Factors Influencing Teachers Disciplinary Strategies

Teachers’ disciplinary strategies when faced with disruptive behaviors differ considerably from incident to incident, which requires identification of the factors contributory to this differential treatment. With this aim in mind, this small-scale study was designed to identify certain determinants of teachers’ behaviors. In order to gather data, 127 primary school (6 to 8 grades) and high school teachers wrote their preferred strategies for ten problematic incidents. These open-ended responses were content analyzed and encoded in line with the management approaches found in the related literature. The encoded data were quantified and processed in line with the research question. The findings showed that Turkish teachers mostly prefer interactionist or higher control strategies and that their preferred strategies differed according to teachers’ gender, subjects, school level and the academic status of disruptive students. Some implications are accordingly suggested for teachers.İstenmeyen davranışlarla karşılaştıklarında öğretmenlerin tercih ettikleri yöntem-ler, durumdan duruma önemli değişiklikler gösterir; bu durum, farklı uygulamalara yol açan etkenlerin tespit edilmesini gerekli kılar. Bu çalışma, öğretmenlerin davranışlarının bazı belirleyicilerini belirlemek amacıyla planlandı. Veri toplamak amacıyla, 127 ilköğre-tim (ikinci kademe) ve lise öğretmeninden, kendilerine verilen on tane örnek durumda nasıl davranacaklarını yazmaları istendi. Öğretmenlerin cevapları, içerik çözümlemesine tabi tutuldu ve alanyazında karşılaştırılan sınıf yönetimi yaklaşımlara göre kodlandı. Kod-lanan veriler, nitel hale getirildi ve araştırma sorusuna paralel olarak işlendi. Bulgular, Türk öğretmenlerinin, etkileşimci veya daha yüksek kontrol düzeyindeki yöntemleri tercih ettikleri, bu tercih edilen yöntemlerin öğretmenlerin cinsiyeti, konu alanı, çalıştıkları okul düzeyi ve sorun davranışa baş vuran öğrencinin akademik durumuna göre farklılık göster-diğini göstermiştir. Bunlara yönelik olarak, öğretmenlere bazı önerilerde bulunulmuştur.Burden, B. (1995). Classroom management and discipline: Methods to facilitate cooperation and instruction. New York: Longman.Charles, C. M. (1996). Building classroom discipline, 5th ed. New York: Longman.Doyle, W. (1985). Recent Research on Classroom Management: Implications for Teacher Preparation. Journal of Teacher Education. 36, 31-35.Glenn, Robert E. (2001). What Teachers Need to Be. Education Digest, 67 (1), 19-21.Hatton, E. (1998) Social and cultural influences on teaching, in: E. Hatton (Ed.) Understanding Teaching: curriculum and the social context of schooling, 3-16.Hoban, G. (2000). Making Practice Problematic: listening to student interviews as a catalyst for teacher reflection. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 28 (2), 33-47.Jones, V. F. and Jones, L. S. (1995). Comprehensive classroom management: Creating positive learning environment for all Students. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Kounin, J. S. (1970). Discipline and group management. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Martin, N. K and Baldwin, B. (1992). “Beliefs regarding classroom management style. The differences between preservice and experienced teachers.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Mid-South Educational Research Association. Knoxville, Louisiana.Martin, N. K. and Baldwin, B. (1994). “Beliefs regarding classroom management style: Differences between novice and experienced teachers.” Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Southwest Educational Research Association. San Antonio.Martin, N. K. and Yin, Z. (1997). “Attitudes and beliefs regarding classroom management style: Differences between male and female teachers.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southwest Educational Research Association, Austin.Maslovaty, N. (2000). Teachers' Choice of Teaching Strategies for Dealing with Socio-Moral Dilemmas in the Elementary School. Journal of Moral Education, 29 (4), 429-444.Papesh, S (2001). Choosing Classroom Battles Wisely. Education Digest, 66 (5), 29-32.Traynor, P. L. (2003). Factors Contributing to Teacher Choice of Classroom Strategies. Education, 123 (3), 586-599.Wolfgang, C. H. and Glickman, C. D. (1995). Solving discipline problems: Strategies for classroom teachers. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.