Classroom Management Strategies for Primary School Educators

If you are a new teacher who has just graduated or returning to the teaching profession after a while, then it may be daunting to manage a classroom but with the help of these classroom management strategies you will be able to deal with difficult behaviours, set boundaries in the classroom and successfully navigate challenges while delivering learning outcomes.

1. Let students help establish guidelines – In psychology, this strategy has been proven to be successful many times to push the onus of responsible behaviour on students. When students are involved in the process of creating the rules, they are more likely to follow and respect those rules rather than any rules imposed by a classroom teacher. For example, at the start of the academic period let the students vote on the rules that should be part of appropriate behaviour in the classroom
2. Document rules – After establishing appropriate behaviours in the classroom ensure to document it so that the students remember them. It is not uncommon for students to forget the rules and circle back to their previous behaviour.
3. Praise publicly and criticise privately – To avoid embarrassing students in front of the entire classroom, it is critically important to make sure a teacher does not criticise students publicly. It can be utterly damaging to a child’s self-esteem and confidence. Therefore, educators need to be sensitive when dealing with difficult behaviours even though it may be tempting to use force.
4. Use positive re-enforcement techniques – To ensure that the classroom culture is defined based on the guidelines established by the students it is important to reward them for their diligence in following the rules. For example – you can celebrate student success by having monthly classroom parties or by distributing healthy snacks.
5. Gamify the process of learning good habits – Another interesting strategy backed by research from South Korea states that gamification can be very helpful to manage a classroom as it builds engagement, increased retention and resilience which can promote appropriate behaviour and accelerated learning outcomes in the classroom.