Becoming a competent classroom manager: A case-study of a preservice teacher education course

Abstract

Classroom management (CM) is one of the major challenges faced by novice teachers. We define CM as the set of actions that teachers undertake to build a classroom climate that promotes students’ academic, and socioemotional competence (SEC). This study is an evaluative case study of an innovation in a CM course for students, in a teaching education undergraduate program at a private University in Colombia. Specifically, we examined the potential of a set of pedagogic strategies (i.e. active learning and reflective journals) to develop preservice teachers’ SEC, CM self-efficacy and non-controlling discipline beliefs. Results from quantitative and qualitative analyses showed the potential that active learning and reflective journals have to prepare preservice teachers for the challenges of CM.