The purpose of this essay is to analyse, synthesise and contrast information gathered from
classrooms. The definition that will be used as an identifier for misbehaviour is provided by
behaviour by a pupil that undermines the teachers’ ability to establish and maintain effective
The article by Alter, Walker and Landers is a report which was conducted to formulate
reasons as to what teachers from diverse backgrounds thought were the most prevalent
behaviours in classroom. Behaviours that are usually associated with student misbehaviour,
such as physical aggression, are not the most prevalent occurrence of student misbehaviour,
but instead students’ beings “off-task” was reported the most prevalent and problematic
misbehaviour. Physical aggression was actually “among the lowest identified prevalent and
problematic behaviour” (Alter, Walker and Landers, 2013, p. 64). Teachers are reportedly
behaviours, as oppose to isolationism and no social interaction (Alter, Walker and Landers,
2013). This is a problem as it is reflexive of teachers attitudes towards students who are quiet
as being “behaved” and thus are overlooked in favour of students displaying outward displays
of misbehaviour (Alter, Walker & Landers, 2013). These findings coincide with the research
report by Crawshaw (2015). This study indicates that despite media reports focusing on the
violent aspect of student misbehaviour and as a result, forming a negative rhetoric around
schools with elevated levels of misbehaviour, the “relatively harmless misbehaviours” were
the main concerns of teachers as they “do not appear to be highly concerned by violent or
Therefore, the research indicates that most forms of student misbehaviour are behaviours that
are non-violent/aggressive. Little (2005) furthermore states that behaviours such as being off
task, idleness, not paying attention and hindering others are the forms of behaviour that most
teachers concern themselves with (Little, 2005). moreover, research indicates that as
students’ progress through high school and “the academic demands on students increase”
(Little, 2005, p.375), the teachers’ concerns are further shifted into behaviours dealing with
aggressiveness (Little, 2005). These are indicative of student behaviours such as lack of
& Kulinna, (2007) reinforce these views by providing data from student perspectives as to
why students misbehave. The top three answers were; “lesson was boring, the student wanted
attention, and students didn’t think they could do the lesson” (Cothran & Kulinna, 2007,
p.223). In another segment of the report in which students rate themselves, the students
provided the reasons ““lesson is boring,” …. “they don’t like the teacher,” … “they are just
bad kids.” as the main causes for student misbehaviour (Cothran & Kulinna, 2007, p.223).
interviews from teachers and students regarding their opinions as to why students misbehave,
reinforces these claims. The consensus reached by the teachers in this study for student
misbehaviour are reasons that are external (Cothran, Kulinna & Garrahy, 2009). Teachers
believed that students misbehaviour were either due to unknown reasons, or students’ home
life (Cothran, Kulinna & Garrahy, 2009). However, the students in this study convey
different beliefs as to why students misbehave. The students, like the teachers, externalise
their responsibility for misbehaviour, redirecting the fault of misbehaviour towards the
teacher. Reasons provided by students for student misbehaviour are; not getting enough
attention from the teacher and class is boring/uninteresting (Cothran, Kulinna & Garrahy,
Halim Yasar 18030727
2009). While both sides externalise the issue of misbehaviour, there is a general agreement
regarding the issue of misbehaviour and its negative impact on the learning environment.
teachers attitudes and the learning environment the student is exposed to are possibly
conducive of student misbehaviour. As McGrath and Bergen (2015) argues, there is a direct
lower student morale/engagement within the classroom (McGrath & Bergen, 2015)
Additionally, as McGrath & Bergen (2015) previously argued about the correlation between
teacher-student relations and student engagement and behaviour, the research conducted by
Lewis (2001) found similar but interesting results. This study, which was carried out to find
the correlation between classroom discipline and student misbehaviour, suggests that the
“The next most significant correlation indicates that the level of misbehaviour in class is
associated with teacher aggression” (Lewis, 2001, P. 312). The article suggests that teachers
who are more aggressive or “coercive” promote more levels of disengagement (Lewis, 2001,
p.312). Furthermore, when teachers “are sarcastic towards students, yell in anger, keep
classes in, or use sexist or racist language” students are likely to misbehave in the form of
regarding misbehaviour. Therefore, bad teaching practices are not only incapable of
Figure 1
The interviews were open ended, informal, conducted professionally in which all participants
were informed of the research, read the information sheet and agreed to participate by signing
the consent forms. All participants were interviewed in public spaces. They were properly
informed of their right to withdraw and that their information would be de-identified, and
were given ample time to answer each question. The participants were diverse, originating
from various age groups, genders and education (refer to figure 1).
Entertainment/Fun 1
Self-entitlement 2
Primary Themes
Academic inability 3
Home life 3
Boring classroom 5
Attention Seeking 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Number of Mentions
Figure 2
The most common reason given by participants as to why students misbehave is attention
seeking, with all participants mentioning attention seeking as a cause for misbehaviour (refer
Halim Yasar 18030727
to figure 2). However, interestingly the reasons given by participants as to why students seek
attention were varied. Person C said that students seek attention because “they want to stand
out”. Person E gave a similar response, saying that students would like others to perceive
themselves as “cool” so they seek attention from their peers. Person D states that students “go
unnoticed by the teacher, so they cause disruptions to seek attention and feel included within
the classroom”. Person B, disclosing that his views are culturally influenced, states that
students seek attention because “they don’t understand the lesson”, thus “distract other
students to get them on their level”. Person A stated that the “teachers disinterest of students
cause attention seeking”. Person F gave a similar response, stating that “students seek
attention from peers when there is a lack of respect for the teacher or their authority”. Three
out of the six responses were centred around the social sphere of the classroom, two were
teacher related and one was related to the cognitive abilities of the student.
2.5
1.5
0.5
0
Social Teacher-related Cognitive
Figure 3
The second most common theme was “disengaged/disinterested in class content”, I have
grouped these responses together as they are synonymous. In this theme most participants
attributed the misbehaviour to cognitive related issues. Person E stated that some students
might have a learning disability effecting their retainment of content, resulting in students
Halim Yasar 18030727
“not engaged in the classroom”. Person D stated that students misbehave in classrooms
because they are “bored with class content” and that this could be because “the lesson is too
easy”. This is the only response in which misbehaviour was attributed to heightened cognitive
abilities of the students. Person A, C, and F provided similar responses, stating that the
student did not understand the topic or topic was too difficult and therefore lost interest,
Person A stated, “if they are not interested in the subject then they won’t care”, Person C
stated that “if the teacher does not properly help students understand then they will just muck
up” and Person F stated, “sometimes the teacher needs to provide easier tasks”.
"Disintersted/Disengaged" Sub-themes
1
Learning impairment/disability
lesson too easy
3 1
lack of understanding/too hard
Figure 4
The findings between the interviews and the literature view, despite themes intersecting,
differ in opinion as to why these behaviours are caused. The literature review primarily
externalised most of the blame/fault for student misbehaviour on the teacher, for example, for
attention seeking, the findings indicate that misbehaviour is a reactionary outcome to boring
lessons, not liking the teacher, or not getting enough attention from the teacher (Cothran,
Kulinna & Garrahy, 2009; Cothran & Kulinna 2013). This skew in results could be due to the
age group of the participants in the literature review, who are students, therefore likely to
show bias.
Halim Yasar 18030727
However, the interview findings indicate a different source for these displays of
misbehaviour. While few participants placed the fault on teachers (refer to figure 3), most
students as having difficulty with the content due to it being hard, having a learning
disability, like to perceive themselves as the “cool” student, or mucking up to get out of
work. This shared reasoning might be due to age, education and cultural background of the
participants. The age range of participants varies between 20 – 60 years old, differing from
the literature review which provides a mostly homogenous perspective (mostly students).
Also, most of the participants are highly educated, two participants are preservice teachers, 2
have their PhD, and one is attempting their bachelors. This provides a slightly skewed
perception as they may lack individual experiences with misbehaviour. Furthermore, there
was a cultural factor that had an influence on the participants rationale, person B, A and E
disclosed that their cultural background had an impact on their views. They indicated that due
to their cultural backgrounds which have traditionally strict teacher mindset, they believed
that the teacher should always be respected. Person B had the strictest views regarding this,
stating that it is the students’ responsibility to always behave, do well in class and listen to the
teacher, despite the teachers’ experiences, skills, and level of social interaction with students.
Furthermore, the findings in the literature review imply that there is negative a correlation
between teacher aggression/discipline and student misbehaviour. The article by Lewis (2001)
indicate that aggressive teacher, who might as a result disrespect the student (sarcasm, yell,
racist/sexist remarks etc) cause students to respond negatively, such as misbehaving. The
interviews differ in this regard, as while there was no collected data regarding the correlation
between teacher aggressiveness and student misbehaviour, there were remarks made that
were encouraging misbehaviour. They mentioned that teachers who were not disciplining
Halim Yasar 18030727
their students and putting their, as person B states, “foot down”, showed the students that
misbehaviour was something that they could get away with”. All 3 participants drew on their
own past experiences from high school when referring to teachers who lack
and Turkey, in which they stated had more strict teachers, which are possible factors to their
decision making.
The implications that these findings have for praxis within the teaching field revolve around
teacher attitude, classroom management strategies, and student engagement. While both the
literature review and Interviews state different reasons for the root causes for misbehaviour,
the main theme emerging from these studies is the importance of student-teacher dynamics in
the prevention of student misbehaviour. The literature review and interview findings stated
that teachers who were either too kind, or too aggressive, were creating environments
forms of punishment and reinforcement when dealing with students. Drawing on the analyses
attitudes, therefore justifying their misbehaviour, as Person C stated, “students feel rebellious
when they misbehave, they like to rebel against the teacher they don’t like and challenge their
authority”
Lack of Classroom/lesson management strategies is another issue that was highlighted in the
analyses. The findings from the literature review and interviews indicated a correlation
general. Students, to avoid attending boring lessons, might disrupt the classroom, talk to their
friends or as Person A states “students will go on their phones to listen to music”. Therefore,
teachers need to reflect on their practices and materials to identify areas that need
improvement. These could be implementing interactive learning materials, apply group based
Halim Yasar 18030727
learning theories (Economides, 2008), scaffold the content so students do not find the material
too easy or hard to understand (Rose, 2005), and apply student-centred approach to empower
students in their learning process, and consequently engage students in the classroom.
misbehaviour. This study indicates that the responsibility of misbehaviour lies not only with
the student also the teacher. The practices and attitudes that teachers have can form learning
environments that are either conducive of positive or negative behaviours. Therefore, this
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