CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR: The impact of challenging student behaviour upon teachers' lives in a secondary school: teachers' perceptions

Abstract

In this article, Tina Axup, an educational psychologist working in Southend-on-Sea, and Irvine Gersch, director of educational and child psychology programmes at the University of East London, describe a small-scale study of teachers' attitudes regarding the impact of student behaviour on their professional lives. Anecdotal evidence within a local authority educational psychology service suggested that increasing teacher concern about student disruptive behaviour was causing significant professional anxiety. Tina Axup formulated a brief questionnaire to explore teacher perceptions of the student responses that appeared to cause them stress. Although it is difficult to generalise from the results because of the small sample size and low return, the most frequently selected behaviours seen as challenging were found to be 'low level', 'verbal', 'work avoidance' and 'out of seat behaviour'. The most frequent teacher reactions were said to be 'frustration', 'bewilderment', 'shock' and concern about the impact on other students in the class. The key favoured coping strategies reported included behaviour management techniques, praise and trying to understand the difficult behaviour, while personally talking to peers, switching off after the lesson, taking exercise and talking to family and friends. For future help, the preferred teacher options included the employment of more specialist behaviour support staff. Tina Axup and Irvine Gersch discuss the implications of these findings and identify further areas for research.

How can non-verbalized emotions in the field be addressed in research?

“…As a consequence, accounts of student behaviour see it as something to control, manage, handle, improve (Pšunder 2005;Gossen 2007;Reinke, Lewis-Palmer, and Merrell 2008;Kerr andValenti 2009), prevent (Hanko 2003), or understand (Greenwood 2002;Axup and Gersch 2008). Theories of student resistance (Willis 1984;Giroux 2001;Wright and Weekes 2003) succeed in providing a framework for recognizing student agency, yet they approach such agency as a reaction to a subordinate position within a social/school power matrix, emphasizing the 'battlefield' approach.…”

Can nurse teachers manage student incivility by guided democracy? A grounded theory study

“… 4 Such behaviours are likely to affect teachers with discouragement, stress, shock and concern unless they are recognised and managed in time. 5 6 The consequent outcomes may appear both short-term and long-term. Teachers' physical and psychological reactions, diffidence and lack of satisfaction towards their performance regarding teaching content and style and the negative consequence imposed on teaching processes are obvious examples of students' incivility.…”

Strategies for appropriate and helpful teacher response to stressful situations caused by disruptive students in the classroom

“…Other teachers believe that negative management strategies such as punishment and reprimands are more effective than the positive ones. Some studies show that teachers who lack patience, confidence and the necessary consultation skills tend to use more negative management strategies to control disruptive behavior (Axup & Gersch, 2008). On the other hand, some studies show that students' disruptive behaviors decrease when teachers apply positive management strategies and avoid using the negative ones (Reinke et al, 2008).…”

“…On the other hand, some schoolteachers believe that some students use disruptive behavior as a way of rejecting work and drawing attention to themselves. They also think students use such behavior to defy teachers' power (Axup & Gersch, 2008;Shumate & Wills, 2010). Further, other teachers mention that students may practice disruptive behavior to establish an identity in order to belong to a "peer group" (Axup & Gersch, 2008).…”

“…They also think students use such behavior to defy teachers' power (Axup & Gersch, 2008;Shumate & Wills, 2010). Further, other teachers mention that students may practice disruptive behavior to establish an identity in order to belong to a "peer group" (Axup & Gersch, 2008). Sometimes the injustice of teachers and the vulnerability of students can be the main causes of disruptive behavior (Miller, Ferguson and Byrne, 2000).…”