The Relationship Between Classroom Management and Learning: A Systematic Review

Abstract

In the contemporary classrooms, teachers need to facilitate productive learning environments in which students can develop necessary skills and competencies to thrive in the 21st century. Establishing a productive and positive learning environment is a challenging task for the teachers as there are various factors affecting actual classroom activities that may result in effective or ineffective teaching (Hardin, 2011;Weinstein & Novodvorsky, 2015). How effectively the students learn and improve their skills and how well they behave are affected by a teacher's ability to manage different aspects of the classroom (Oyinloye, 2010). Within this framework, the main purpose of the present study was to synthesize the qualitative research studies on classroom management conducted between 2009 and 2019. It was also aimed to investigate the relationship between classroom management and students' learning by examining the current perspectives and practices of classroom management. In order to synthesize the qualitative data on classroom management and to generate common themes with respect to learning and classroom management, content analysis of main findings of the analyzed studies was carried out. The synthesis of the reviewed studies indicated that different dimensions of classroom management and learning were studied extensively in relation to four themes: "positive learning environment", "physical environment in the classrooms", "management of learning tasks and instructional activities", and "motivation and academic engagement". A synthesis of current perspectives and practices of classroom management in the literature may contribute to provide solutions for the educational/learning problems, if any, stemming from ineffective classroom management implementations. Our findings might also provide teachers with practical insights to improve the quality of teaching and learning in their classrooms.