Case Study

Practice Described My time at Footscray City College has taken me through many different experiences, mostly good with all of them allowing me to grow as a teacher. One experience that occurred while I was on placement was when a student was misbehaving and disrupting of the science classes that I was teaching. He would not stop talking when I was explaining some important guidelines in an experiment that we were going to be doing. I told him a few times to stop talking and then eventually moved him to a different seat. He continued to disrupt the class so I asked him to stand outside the door so I could speak to him after I had finished explaining the task. The rest of the class started with the task so I called him back into the classroom and spoke to him about his behaviour and how he might be able to improve it. We spoke about the class guidelines and rules that were in place and we both decided that he was not going to do the practical task and instead had to do work from the textbook. Practice Explained In this particular case, I used several different theories. One which was prominent was Boomers Theory of Negotiating the Curriculum (1992). Although it was no the curriculum that was being negotiated, it was the consequence of his behaviour. We talked through the guidelines that we made together as a class and which everyone agreed with and then we decided on a punishment which would be appropriate for his misbehaviour. Using this theory ensures that the student and the teacher work together to make decisions. This makes the student feel like they have an input and make the relationship between teacher and student a better one. Another theory that was used was Watsons Theory of Behaviourism (2013). As a result of his behaviour, I gave him a warning system and once he used all three warnings he was sent outside, away from his friends and unable to do the experiment that the whole class was looking forward to do. His behaviour of talking when I was addressing the class is disrespect and one of the school values named in each classroom is Respect and known to all students. Using behaviourism and conditioning if a student is moved away from their friends or banned from doing a practical experiment, the likelihood of the behaviour occurring again is lowered. Practice Theorized I believe the way I handled this situation was very well done, it was the first time I had to use the punishment of sending a student out of a class, and the first time I had a conversation with a student about their behaviour and why they had acted like they did. This experience showed the students that I respect their opinions and their decisions. During the negotiation of the punishment, I listened to the misbehaving student and we talked through it together instead of me just talking to him. I think this is the best way to approach your students. Practice Changed In classes following this incident, the student displayed more respect for me and did not speak when I was speaking, the classes ran more smoothly and there were fewer disruptions.

Reference List Boomer, G, 1992. Negotiating the Curriculum Educating for the 21st Century. 1st ed UK: The Falmer Press. Kendra Cherry, 2013. What is behaviourism? How it works and how it influenced psychology. [online] available at : http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviourism.htm