Standing Their Ground: How a Field Supervisor Helped Student Teachers Implement Classroom Management Strategies That Work

Many new teachers struggle with implementing effective classroom management strategies to deal with student behavior. This study examined the role a university field supervisor played in supporting three student teachers in the area of classroom management. The author used cognitive coaching techniques to help her student teachers devise classroom management strategies to address students behavioral issues. These coaching strategies included eliciting student teachers’ input about students’ specific behavior problems and their strategies for dealing with their students’ behavior. As a result, student teachers developed classroom management strategies to help students with behavior problems follow the classroom rules and engage with the student teachers’ instruction. This study is important because it showed that if student teachers receive support to successfully devise and implement effective classroom management strategies, they may be more prepared to teach full-time and remain in their positions over the span of their careers