in one’s ability to use effective strategies while trying to improve challenging behavior. This study targeted pre-service teachers enrolled in the College of Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Participants were asked to complete a survey about the knowledge they possess regarding classroom management techniques and how confident they feel to utilize those techniques. Findings from the study can be taken into account when developing upcoming curriculums for education courses regarding this issue. It is important to explore this topic because all teachers are likely to work with students with EBD and they often report that they don’t feel prepared