Preparing New Teachers to Manage the Modern Classroom

Abstract

Classroom management is broadly defined as the wide variety of skills and techniques that teachers use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, on task, and academically productive during class. A teacher’s skills as a classroom manager are vital to being an efficient and effective teacher, no matter how knowledgeable a teacher may be on a subject. However, while most college curriculums focus on pedagogy and curriculum-building skills, most do not place explicit focus on classroom management strategies. This leaves many teacher candidates feeling ill-prepared to manage a classroom upon leaving academia. This paper explores the necessity of creating a college-level course dedicated to merging academic theory with research-based practices as they are performed in the field in an attempt to further prepare teacher candidates for the realities of modern classroom management.