Teachers' Perceptions of Discipline Problems in a Jordanian Secondary School

Abstract

Teachers in a large, all‐male urban school in Jordan were interviewed about their perceptions of the most frequently occurring student misbehaviour. It was hoped to be able to identify the causes of such ‘disruption’ to teaching and learning in the school. Teachers spontaneously identified eight forms of student misbehaviour, which reflected clearly different kinds of interference with the teacher's authority. Teachers showed great awareness of the constraints which operate in the school context, which in turn affect their means of managing discipline in the classroom. Though this study was undertaken in a context which is significantly different from England, it is interesting that the issues these teachers saw themselves confronted with were not significantly different from those reported in this country. The conclusions that the researchers draw from their data have relevance beyond the specific context in which this study was undertaken.

Mental toughness in education: exploring relationships with attainment, attendance, behaviour and peer relationships

“…Teachers frequently report high levels of concern about students' classroom behaviour (e.g. Haroun & O'Hanlon, 1997;Houghton, Wheldall, & Merrett, 1988;Kaplan, Gheen, & Midgley, 2002;Merrett & Wheldall, 1984;Stephenson, Linfoot, & Martin, 2000). This is pertinent because negative classroom behaviour has been reported to be closely associated with lower academic attainment (Gibb, Fergusson, & Horwood, 2008;Hinshaw, 1992).…”

An international perspective on classroom management: what should prospective teachers learn?

“…This description exemplifies a conceptualization of classroom management from an interpersonal perspective. A Jordanian study (Haroun & O'Hanlon, 1997) on teachers' perceptions of causes of discipline problems raises students' interference with the teacher authority as the main topic. Again this is predominantly an interpersonal issue.…”

Chinese elementary school teachers’ perceptions of students’ classroom behaviour problems

“…Much of the research into teacher perceptions has focused on which behaviours are perceived to be the most frequent and troublesome (Ding et al, 2008;Haroun & O'Hanlon, 1997;Houghton et al, 1988;Infantino & Little, 2005;Little, 2005;Türnüklü & Galton, 2001;. The most frequent and troublesome behaviours identified in these studies tend to coincide and be irritating but not severe.…”