An Interpersonal Perspective on Classroom Management in Secondary Classrooms in the Netherlands

Abstract

To be published in the Handbook of Classroom Management: Research, Practice, and Contemporary Issues, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates IntroductionThis chapter reports on results of research from 25-year program of studies investigating teacher-student interpersonal relationships in secondary classrooms. This research focuses on the role of the teacher and builds a knowledge base about managing classrooms to create effective learning environments. Starting in the Netherlands, this line of research now has developed to many other countries such as Australia, Canada, Israel, Slovenia, Turkey, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and the US. In this chapter, we will focus on Dutch research, referring when useful to the research in other countries.We begin this chapter with a discussion of the multiple perspectives that can be used to analyze teaching and then describe the communicative systems approach, the central element of the interpersonal perspective that is the focus of this chapter. We then turn to other element, the Model for Interpersonal Teacher Behavior and measurement instruments developed to map teacher interpersonal behavior. The remainder of the chapter reviews studies on diverse issues covering the development of interpersonal teacher behavior during the teaching career, problems of beginning and experienced teachers including the non-verbal behavior and the spatial position of the teacher in the class, teacher interpersonal relations and student outcomes, differences between teacher and student perceptions of the relationship, and finally interventions to improve relationships in class. Multiple perspectives on teachingClassroom teaching is a complex task in a complex environment. Usually a (Dutch) secondary school teacher is in a modest-sized room with between 20 and 40 students. Many factors including emotional, cultural, interpersonal, and environmental issues influence the teacher, the students, and what occurs in class (Shuell, 1996). To reach their aims in this complex situation teachers have to fulfill many functions often at the same time (e.g. motivating, instructing, and organizing) (see Doyle in this volume XXXX). To grasp this complexity, some researchers 1 distinguish between different types of teaching acts such as classroom management or instructional behaviors (e.g., Brophy & Good, 1986;Creemers, 1994;Lee, 1995 Lincoln's paper on the constitution show, for example, the perspective of instructional effectiveness, a discourse perspective, a moral perspective, and a gender perspective (see the analysis of the Bennett tape, Morine-Dershimer, 1986).As will be clear from these examples, perspectives can be distinguished from each other, but some also overlap. In particular, the classroom management and interpersonal perspectives overlap. In the research reviewed in this chapter, teaching has been studied from an interpersonal perspective. The interpersonal perspective describes and analyzes teaching in terms of the relationship between teacher and students. The analysis of the teacher role in this persp...

Professional identity tensions of beginning teachers

“…This tension also corresponds to classroom management and building a good relationship with students, which is one of the most serious issues encountered by beginning teachers (Veenman, 1984). Research on teacher-student relationships has shown that in about 80% of cases beginning teachers become emotionally involved with their students (Wubbels, Brekelmans, den Brok, & Van Tartwijk, 2006). Moreover, a study by Brekelmans, Wubbels and Van Tartwijk (2005) showed that teachers' perceptions of the ideal levels of control (strictness) and caring (emotional involvement with the students) remain at a high and relatively stable level during their career, but that student teachers and beginning teachers are perceived as less controlling (strict) than their more experienced colleagues.…”

Teacher’s behaviour towards students’ motivation practice

“…The data was obtained by classroom observation, questionnaire and semi-structured interview. The concepts of William and William [21] key ingredients impacting students' motivation, Brewster and Fager [22] strategies to increase students' motivation in classroom and Wubbels et al [23] QTI were also applied as research framework for the present study.…”

“…These questions were administrated based on Williams and Williams [21], Brewster and Fager [22] and Wubbels et al [23] classroom motivation strategies. The question was a selfreporting questionnaire, design to assess teacher's behavior and interaction (perceptions and responses) in the classroom.…”

“…To measure the perceptions of interpersonal teacher behavior, Wubbels et al [23] developed an instrument called questionnaire on teacher interaction (QTI). The QTI was constructed to describe teacher interpersonal behavior along two dimensions: influence (the degree of control of the teacher over the communication process) and proximity (the degree of cooperation or opposition between the teacher and the students).…”

Knowledge construction: the role of the teacher’s interpersonal attitudes

“…The relation between teachers and students is asymmetrical and structurally complementary (Lindsey and Barratt 2006;Wubbels, Brekelmans, and Hermans 1987;Wubbels et al 2006). Because of her role as a catalyst of learning (Brookfield 1997), the teacher has to govern the conditions that will open the way for the learners' construction of knowledge and for the resulting changes in their ways of thinking and acting.…”