Classroom Management and Facilitation Approaches That Promote School Connectedness

Abstract

BACKGROUND: When children and youth feel connected to their school, family, and others in their community, they are less likely to engage in risky behaviors and experience negative health. Disruptions to school operations during the COVID-19 pandemic have led many teachers and school administrators to prioritize finding ways to strengthen and re-establish a sense of connectedness among students and between students and adults in school. METHODS:We conducted a systematic search of peer-reviewed literature that reported on US-based research and were published in English from January 2010 through December 2019 to identify classroom management approaches that have been empirically tied to school connectedness-related outcomes in K-12 school settings. FINDINGS:Six categories of classroom management approaches were associated with improved school connectedness among students: (1) teacher caring and support, (2) peer connection and support, (3) student autonomy and empowerment, (4) management of classroom social dynamics, (5) teacher expectations, and (6) behavior management. IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL HEALTH POLICY, PRACTICE, AND EQUITY:Prioritizing classroom management approaches that emphasize positive reinforcement of behavior, restorative discipline and communication, development of strong, trusting relationships, and explicitly emphasize fairness has potential to promote equitable disciplinary practices in schools. CONCLUSIONS:Classroom management approaches most linked to school connectedness are those that foster student autonomy and empowerment, mitigate social hierarchies and power differentials among students, prioritize positive reinforcement of behavior and restorative disciplinary practices, and emphasize equity and fairness.

Inequitable Changes in School Connectedness During the Ongoing COVID‐19 Pandemic in a Cohort of Canadian Adolescents

“…3 While evidence on effective interventions to promote school connectedness remains limited, positive associations point to the benefits of youth having opportunities to provide for meaningful input into school policies and programs, engaging and relatable class material with diverse representation, positive classroom management climates, encouraging participation in extracurricular activities, smaller school and class sizes, fair and restorative discipline, parental involvement in school, and supportive and trusting youth-adult relationships in and outside of the classroom. 5,15,[58][59][60][61] In addition to improving school experiences for current and upcoming students, additional resources to support young people that were enrolled in secondary school during the pandemic response are important; widened disparities in school connectedness-a strong protective factor-may contribute to exacerbated inequities in their future health and education outcomes. There was a ''remarkable dearth'' 54 of high quality, generalizable, policy-relevant, longitudinal and observational studies with youth-reported measures to guide school policies during the immediate and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic response.…”

“…School connectedness has potential to prevent and mitigate multiple health risks during adolescence (eg, related to mental health, sexual health, violence, and problematic substance use), and appears particularly important for the most vulnerable students (eg, those with more stressors and less resources in their home environments), highlighting the importance of identifying and implementing effective strategies to improve students' relationships to their schools 3 . While evidence on effective interventions to promote school connectedness remains limited, positive associations point to the benefits of youth having opportunities to provide for meaningful input into school policies and programs, engaging and relatable class material with diverse representation, positive classroom management climates, encouraging participation in extracurricular activities, smaller school and class sizes, fair and restorative discipline, parental involvement in school, and supportive and trusting youth‐adult relationships in and outside of the classroom 5,15,58–61 . In addition to improving school experiences for current and upcoming students, additional resources to support young people that were enrolled in secondary school during the pandemic response are important; widened disparities in school connectedness—a strong protective factor—may contribute to exacerbated inequities in their future health and education outcomes.…”

Classroom Management and Leadership among EFL instructors: Self-Efficacy, Strengths, and Improvement Areas

“…More recent studies on classroom management study similar elements for creating supportive learning environments both in in-person and online/digital teaching that gained momentum after the COVID-19 pandemic with a particular look at teacher experiences and teacher perceptions (Hepburn & Beamish, 2019;Lohmann, Randolph, & Oh, 2021;Nguyen et al, 2022;Shank & Santiague, 2022;Wilkins, Verlenden, Szucs, & Johns, 2022) involving:…”

Enhancing Boarding School Management through Organizational Psychology Education

“…Effective classroom management is vital in creating a conducive learning environment (Tyagi, 2020;Mkhasibe, 2020;Taylor, 2021). Teachers must have skills in managing student behavior, creating a safe and supportive classroom climate, and providing clear structure and expectations (Clark et al, 2023;Wilkins et al, 2023). In this context, a psychological understanding of student behavior is essential to overcoming challenges that may arise in the classroom (Paolini, 2020;Marsh et al, 2023).…”