Philosophy of Management

Jamie Holforty

I believe it is very important to know how to manage students. I think

as a future teacher, I need to understand when it is my turn to speak, or

what I should say. Students are not going to listen to me if I just stand up in

front of the class and let them walk all over me. But, on the other hand,

they are not going to listen if all I do is constantly yell at them. We need to

learn when it is the right time or the wrong time to yell at them. I believe in

giving the students a chance to communicate with other, even if they are

not talking about school. But, I also want to make sure that they are

learning and they are listening to me. I plan to always make sure I give

instructions before they enter the class so they know what to expect if

good behavior is not demonstrated.

There is a difference between managing and class and disciplining a

class. Management comes with time and know what to say and when to say

it. Discipline is an easy go to method. It is easy to yell at students or to write

their names on the board, but it is not effective. “There are teachers who

believe that to have order, you just get tougher and tougher with kids—

that you impose more rules and harsher consequences to get students’
respect. But it doesn’t work. . . .To be successful, a discipline plan should be

built on a foundation of mutual trust and respect. That’s the fundamental

change in the Assertive Discipline plan for the ’90s. . . . Too many kids have

been let down by the adults in their lives. You have to demonstrate that

you’re fair, that you stick by your word, that you care. (p. 6)”

Not knowing how to control a class, can cause teachers to become

overwhelmed and proceed to quit teaching. “Concerns about student

behavior and classroom management create stress for teachers and very

likely limit the number of teachers who enter teaching or remain in

teaching for an extended period of time.”

If you plan to become a teacher you need to be prepared for the

students to treat you differently. There is no way to prepare yourself

completely for the future. “As suggested throughout this chapter, your

decisions about how you teach involve a delicate blend of who you are,

who you want to be, the professional knowledge and skills you develop,

what you believe about your students and student learning, and how you

integrate this into the classroom. In a very real sense, the most effective

classroom management will be that which you create based on being a

teacher-researcher in your own classroom.”