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The following report has been created as a way to uncover the beliefs of why young people

misbehave in class through both scholarly literary research and the responses of six

participants, which are made up of one teacher, one pre-service teacher, two parents and

two non-teaching members of society. Various ideologies will be investigated such as

misbehaviour due to teacher stress, discipline and lack of engagement. This report will also

include theories to deal with the management of bad classroom behaviour and the

implications for personal praxis.

Classroom management, as Emmer, Eabornie, Evertson & Weinstein (2013) define is

often thought in terms of controlling students in a way that gets them to respond quickly

to teacher demands, needs and goals (p. 4). This is essential in any class setting as students

with no management can often misbehave or cause disruptions and implication for not only

the other students in the class, but also the teacher. Lack of classroom management or

training can often lead to teachers burning out as it is too much to handle emotionally

(McCormick & Barnett, 2011). Burning out can be defined as the experience of emotional

exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment (Tsouloupas et al,

2010, pp. 173). The burning out of teachers can be a huge influence on whether students

misbehave in class, as the constant changing of teachers not only causes disruptions in their

learning, its safe to assume that the bad behaviors then become another teachers issue,

leading to more teacher stress. With a constant turnover of teachers, it proves almost

impossible for teachers and students to form a relationship which Hagenauer, Hascher, &

Volet (2015)s research suggests that teacher and students closeness is essential for

positive teacher emotions and engagement of students, which can help minimize students

misbehaviour. Therefore, one reason why students may misbehave in class ultimately lies in

the relationship and emotional state of the teacher.

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With teachers emotionally stressed and burning out, students motivations for

learning may be impacted. The idea of an autonomy supportive environment; being one

that relies on student centered learning and inner motivation, as opposed to a controlling

environment, can help minimize classroom misbehaviour (Emmer et al, 2013). Changing the

environment to increase student involvement, using the correct language, explaining to a

student why the content is being taught, compromise in areas students show negative

reaction due to too much work load and provide a good supportive structure are all part of

creating am autonomy supportive environment. The opposite of this, being a controlling

environment can have a negative effect on students, leading to misbehaviour in the

classroom. Discipline policies when implemented correctly can help improve student

misbehaviour, even slightly as demonstrated by the results in Hart, Wearning and Conn

(1995). When children misbehave and teachers get stressed, this can provoke aggressive

teacher management. This kind of management can potentially increase misbehaviour as it

encourages students to be off task, affect the relationship between students and the

teacher, as well as long term emotional and health impacts for students (Riley, Lewis &

Wang, 2012). Therefore, the way discipline is implemented, and the environment a teacher

creates through reactions and relationships can also be a reason why children misbehave.

Engagement also has a major influence of the behaviour or misbehaviour of students

in a classroom. Engagement refers to the behavioral intensity, emotional quality, and

personal investment in a students involvement in a learning activity (Emmer et al, 2013).

Student engagement is essential as it can be the engine of learning and development. When

engaged students use a variety of engagement methods, such as behavioral, emotional and

cognitive, theyre more likely to show attention, effort and persistence, interest, enjoyment

and commitment to the task at hand (Emmer et al, 2013). Teacher enthusiasm can also have
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an impact on whether student engagement occurs. Hagenauer, Hascher, & Volet (2015)

research shows that positive teacher emotions can induce positive student emotions, and

thus create engagement. Cognitive overload may also have an effect on engagement, as too

much information at once can overload a students memory, causing disconnection from

the topic, and therefore misbehaviour (Arnett, 2014). Another reason then we can safely

assume for student misbehaviour is engagement or lack of as well as too much content in

one class.

With current research ideas presented, personal research was also conducted. Six

participants took place in interviews designed to uncover what people believed to be the

cause of students misbehaving in class. Person 1 and Person 2 were both parents of

students in high school, Person 3 was a pre-service teacher, Person 4 was a current service

teacher, and finally Person 5 and Person 6 were non-teaching members of the public, and

were the only males out of the participants. Each person was interviewed with open ended

questions designed to uncover ideas and thoughts they had on why students misbehaved.

Each person prior to the interview read and understood the code of ethics that needed to

be followed as signed a permission slip allowing their responses to be used in this report.

Many of the ideas presented by the participants were similar to each other and correlated

to current research discussed previously, while others where different and presented other

ideas as to why students misbehave.

The primary question for every interview was why do you think children misbehave

in schools?. The general consensus for this question related to engagement of students,

lack of discipline and lack of connection between students and teachers. Both Person 5 and

Person 6 believed that students misbehaved due to friends influence as well. All

participants believed that parents had a varying degree of responsibility when it came to
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misbehaviour. Person 3 and Person 4 both agreed that parents are role models and if they

dont respect authority and students see this, students learn from this and when a teacher

displays authority they feel as if they can dismiss it as their parents do. Person 1, Person 2,

Person 3 and Person 4 all agreed that teachers need or should have more training in the

area of classroom management to minimize class disruption, while Person 5 and Person 6

said that teachers just need to know how to discipline properly and effectively. Every

participant when asked about class content agreed that engagement in the topic and

teaching students in a way that they can understand, as well as providing additional help for

those who need it could potentially improve bad behaviours in classrooms.

When comparing these results to the research conducted by scholars we can see

comparisons in the findings. With all participants having similar views as to why they

believed children misbehave, it is interesting to see that the scholarly research also

strengthens these ideas. Engagement being the first thing mentioned in every interview was

a main belief as to why the participants felt that children misbehaved. Students being

bored in class and therefore misbehaving to get attention was due to lack of engagement

in the participants answers, especially Person 1, Person 2, Person 5 and Person 6. Person 3

and Person 4 belied that it is an issue, but not the biggest one. Emmer et al (2013)

highlighted how in order for engagement to occur, emotional needs need to be present in a

positive way. Without this positive engagement, students do not feel motivated to stay on

task or participate in the activities, causing misbehaviour.

The lack of connection, which participants also felt, especially Person 1 who said that

teachers should have a connection with the students as long as it doesnt cross the line, as

well as Person 2, was a main reason for student misbehaviour also has a connection to

scholarly literature. Hagenauer et al (2015)s research into teacher stress and classroom
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management found that when students fail to form a relationship with their teacher this

can lead to misbehaviour. This can lead to teacher stress, which may cause teachers to

manage classrooms aggressively bringing us to the next point: Discipline. Bad discipline due

to lack of connection, or improper implementation can have an effect on the behaviour of

young people in the classroom, while positive feeling classrooms created more

motivation. The male participants, being Person 5 and Person 6 both agreed that strict

discipline is something schools are lacking, while the rest of the participants agreed that

discipline was at the hand of the teacher and was to be determined by the seriousness of

the misbehaviour, and a focus on positive and motivated classroom was more of a priority.

Hart et al, (1995)s research suggest that discipline may have a positive effect when

implemented properly, but also agrees that it ultimately comes down to the schools

discipline policy.

Lack of training in the area of classroom management was an idea that participants

mentioned. Person 1 and Person 2 both felt as if teachers did not have enough training or

experience before entering a classroom, while Person 3 felt that they would like more

training before graduating as they felt extremely unprepared. Person 4 stated that they

wished there was more training prior to accreditation to minimize the stress they endured

the first three years while Person 5 and Person 6 felt that training would only help so much,

as schools and children vary. McCormick & Barnett (2011) links lack of training to teacher

burnout, as teachers do not have the skills or their skills are lacking when it comes to the

management of a classroom, and can sometimes react in an aggressive way. This relates

back to creating a disconnection from teachers and students and lack of structure leading to

bad behaviours in classrooms from young people.

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Throughout the construction of this report, as a pre-service teacher various

problems and implications have been highlighted. These issues, if not dealt with properly or

addressed as soon as it is present in a classroom, can ultimately lead to classroom

misbehaviour. Issues such as teacher burnout due to emotional stress can potentially affect

me if I do not prepare myself for student misbehaviour and how to manage it. Upon

entering a classroom, students can be made aware of the expectation, and try to create a

connection with the students to minimize misbehaviour. Discipline as discussed previously is

also a major issue as the correct implementation can be the difference between managing

misbehaviour or increasing the misbehaviour. Engagement is also an implication as without

it students may not be motivated to complete class work, without engaging a class is not

productive.

Choosing a theory to implement classroom management can benefit and minimize

young people misbehaving in classrooms. Lyons, Ford & Slee (2014) describe and put forth

various methods of classroom management, all from different spectrums that can suit each

teachers individual philosophy, such as cognitive behavioural theory. Cognitive behavioural

theory defined as a way to develop student self-management skills to the point of

(behavioral) independence (Lyons et al, 2014, p. 26), therefore this theory can teach

students to take ownership of their learning, and their behaviour. Why this theory could

potentially help my praxis is by giving students the of their learning, therefore giving them

responsibility, instead of becoming an authority figure that may not allow students to be

motivated to reach their full potential. It can also help create a relationship between

students and myself as a teacher as teachers are not forced to be a strict authority figure,

and can create respect because of this. The implications of this however is that students
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may not be emotionally motivated to take control and students may not be mature enough

for this theory application.

Throughout the creation of this report, reasons for young peoples misbehaviour in

classrooms have been suggested. Among these suggestions are teacher burnout leading to

constant cycling of teachers and therefore lack of connection between students and

teachers, creating a positive environment through the use of discipline, as well as

engagement in classrooms ensuring that cognitive overload does not occur. Many of these

ideas were reciprocated throughout the responses of the participants as well. All of these

issues are relevant to my praxis as without awareness, and proper preparation

misbehaviour in classrooms will continue, and the chances of burnout due to stress will

occur. Overall, students do not have one main reason for misbehaving, there are many

implications, reasons and explanations for why they do.

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References

Arnett, J. J. (2014). Adolescence and emerging adulthood (5th ed.). Pearson Education

Limited

Emmer, E., Sabornie, E., Evertson, C.M., & Weistein, C.S. (2013). Handbook of Classroom

Management: Research, Practice and Contemporary Issues. Retrieved from

https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ce3hAQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA

3&dq=define+classroom+management&ots=N5_5Qv4_ib&sig=r9FG_CFoZpHpJN05V

d7LHUXicPY#v=onepage&q&f=false

Hagenauer, G., Hascher, T., & Volet, S.E. (2015). Teacher emotions in the classroom:

associations with students engagement, classroom discipline and the interpersonal

teacher-student relationship European Journal of Psychology Education, 30(4). 385-

403. doi:10.1007/s10212-015-0250-0

Hart, P. M., Wearing, A. J., & Conn, M. (1995). Conventional wisdom is a poor predictor of

the relationship between discipline policy, student misbehaviour and teacher stress.

British Journal of Educational Psychology. 65(1), 27-48. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-

8279.1995.tb01129.x

Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Slee, J. (2014). Classroom management: Creating positive learning

environments (4th ed.). South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage

McCormick, J., & Barnett, K. (2011). Teachers' attributions for stress and their relationships

with burnout. International Journal of Educational Management, 25(3), 278

293.doi:10.1108/09513541111120114
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Riley, P., Lewis, R., & Wang, B. (2012). Investigating teachers explanations for aggressive

classroom discipline strategies in China and Australia. Educational Psychology, 32(3),

389403. doi:10.1080/01443410.2012.662151

Tsouloupas, C.N., Carson, R.L., Matthews, R., Grawitch, M. J., & Barber, L.K. (2010). Exploring

the association between teachers perceived student misbehaviour and emotional

exhaustion: the importance of teacher efficacy beliefs and emotion regulation,

Educational Psychology, 30(2), 173-189. doi: 10.1080/01443410903494460