Classroom Management in Secondary Education

Author: Jane Arrendondo Page 1 of 11 r: Katie Jones. © Pearson PHOTOCOPIABLE

By Jane Arredondo

There are two kinds of adolescents: those who want

to learn and those who don’t. Regrettably, the latter

often form the majority. However, ‘knowing’ English

improves employment prospects. So tell your class

why they are learning English, and that while your

lessons may be fun, they will always be purposeful

and should be taken seriously.

For mutual success you need an orderly and

courteous environment. Good classroom

management leads to effective lessons and effective

lessons lead to success. There are different ways of

creating a disciplined classroom and there are

different types of discipline. I’m not advocating

‘authoritarian’ discipline, this is hollow; good

discipline is based on respect. If you are courteous

and avoid shouting, if your students are polite to you

and to one another, then you have established a

great learning environment. This may mean that

students initially have to line up outside your door so

they enter in an orderly manner; you may ask them

to stand while you say ‘good morning’ and set out

the day’s lesson objectives . . . do whatever is

necessary to start the lesson with all faces focused

on you and all minds aware that they are about to

start a serious learning activity. After a month, you

will find the atmosphere becomes more relaxed and

thereafter you may only need to raise your voice on

rare occasions.

To bring a disruptive student to attention start with

the icy glare, halt proceedings and focus your victim

with fork-bending eye contact. Once the class has

gone quiet – they will because they love a bit of

drama – lower you voice and say what needs to be

said s-l-o-w-l-y. Theatrical timing is vital. Never

shriek, that just makes you look silly.

Get each class used to the fact that there is a time

to listen, a time to talk and a time to write, and it is

all carried out in the target language – without

exception. Unless it is pair-work, never give

students the opportunity to chat. Numerous, varied,

easy to understand but challenging tasks are

important ingredients of good discipline. Be sure to

have a ‘heads down’ part to each lesson so students

can monitor their own progress. Draw each lesson

to a close by reiterating the objective then ask

students to stand and do a rapid, fun, spot test: four

or five questions may be enough. If it is a small

class, allow students to leave once they have

answered correctly.

Working with teenagers means appearance matters.

Be sure you always look tidier, more organized,

more professional than they do. Everybody judges

by appearances, even if they say they don’t.

Adolescents are fixated on appearance; if you look a

mess, they’ll assume you are one.

The basic rule is that the teacher is the boss – end

of subject. Using this formula, you will be the ‘best

teacher ever’ because your students will achieve the

best results of which they are capable.