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摘 要 如何处理校园违纪行为并预防其发生一直是中学教学中的一项重点研究课题。学生在校违纪行为不仅包含了校园暴力等严重违纪现象,也包括了课堂小动作等轻微性质的违纪行为。国外研究对于各类违纪行为分类较细,并更为细致地给出针对性的管理建议。而国内相关研究还比较笼统,分类不够细致,各类行为的原因阐述不够明确。鉴于此,本文作者针对轻微性质违纪行为进行了深入研究,重点在于探讨中学生轻微违纪行为的原因,给予改善学生课堂行为的建议。通过分析,作者发现中学生轻微违纪行为的发生主要来自四方面:违纪学生本身、同学、教师和家长;并着重从校园规范的制定和家长扮演的角色两方面提出了建议,以帮助改善学生课堂行为。
关键词违纪行为 改善建议
1. Introduction:
This essay will examine the cause of trivial nature behaviour in Chinese secondary school and give some suggestions for improving pupils’ behaviour in school. Managing pupil’s misbehaviour in class effectively has been a constant issue since the first school was founded. Kyriacou points out that trivial nature misbehaviour ‘largely consists of noisy or non-work-related talking, not getting on with the learning activity, and mild misdemeanours and transgressions such as eating, being out of one’s seat, and fidgeting’ Kyriacou (1997:121). Pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour refers to misbehaviour which happens frequently and is caused by pupils’ nature or environment but which are not physically harmful to others. Compared to severe misbehaviour such as bully and disruptive behaviours, trivial nature misbehaviour seems harmless and unimportant. Research seldom focuses on trivial nature misbehaviour in China. Nevertheless, trivial nature misbehaviour happens almost in every class and they have significant consequences if they go without notice. To fill this gap, this essay will analyze the casual factors of, and possible solutions for, Chinese secondary school pupils’ trivial nature behaviour. However, because of pupils’ nature and environmental casual factors, pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour cannot be completely stopped. What this essay tries to do is focus on decreasing the trivial nature misbehaviour in secondary schools. This essay will firstly focus on the causal factors of trivial nature misbehaviour in Chinese secondary schools, and then give some suggestions for improving pupils’ behaviour.
2. The causal factors of trivial nature misbehaviour
Without finding out the true causal factors of students’ trivial nature misbehaviour, it is impossible to improve their behaviour. This part will analyse the causal factors from four aspects: misbehaving pupils, peer group, teacher, and parents.
2.1 Misbehaving pupils
The most important causal factors of pupils’ trivial misbehaviour are from themselves. There are two main reasons for their misbehaviour. The first type of students lack learning motivation. Holmes suggests that pupils with strong motivation do not commit trivial misbehaviour because he/she focuses on the lessons rather than thinking about doing trivial nature misbehaviour (Holmes1999:143). For pupils who lack motivation for study, as soon as they lose their interest in the subject, they begin to search for something they are interested in. A number of secondary school pupils lack motivation because they do not like their teacher or the class activities. For example, as most secondary school boys prefer female teachers to male teachers, their learning motivation is probably stronger in a young female teacher’s class. Besides, misbehaving pupils tend to have low-level fundamental knowledge. They experience difficulty studying new subjects in class. Therefore, rebellion prevents them from developing an interest in the subject. The second type of misbehaving pupils does not mean to do trivial nature misbehaviour. They are too excited and cannot help but express their thoughts in an unfavourable way in class. Although this kind of pupil has strong motivation, they misbehave in class occasionally. They do trivial nature misbehaviour such as talking out of turn or shouting out the answer without raise their hands, which seems harmless but at the same time it disturbs the class order.
2.2 Peer group
Peer pressure is another cause of pupil misbehaviour. Lyons and O’Connor point out that ‘children identified peer-related factors as important causes of misbehaviour (Lyons and O’Connor 2006:224). Some secondary school pupils do trivial nature misbehaviour because they want to raise their classmates’ attention. Robertson points out that a pupil does trivial nature misbehaviour in class because he/she thinks it is a ‘showing off’ to his classmates (Robertson 1996:111). In Chinese secondary schools, most misbehaving pupils want to get their peers attention and they think they are cool by committing such behaviours. In teenagers’ eyes, those who dare rebel are brave and intelligent. Therefore, a number of pupils misbehave to gain praise from other pupils. They do not want to be in trouble, so that they do trivial nature misbehaviour such as being late for school rather than serious misbehaviour like playing truant.
Besides, secondary school pupils need a feeling of belonging (Charles 2002). They want to be accepted by their peer group, so that they have to do something in order to fit in. Therefore, if there is a popular pupil misbehaves in class, other students will copy him in order to fit into the fashion. Some secondary school classes have more misbehaving pupils than others, because the leading misbehaving pupil is very popular and respected by their classmates, for they may be good at sports or instruments. Secondary school pupils may think that everything done by the popular pupils is right because they want to fit in. Therefore, the whole class may commit trivial nature misbehaviour because the most popular pupil misbehaves.
2.3 Teacher
Although teachers suffer from pupils’ misbehaviour, they sometimes unintentional stimulate pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour. In China, under the stress of college entrance examinations, teachers concentrate on teaching rather than managing pupils’ misbehaviour in class. Many teachers tactically ignore pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour in class in order to make sure the teaching task of the lesson can be finished. Having been ignored, misbehaving pupils think teachers have given up on them so that they give up themselves and work against teachers.
Secondly, teacher’s behaviour in class is an important causal factor of pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour. Teacher’s body language affects pupils’ behaviours a lot. Since there are usually 40-60 pupils in a class, it is very hard for teachers have eye contact with each pupil. Pupils are easily distracted and chat with their neighbours, draw pictures, or sleep.
Thirdly, the poor relationship between pupils and teacher may cause pupils’ misbehaviour in class. Miller et al. find that most pupils attribute their misbehaviour or other pupils’ misbehaviour to an unsatisfactory relationship with their teachers (Miller et al. 2000). When pupils feel the teacher is unfair to them, they probably will commit trivial misbehaviour to show their discontent. A number of students commit trivial nature misbehaviour because they think their teachers are incapable to control the class.
2.4 Parents
Parents play an important role in pupils’ behaviour. Most misbehaving pupils are directly or indirectly affected by their parents. Firstly, a great number of parents spoil their children. Some parents seldom criticize children as long as they do not commit serious misbehaviour like physical aggression. Some parents even treat their children’s trivial misbehaviour as evidence of intelligence, because their children have misbehaved in class and the teacher has not discovered them.
Secondly, lacking contact, several parents do not know their children misbehave in school. Lyons and O’Connor point out that ‘teachers felt that, in many cases, social standards at home contradict those at school…. Parents agreed with teachers that children’s behaviour is different at home than it is at school.’ (Lyons and O’Connor 2006:223). In parents’ eyes, their children are well behaved. However, they do not know what their children actually do in school and may not correct their children’s misbehaviour.
Thirdly, a number of misbehaving pupils come from work-centred families. These parents are busy at work and they think the most important thing is to create a comfortable environment for their children while neglect the communication with children. Even when the parents discover their children’s trivial misbehaviours, they do not have time to correct them.
3. Suggestions for improving pupils’ behaviour
The teacher’s role in improving pupils’ behaviour has been examined by many researchers and teachers; a number of suggestions for teachers have been provided, such as establishing their authority, using positive body language and never directly confronting pupils (Kyriacou 1997, Holmes 1999, McNamara 2000). This part will discuss the other two possible solutions: school discipline and parents’ role in light of the Chinese reality.
3.1 School discipline
School discipline is essential for managing students’ trivial nature misbehaviour. Proper school discipline effectively restrains pupils’ misbehaviour, while poor school discipline stimulates pupils to commit misbehaviour. In this part, two suggestions will be given for building positive school discipline in Chinese secondary schools. Firstly, rules and consequences must be understood and are not negotiable, but this does not mean rules and consequences are fixed and immutable.. Effective discipline is set in place after consulting with students, and has concrete rules. In Chinese traditional opinion, pupils should obey schools rules without hesitation. However, nowadays, most secondary school pupils are more independent and have strong self-awareness. They do not want to obey the rules if they do not know why they should. If schools establish rules in consultation with pupils and their parents, it may reduce pupils’ misbehaviour caused by their rebellious characteristics. As pupils take part in designing the rule they are responsible for the rules. The school’s role is leading the direction of disciplines and supervising pupils during the process.
Secondly, school should set positive rules to encourage pupils behave rather than to punish their misbehaviour. In China, secondary schools adopt a variety of punishments to manage pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour. However, McManus argues that negative disciplines may stimulate pupils’ rebellion and result in even more severe consequences (McManus 1995). Therefore, positive disciplines, such as set models to encourage pupils to behave and praise them when they achieve a trivial success, are more effective than the negative ones such as punishing misbehaving pupils or totally ignoring their existence.
If schools adopt positive disciplines, pupils are more willing to behave well in class. They will feel respected by the school and by others. To establish a positive behaviour management system, school should build a healthy environment for pupils and promote pupils’ learning motivation as well as support teachers’ positive management in class. Secondary schools should pay attention to establishing a more positive management of discipline which activates pupils’ learning motivation and raises their awareness of the severe consequences of their trivial nature misbehaviour.
3.2 Parents’ role
To improve pupils’ behaviours, parents share responsibility with schools. As analysed in the second section of this essay, part of pupil misbehaviour is caused by parents. Therefore, to eliminate pupils’ misbehaviour, we should consider the parents’ function. Firstly, parents should activate their children’s learning motivation. Under a great pressure of competition, Chinese secondary school pupils are likely to be bored of study and commit trivial nature misbehaviour in class. Lin suggests that when pupils get support from their parents, they are more interested in their study and achieve better results (Lin 2007). Therefore, parents have the responsibility to cooperate with teachers to stimulate pupils interesting in class activities. To achieve this aim, parents should take time to talk with children and understand their thoughts. When children get bad marks, parents should help them analyze the reasons for this and suggest how to improve rather than blame them. When children are motivated in study, they seldom commit trivial nature misbehaviour in class, because they are eager to learn the subject.
Secondly, parents should keep in contact with their child’s school. Lyons and O’Connor point out that if parents know what their children are doing in school, they can help regulate their children’s behaviour (Lyons and O’Connor 2006). Meeting twice a term in the parents’ meeting is a good way for parents and teachers to communicate. However, in China, many parents are unable to attend the meeting because of work commitments. Parents who are busy at their work should find another way to consult with teachers about their children, such as through E-mail or telephone. This will not take too much time for them.
Conclusion
This essay analysed Chinese secondary school pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour. Nowadays, most research focuses on the serious challenging misbehaviour of pupils. In contrast, trivial nature misbehaviour, which is the most frequent misbehaviour in schools, is comparatively ignored. Although trivial nature misbehaviour seems unimportant, it may cause sever consequences for pupils, teachers and classmates. In China, pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour is caused by themselves, peer group, teachers, and parents. Therefore, to improve pupils’ behaviour is a tremendous challenge not only for teachers, but also for the government, schools, and parents. It is impossible to eliminate pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour in a short time, for the causal factors are complicated. However, if the whole society notices the importance of controlling pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour, the situation will improve.In conclusion, Chinese secondary school pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour should be paid attention to. The whole society is responsible for pupils’ misbehaviour and has an obligation to help pupils behave well in class. With the effort of all parties, pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour will be gradually reduced.
Reference
[1]Charles, C.M. (2002) Building Classroom Discipline, 7th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
[2]Holmes,E. (1999) Newly Qualified Teachers, London: the Stationery Office.
[3]Kyriacou, C. (1997) Effective Teaching in School : Theory and Practice,2nd edn. Cheltenham: Starley Thornes.
[4]Lin, Y. (2007) Psychological stress for secondary school teachers and possible solutions, Henan Daily, 23 January, p.4.
[5]Lyons, C. W. and O’Connor, F. (2006) Construction an integrated model of the nature of challenging behaviour: A starting point for intervention, Emotion and Behavioural Difficulties, 11(3), 217-232.
[6]McManus, M. (1995) Troublesome Behaviour in the Classroom: Meeting Individual Needs, London: Routledge
[7]McNamara, E. (2000) Positive Pupil management and Motivation: A Secondary Teacher’s Guide, London: David Fulton Publshers Ltd.
[8]Miller, A. Ferguson, E. and Byrne, I. (2000) Pupils’ causal attributions for difficult classroom behaviour, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70(1), 85-96.
[9]Robertson, J. (1996) Effective Classroom Control: Understanding Teacher-Student Relationships, London : Hodder and Stoughton.
关键词违纪行为 改善建议
1. Introduction:
This essay will examine the cause of trivial nature behaviour in Chinese secondary school and give some suggestions for improving pupils’ behaviour in school. Managing pupil’s misbehaviour in class effectively has been a constant issue since the first school was founded. Kyriacou points out that trivial nature misbehaviour ‘largely consists of noisy or non-work-related talking, not getting on with the learning activity, and mild misdemeanours and transgressions such as eating, being out of one’s seat, and fidgeting’ Kyriacou (1997:121). Pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour refers to misbehaviour which happens frequently and is caused by pupils’ nature or environment but which are not physically harmful to others. Compared to severe misbehaviour such as bully and disruptive behaviours, trivial nature misbehaviour seems harmless and unimportant. Research seldom focuses on trivial nature misbehaviour in China. Nevertheless, trivial nature misbehaviour happens almost in every class and they have significant consequences if they go without notice. To fill this gap, this essay will analyze the casual factors of, and possible solutions for, Chinese secondary school pupils’ trivial nature behaviour. However, because of pupils’ nature and environmental casual factors, pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour cannot be completely stopped. What this essay tries to do is focus on decreasing the trivial nature misbehaviour in secondary schools. This essay will firstly focus on the causal factors of trivial nature misbehaviour in Chinese secondary schools, and then give some suggestions for improving pupils’ behaviour.
2. The causal factors of trivial nature misbehaviour
Without finding out the true causal factors of students’ trivial nature misbehaviour, it is impossible to improve their behaviour. This part will analyse the causal factors from four aspects: misbehaving pupils, peer group, teacher, and parents.
2.1 Misbehaving pupils
The most important causal factors of pupils’ trivial misbehaviour are from themselves. There are two main reasons for their misbehaviour. The first type of students lack learning motivation. Holmes suggests that pupils with strong motivation do not commit trivial misbehaviour because he/she focuses on the lessons rather than thinking about doing trivial nature misbehaviour (Holmes1999:143). For pupils who lack motivation for study, as soon as they lose their interest in the subject, they begin to search for something they are interested in. A number of secondary school pupils lack motivation because they do not like their teacher or the class activities. For example, as most secondary school boys prefer female teachers to male teachers, their learning motivation is probably stronger in a young female teacher’s class. Besides, misbehaving pupils tend to have low-level fundamental knowledge. They experience difficulty studying new subjects in class. Therefore, rebellion prevents them from developing an interest in the subject. The second type of misbehaving pupils does not mean to do trivial nature misbehaviour. They are too excited and cannot help but express their thoughts in an unfavourable way in class. Although this kind of pupil has strong motivation, they misbehave in class occasionally. They do trivial nature misbehaviour such as talking out of turn or shouting out the answer without raise their hands, which seems harmless but at the same time it disturbs the class order.
2.2 Peer group
Peer pressure is another cause of pupil misbehaviour. Lyons and O’Connor point out that ‘children identified peer-related factors as important causes of misbehaviour (Lyons and O’Connor 2006:224). Some secondary school pupils do trivial nature misbehaviour because they want to raise their classmates’ attention. Robertson points out that a pupil does trivial nature misbehaviour in class because he/she thinks it is a ‘showing off’ to his classmates (Robertson 1996:111). In Chinese secondary schools, most misbehaving pupils want to get their peers attention and they think they are cool by committing such behaviours. In teenagers’ eyes, those who dare rebel are brave and intelligent. Therefore, a number of pupils misbehave to gain praise from other pupils. They do not want to be in trouble, so that they do trivial nature misbehaviour such as being late for school rather than serious misbehaviour like playing truant.
Besides, secondary school pupils need a feeling of belonging (Charles 2002). They want to be accepted by their peer group, so that they have to do something in order to fit in. Therefore, if there is a popular pupil misbehaves in class, other students will copy him in order to fit into the fashion. Some secondary school classes have more misbehaving pupils than others, because the leading misbehaving pupil is very popular and respected by their classmates, for they may be good at sports or instruments. Secondary school pupils may think that everything done by the popular pupils is right because they want to fit in. Therefore, the whole class may commit trivial nature misbehaviour because the most popular pupil misbehaves.
2.3 Teacher
Although teachers suffer from pupils’ misbehaviour, they sometimes unintentional stimulate pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour. In China, under the stress of college entrance examinations, teachers concentrate on teaching rather than managing pupils’ misbehaviour in class. Many teachers tactically ignore pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour in class in order to make sure the teaching task of the lesson can be finished. Having been ignored, misbehaving pupils think teachers have given up on them so that they give up themselves and work against teachers.
Secondly, teacher’s behaviour in class is an important causal factor of pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour. Teacher’s body language affects pupils’ behaviours a lot. Since there are usually 40-60 pupils in a class, it is very hard for teachers have eye contact with each pupil. Pupils are easily distracted and chat with their neighbours, draw pictures, or sleep.
Thirdly, the poor relationship between pupils and teacher may cause pupils’ misbehaviour in class. Miller et al. find that most pupils attribute their misbehaviour or other pupils’ misbehaviour to an unsatisfactory relationship with their teachers (Miller et al. 2000). When pupils feel the teacher is unfair to them, they probably will commit trivial misbehaviour to show their discontent. A number of students commit trivial nature misbehaviour because they think their teachers are incapable to control the class.
2.4 Parents
Parents play an important role in pupils’ behaviour. Most misbehaving pupils are directly or indirectly affected by their parents. Firstly, a great number of parents spoil their children. Some parents seldom criticize children as long as they do not commit serious misbehaviour like physical aggression. Some parents even treat their children’s trivial misbehaviour as evidence of intelligence, because their children have misbehaved in class and the teacher has not discovered them.
Secondly, lacking contact, several parents do not know their children misbehave in school. Lyons and O’Connor point out that ‘teachers felt that, in many cases, social standards at home contradict those at school…. Parents agreed with teachers that children’s behaviour is different at home than it is at school.’ (Lyons and O’Connor 2006:223). In parents’ eyes, their children are well behaved. However, they do not know what their children actually do in school and may not correct their children’s misbehaviour.
Thirdly, a number of misbehaving pupils come from work-centred families. These parents are busy at work and they think the most important thing is to create a comfortable environment for their children while neglect the communication with children. Even when the parents discover their children’s trivial misbehaviours, they do not have time to correct them.
3. Suggestions for improving pupils’ behaviour
The teacher’s role in improving pupils’ behaviour has been examined by many researchers and teachers; a number of suggestions for teachers have been provided, such as establishing their authority, using positive body language and never directly confronting pupils (Kyriacou 1997, Holmes 1999, McNamara 2000). This part will discuss the other two possible solutions: school discipline and parents’ role in light of the Chinese reality.
3.1 School discipline
School discipline is essential for managing students’ trivial nature misbehaviour. Proper school discipline effectively restrains pupils’ misbehaviour, while poor school discipline stimulates pupils to commit misbehaviour. In this part, two suggestions will be given for building positive school discipline in Chinese secondary schools. Firstly, rules and consequences must be understood and are not negotiable, but this does not mean rules and consequences are fixed and immutable.. Effective discipline is set in place after consulting with students, and has concrete rules. In Chinese traditional opinion, pupils should obey schools rules without hesitation. However, nowadays, most secondary school pupils are more independent and have strong self-awareness. They do not want to obey the rules if they do not know why they should. If schools establish rules in consultation with pupils and their parents, it may reduce pupils’ misbehaviour caused by their rebellious characteristics. As pupils take part in designing the rule they are responsible for the rules. The school’s role is leading the direction of disciplines and supervising pupils during the process.
Secondly, school should set positive rules to encourage pupils behave rather than to punish their misbehaviour. In China, secondary schools adopt a variety of punishments to manage pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour. However, McManus argues that negative disciplines may stimulate pupils’ rebellion and result in even more severe consequences (McManus 1995). Therefore, positive disciplines, such as set models to encourage pupils to behave and praise them when they achieve a trivial success, are more effective than the negative ones such as punishing misbehaving pupils or totally ignoring their existence.
If schools adopt positive disciplines, pupils are more willing to behave well in class. They will feel respected by the school and by others. To establish a positive behaviour management system, school should build a healthy environment for pupils and promote pupils’ learning motivation as well as support teachers’ positive management in class. Secondary schools should pay attention to establishing a more positive management of discipline which activates pupils’ learning motivation and raises their awareness of the severe consequences of their trivial nature misbehaviour.
3.2 Parents’ role
To improve pupils’ behaviours, parents share responsibility with schools. As analysed in the second section of this essay, part of pupil misbehaviour is caused by parents. Therefore, to eliminate pupils’ misbehaviour, we should consider the parents’ function. Firstly, parents should activate their children’s learning motivation. Under a great pressure of competition, Chinese secondary school pupils are likely to be bored of study and commit trivial nature misbehaviour in class. Lin suggests that when pupils get support from their parents, they are more interested in their study and achieve better results (Lin 2007). Therefore, parents have the responsibility to cooperate with teachers to stimulate pupils interesting in class activities. To achieve this aim, parents should take time to talk with children and understand their thoughts. When children get bad marks, parents should help them analyze the reasons for this and suggest how to improve rather than blame them. When children are motivated in study, they seldom commit trivial nature misbehaviour in class, because they are eager to learn the subject.
Secondly, parents should keep in contact with their child’s school. Lyons and O’Connor point out that if parents know what their children are doing in school, they can help regulate their children’s behaviour (Lyons and O’Connor 2006). Meeting twice a term in the parents’ meeting is a good way for parents and teachers to communicate. However, in China, many parents are unable to attend the meeting because of work commitments. Parents who are busy at their work should find another way to consult with teachers about their children, such as through E-mail or telephone. This will not take too much time for them.
Conclusion
This essay analysed Chinese secondary school pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour. Nowadays, most research focuses on the serious challenging misbehaviour of pupils. In contrast, trivial nature misbehaviour, which is the most frequent misbehaviour in schools, is comparatively ignored. Although trivial nature misbehaviour seems unimportant, it may cause sever consequences for pupils, teachers and classmates. In China, pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour is caused by themselves, peer group, teachers, and parents. Therefore, to improve pupils’ behaviour is a tremendous challenge not only for teachers, but also for the government, schools, and parents. It is impossible to eliminate pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour in a short time, for the causal factors are complicated. However, if the whole society notices the importance of controlling pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour, the situation will improve.In conclusion, Chinese secondary school pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour should be paid attention to. The whole society is responsible for pupils’ misbehaviour and has an obligation to help pupils behave well in class. With the effort of all parties, pupils’ trivial nature misbehaviour will be gradually reduced.
Reference
[1]Charles, C.M. (2002) Building Classroom Discipline, 7th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
[2]Holmes,E. (1999) Newly Qualified Teachers, London: the Stationery Office.
[3]Kyriacou, C. (1997) Effective Teaching in School : Theory and Practice,2nd edn. Cheltenham: Starley Thornes.
[4]Lin, Y. (2007) Psychological stress for secondary school teachers and possible solutions, Henan Daily, 23 January, p.4.
[5]Lyons, C. W. and O’Connor, F. (2006) Construction an integrated model of the nature of challenging behaviour: A starting point for intervention, Emotion and Behavioural Difficulties, 11(3), 217-232.
[6]McManus, M. (1995) Troublesome Behaviour in the Classroom: Meeting Individual Needs, London: Routledge
[7]McNamara, E. (2000) Positive Pupil management and Motivation: A Secondary Teacher’s Guide, London: David Fulton Publshers Ltd.
[8]Miller, A. Ferguson, E. and Byrne, I. (2000) Pupils’ causal attributions for difficult classroom behaviour, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70(1), 85-96.
[9]Robertson, J. (1996) Effective Classroom Control: Understanding Teacher-Student Relationships, London : Hodder and Stoughton.