Teachers' perceptions of challenging student behaviours in model inner city schools

Elementary teachers often cite challenging student behaviours and classroom management as areas of concern and therefore priorities for professional development. In this paper, the authors discuss the findings from a two-year research project, Sociocultural Perspectives on Behaviour and Classroom Management (SPBCM). SPBCM examined the social and cultural context of challenging student behaviours in four model inner city schools in Toronto, Canada. The purpose of SPBCM was to gain a better understanding of elementary teachers' perceptions of challenging student behaviours and the strategies they use to address those behaviours. Fifty teachers in total participated in individual and group interviews. Results were interpreted using Ronald Heifetz's concept of technical versus adaptive problems of leadership. Extending this theory to the realm of classroom management, the authors aimed to gain a better understanding of whether or not the interventions described were premised on the notion of challenging behaviours as either technical or adaptive problems. According to Heifetz, experts can solve technical problems, whereas the solutions to adaptive problems reside in teachers themselves. Analysis of interview transcripts revealed that most challenging behaviours were adaptive in nature, as were teachers' strategies for intervening through building trusting relationships with students. In conclusion, the authors suggest that teachers and administrators who seek to address challenging student behaviours should consider professional development in which experts facilitate teachers' development of context-specific strategies for classroom management, rather than offer solutions.