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The discipline of the students is vital to the success of individual lessons and whole courses overall. This is due to several reasons. The behavior of the students is closely tied to the attitude of the teacher, the interest of the students, the appeal of the coursework, the individual lives of the students outside of the classroom, but I believe most importantly, the expectations of the teacher for the students as well as the expectations of the students for the teacher and each other. These expectations can and should be clearly discussed at the beginning of the course between the teacher and the students. All parties involved should agree prior to the class on exactly what those expectations are and what will happen if those expectations are not being met. This is universal and not reliant on age or class level. So often disagreements between people are due to expectations not being met. This is true in the classroom as well. If a teacher has certain expectations for the students, i.e. behaving well, participating in discussions, paying attention to instructions, and the students aren’t meeting those expectations, the teacher will struggle with the lesson. They will constantly be required to fix the problems arising between and among the students and there will be little time to focus on the tasks at hand. Most teachers understand this. What many do not understand is that students have just as many expectations for their teachers and the courses they take as well. Even the youngest learners have expectations for their teachers and if these are not being met, the teacher will struggle with classroom management throughout the lesson and in subsequent lessons as well. The answer to this problem couldn’t be easier. Open and honest communication between the teacher and the students at the beginning of the course about what is expected of them and what they promise to do for one another is all that is required. For beginner level classes, it is usually consistent responses to students not meeting expectations, i.e. showing disapproval for students speaking their native language or talking out of turn. For students, it can be asking questions of the teacher about how they can succeed in class. For the teacher, it can be asking the students what they would like out of the class and out of the teacher. After expectations are clearly expressed and agreed upon, students and teachers can get to work. If behavior issues arise, the teacher can often ask the rest of the class to identify the expectations for behavior agreed upon in the beginning of the course. The student may self-correct, but they will at least understand why the teacher is showing displeasure with their actions. Eventually, the entire class will work within the boundaries of expectations agreed to in the beginning of the course and the teacher will not have to rely on constant behavior modification to maintain discipline in the classroom. If the teacher is not meeting the expectations of the students, such as lacking consistency in teaching methods and their own expectations, students will show their displeasure with the teacher either in behavior problems or a lack of interest in the course or respect for the teacher. The teacher should remember to reflect on their own actions so as to discover the true origin of the problem in the classroom and to correct the problem as soon as possible.
