Part B Assessment 2: Student Behaviour and Wellbeing

According to Hattie (2003) there are six factors which impact student learning and include
principals, teachers, schools, home, peers and students. The most influential factors out of
these six are students then teachers. Therefore, teachers must utilise suitable pedagogical
approaches when implementing and preparing lesson plans. Students differing in abilities
and ages may learn at different rates and different ways. Teachers must recognise this and
explore differentiated programming, planning and specified delivery of content supporting
student learning. A successful teacher in my opinion must have certain qualities which
enable them to create a positive environment. These qualities include being friendly,
approachable, professional, an effective communicator, engaging, enthusiastic about their
work, value wellbeing (of themselves and students) and positively passionate about
education and the learning journey.
Teachers can work with the students to create and modify activities to suit their needs,
therefore creating an engaging positive environment. As Abdi (2014) noted “teachers should
make concentrated efforts to teach in a multi-style fashion that both reaches the greatest
extent of students in a given class and challenges all students to grow as learners”.
According to the Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth
Affairs (2011) a safe schooling environment is considered “a safe and supportive school, the
risk from all types of harm is minimised, diversity is valued and all members of the school
community feel respected and included and can be confident that they will receive support
in the face of any threats to their safety or wellbeing”.
Before commencing this subject, I had little to no knowledge regarding pedagogy for
positive learning environments. As a teacher in training, I gained a considerable amount of
knowledge throughout the semester taking notes on current behaviour management and
teacher effectiveness, research in application of practical skill development for beginning
teachers, building positive learning environments, examining school based policies,
principles and practices, responsibilities involved with student welfare and discipline. I also
developed skills and knowledge in responding effectively to a range of student behaviours
and enhancing student mental health and wellbeing.
Before starting the unit however, I had previously learnt that reflection is a valuable tool in
teaching as it gives the opportunity for teachers to look at what they can do to improve
whether it be in student management, curriculum and/or the type of learning style/model
used. More specifically teachers must determine why, in a situation, their pedagogical
knowledge is not producing the expected results and what can be done about this issue.
Utilising a range of reflective devices such as a philosophy log, shadow teachers and
research – teachers can improve their performance in creating a positive learning
environment.
In coaching tennis as a part time job, I found that the two obstacles of ‘assumptions’ and
‘mental set’ were the two biggest issues when considering a personal model to create
positive environments and manage challenging students. Assumptions about students can
be easily made and people often make assumptions about the constraints and obstacles
that prevent certain solutions. Mental set is something that I recognised I always do when
coaching tennis which is the tendency people have, to only use solutions that have worked
in the past rather than looking for alternative ideas. A mental set can often work as a
heuristic, making it a useful problem-solving tool. However, mental sets can also lead to
inflexibility, making it more difficult to find effective solutions. Throughout this semester I
have learnt to change this and created extra strategies to use.
A significant amount of time has been placed on theories in my undergraduate Health
Science degree however, the application into classroom management is another concept
which is new to me. The one theory which I believe has had the most profound effect on my
learning throughout this semester is Choice Theory by William Glasser. The basis of choice
theory includes five basic needs which are needed to satisfy an individual; survival, love and
belonging, power, freedom and fun. In setting a positive class environment, students should
have an active role in how and what they are taught. The teacher should structure the
lesson around what internally drives and motivates the student to learn. Discussions and
class meetings should be regularly implemented so the teacher can base their activities and
content around the students’ needs.
With classroom management there are several guided questions which can be asked and
used to effectively manage a student’s behaviour. First question is to ask him/her what they
are doing, how and is their behaviour helping the class and ask how can this behaviour
change to help the class. Consequences should be made if the student negatively responds
to the question.
There are many factors and facets of classroom management and pedagogy for positive
learning environments that I need to learn. These include personal experiences and/or
observations of certain theories and management strategies in place (utilised in a
classroom).
In future I plan to research and speak to fellow neighbours (school teachers both primary
and secondary) and schools about positive behaviour intervention and support (PBIS) and
social and emotional learning (SEL). Although I have learnt a substantial amount about
classroom management strategies, I believe that I still have a much to learn and recognise,
and agree with Prozesky (2000), that a teacher should never stop learning.

References
Abdi, A. (2014). The effect of inquiry-based learning method on students’ academic
achievement in science course, Universal Journal of Educational Research. 2(1): 37-
41, 2014 DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2014.020104.

Hattie, J.A.C. (2003). Teachers make a difference: What is the research evidence? Paper
presented at the building teacher quality: What does the research tell us. ACER
 Research Conference, Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved from
http://research.acer.edu.au/research_conference_2003/4/

Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development And Youth Affairs (2011).
National safe schools framework: All Australian schools are safe, supportive and
respectful teaching and learning communities that promote student wellbeing.
Retrieved from
https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/national_safe_schools_frame
work.pdf

Prozesky, D. R. (2000). Teaching and Learning. Community Eye Health, 13(34), 30–31.