Teaching and Learning Management

This week I have read an article called "Rethinking Classroom Management". Just as the title says, this article aims at defining and describing this concept from a different perspective. The main idea is that behavioral issues should be addressed through teaching and learning considerations based on the idea of behavior for learning rather than beahavior management. So maybe instead of classroom management we should talk about teaching and learning management, which is wider than the traditional concept. It includes three interrelated areas:

Organizational issues. What kind of working atmosphere is needed to reach the goals? It includes the rights and duties, that must be clear and explicit, building them up together with our students. The process must be dialogic and interactive rather than a one way process (it's not only the teachers who set the rules). One idea that I find very interesting is the notion that rules should describe desired behaviors rather than list unwanted ones.

Curriculum issues. What do I have to teach? What methods am I going to use? What am I going to do to involve students so that they are fully engaged and not bored and disruptive? Teaching implies being able to establish goals in terms of what to teach (curriculum) and how to teach (methodology).

Social issues. The climate in the classroom is crucial when determining the quality of learning that takes place. Pupils learn more and better if they are in a safe, secure and accepting classroom.

Any isolated decision within an area will no ensure any learning progress. An integration of organisational, curriculum and social issues is required to guarantee a successful teaching and learning management. So these decisions must be coherent: if children are often asked to work cooperatively, it will make sense to distribute tables and chairs in groups. If relationships among students need to be improved, try to avoid competitive games as a learning strategy.