Beliefs and attitudes regarding classroom management

Abstract

The aim of this work is to obtain a description of teachers' and students' beliefs about classroom misbehaviour and evaluate to what extent these beliefs guide their decisions and judgements. 1.389 students (13 to 16 years old) and 170 teachers of ESO (Compulsory Secondary Education) from northeast Spain have been evaluated by means of a questionnaire designed for this purpose. Results show that behaviour considered socially undesirable is valued as more deserving of penalty than misbehaviour with a less negative social evaluation, even though having a great impact on teaching and learning activities. The students' responses also showed that almost half of them do not recognise classroom-discipline actions carried out by teachers when those actions do not match their expectations.