Collaborative Classroom Inclusion: Addressing Attention Seeking Behaviour Among Students

Statement of the Problem

Discuss about the Collaborative Classroom Practice Inclusion.

The identified research study has been developed to assess a topic of classroom management issues. Precisely, through the identification of the substantial issues related to classroom management, an instructor can evaluate the right strategies on the basis of the theoretical context of the issues. In this particular study paper, the classroom management issue of attention seeking has been illustrated. Meanwhile, the assessment of the identified classroom management issue has been linked to the behavioural attitude of the students and teachers to discuss the problem in a critical way (Oral, 2012). In the meantime, the purpose of the essay paper is to identify the principal problem that has been related to attention seeking. In the modern day classroom scenario, attention seeking has been defined as one of the major challenges to be dealt by the instructors.

Notably, due to such habit, a student or a child can do certain things to get the attention of the teacher. Sometimes teachers have found the actions quite annoying and unmindfully ignore the psychology-based issue. Decisively, attention seeking students will constantly blurt out to their instructors by doing various actions. Admittedly, the desire for attention among such students can be identified as insatiable. Although the instructors provide attention to the students, their desire for attention continues to grow (Olubummo, 2015). By identifying the classroom issue of attention seeking, the study has illustrated theoretical context to the issue. On the other hand, the solution of such classroom issues has been analysed in the context of Western Australia. The research study has investigated the leading reason behind such issues affecting the classroom management. Reflecting on the previous studies, the theoretical understanding of the students’ perception, their attitude, behaviours, and psychology has been described. Based on the outcome of the research, specific solution to the issues of attention seeking has been defined as well to make the paper more efficient.

The leading issue that has been discussed in the research paper is excessive attention seeking among the classroom students and children. In the context of modern classroom issues in the Western Australia, excess attention seeking can be identified as one of the most common behavioural problems among some of the children (Mulholland, & O'Connor, 2016). Understandably, getting attention and giving attention can be defined as one of the most fundamental aspects of social species. Necessarily, in spite of delivering sufficient attention to the students, instructors have noticed that some of the children are not satisfied. As a result of the consequences, they seek additional attention from the teachers by doing annoying things in the classroom (Bluestein, 2011). Apparently, the study will investigate the theoretical concepts behind such mindset and psychological factors leading to such issues.

Theoretical Context of the issue Attention Seeking

On the other hand, instructors should be aware of such psychological issues among the students so that the problems among the students cannot be ignored. In context to the Western Australia, such issues have become substantial challenges in classroom management. In order to management such classroom issues effectively, identifying the cause of the problem will be evident, to say the least (Findley, & Varble, 2011). Moreover, substantial training and knowledge development programmes for instructors should be arranged to deal with the issue in a more organised way.

The issue of attention seeking can be addressed considering the theoretical context such as Rudolf Dreikurs’ democratic discipline model. Notably, Rudolf Dreikurs was one of the renowned social psychologists who had massively contributed to the understanding of the reprehensible behaviours among children. The educational philosophy of Rudolf Dreikurs has primarily relied on democratic philosophy. The fundamental principle of the democratic discipline model of Rudolf Dreikurs is human equity. According to the particular theoretical model, the author suggested that a significant behaviour is an outcome of individual’s rationale (Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 2015). Moreover, the theoretical concept suggests that individuals act according to their subjective assessment rather than driven by the reality. Based on the subjective assessment, individuals make assumptions and convince themselves that their perspective is right. In the case of attention seeking issue, all human beings have wanted to seek the attention of others and have internal feelings to be accepted. Such longing for acceptance can lead to misbehaviours at times.

Based on the theoretical concept of Rudolf Dreikurs’ democratic discipline model, there are four types of objectives that have motivated the children in a classroom environment to misbehave. According to the order, the identified goals are attention seeking, power and control, revenge, and helplessness. In terms of dealing with the issue, the model has been evident for the teachers to identify the type of goals leading towards misbehaving in a classroom environment (Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 2015). The theoretical model of Rudolf Dreikurs promotes logical consequences and encouragement procedures instead of punishing the students for misbehaving such as seeking the attention of the instructors. Precisely, motives for attention seeking behaviour must be evaluated by the teachers to control the consequences of the problem (Mellor, 2008). Through the identification of the attention-seeking motives of the children, classroom instructors can adopt different teaching styles such as autocratic, permissive, and democratic. The instructors may use effective style to control the classroom management issue of attention seeking. Primarily, the democratic discipline model has been based on the theoretical aspect of Alfred Adler who believed people being a social creature had the desire to belong or accept (Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 2015). Also, the term democratic signifies that students and children can be identified as an integral part of the decision-making process (Emmer, & Hickman, 2011).

The fundamentals of the democratic discipline model have defined the major differences between logical consequences and punishment in order to deal with the classroom management problem such as attention seeking in this particular case. First of preventative measures and techniques are the best way to tackle the issue of attention seeking in the academic sector (Olubummo, 2015). Moreover, logical sequences are appropriate to control the issue whereas punishment has no significant relevance in the misbehaving aspects in classroom issues. In terms of assessment of the theoretical concept of democratic discipline model, Rudolf Dreikurs believed that lack of encouragement towards students and children can provoke a student to misbehave in a classroom (Renart, 2013). Relatively, lack of encouragement leads to lack of concentration among the students and children in academic sections. As a result of the consequences, students have tried to catch the attention of the instructors by doing kinds of stuff that are irrelevant in a classroom atmosphere (Edwards, 2014).

In order to the deal with the classroom issue of attention seeking, the motives encouraging the misbehaviour of the students must be evaluated. There are four types of motivating factors leading to attention seeking behaviours among the children and students (Sullivan, 2011). The active constructive motives of the students seek constant praise from the instructors whereas passive constructive motives influence the students to involve others to serve them. The active destructive motives seek immediate attention from the teachers. Alternatively, passive destructive attention getting motives have forced others to help students and children.

The investigation of the previous literature must be included with the theoretical concept of Rudolf Dreikurs to identify how the classroom issue of attention seeking has been dealt by the teachers in the Western Australia. Meanwhile, the Department of Education of Western Australia has involved the democratic discipline model of Rudolf Dreikurs to train the teachers and instructors analysing the behavioural patterns of the students. The challenge of attention-getting is a comprehensive classroom issue in this particular context (Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 2015).  Influenced by the theoretical model of Rudolf Dreikurs, the DOE of Western Australia has taken initiatives to develop policies that can be effective for the teachers to understand the behaviours that are encouraging attention seeking. Precisely, each of the classroom misbehaviours must be dealt with priority so that teachers have gained the knowledge and skills to reduce the severity of the issue (Crawford, & Shutler, 2009).

Meanwhile, instructors are trained to ignore the inappropriate behaviour of the students. If the instructors avoid the misbehaviour of the children leading to attention getting, students have found to be calm down. Such drastic change in nature among the students will reduce the attention-seeking motives as well. Alternatively, good behaviours of the students must be encouraged with rewards and appreciation (Edwards, & Watts, 2008). Thus, other students have found no motives leading to attention seeking within the classroom environment. Therefore, substantial emotional literacy programmes have been organised by the DOE to betterment of the practices connecting the classroom management.

Understandably, the investigation reports and literature of the authors can be displayed to identify the roles of the instructors to solve the issue of attention-seeking in the Western Australian area. Through the identification of the theoretical concept such as Rudolf Dreikurs’ democratic discipline model, educators and classroom mentors can tackle the unwanted classroom scenario (Számadó, 2015). Meanwhile, classroom management issues such as attention-seeking have been a leading behavioural challenge for the teachers as well. By ignoring the misbehaviours related to attention-seeking, instructors can negate the influential factors and attention-seeking motives. The adequate intervention and application of the discussed theoretical model can be evident to solve the issue of attention-getting (Thijs, Verkuyten, & Grundel, 2014). Also, the responsibility and accountability of the instructors should be encouraged so that such classroom management issues can be diminished.

As per the above discussions, Rudolf Dreikurs has provided different solutions to the attention seeking behaviour of the students. According to his theory, it is important for the teachers to understand the behaviour of the students and recognise the primary factor leading to the issue (Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 2015). Firstly, the teachers must prepare themselves to understand the goal of the misbehaving child. For example, if the teacher feels annoyed by the behaviour of the student, the child’s goal is to get attention of the teacher or the class. Hence, understanding the goal of the misbehaving child is significant in order to implement the solutions of the attentions seeking behaviour (Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 2015).

In order to make the teachers aware of the behavioural constraints that negatively impact the environment of the classroom, the DOE of Western Australia must develop policies for training the teachers regarding the classroom management issues (Fraga-Cañadas, 2010). The training session will teach the educators regarding the psychological process of the behaviour and the consequences of dealing with the issue in an aggressive manner (Waterman, & Walker, 2009). On the other hand, the training programme will provide the educators with knowledge and skills to deal with the attention seeking issues among the students of different level. The solutions to the attention seeking issues in the classroom management are discussed in details herein below:

Recognise the misbehaviour: First of all, it is important for the teacher to recognise the goal of the misbehaviour (Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 2015). In order to understand the reason for misbehaving in the class, the teacher must observe every individual student and maintain a note of their daily activities (Jones, 2007). Furthermore, the teachers must personally interact with the students to understand the psychological issues faced by them.

• Legitimise the behaviour: Secondly, the teachers must focus on legitimising the behaviour that is appropriate for the class. For example, the students must be taught to express their needs in an appropriate way. According to Bill Rogers, a mentoring session must be conducted for the students to teach them how to express their feelings and behave appropriately in the class (Rogers, 2014).
• Minimise attention: On the other hand, the educators must start ignoring the attention seeking behaviour of the students that are not harmful or aggressive for the class. For instance, the misbehaviour of thee student can be ignored by standing close to the student and writing a note (Mallinger, 2008). It will make the student think that his behaviour is useless in seeking the attention of the teacher and influence them to avoid using such behaviour in the future.
• Appreciate appropriate behaviour: According to Dreikurs, educators must use assertive techniques in order to deal with the attention seeking issues (Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 2015). For example, the appropriate behaviour of the students must be appreciated with written notes to make them feel motivated and avoid using unusual behaviour in the classroom environment. On the other hand, the appreciation of the appropriate behaviour in front of the other members will influence them to behave in an appropriate manner.
• Distract the student: Furthermore, when the students are found to be misbehaving, the teachers should not use any aggressive technique to deal with the issue. For example, in place of punishing the student, the teacher can distract the pupil by asking a question or favour that will change the activity (Malmgren, Trezek, & Paul, 2015). Distraction of the student from the misbehaving activity can be effective enough to make the student understand that the teacher does not like the behaviour of the person and will influence them to behave appropriately.
• Do the unexpected: Alternatively, doing unexpected things in the class such as turning out the lights, talk to the wall and play a musical instrument can distract the student from misbehaving in the classroom environment (Malmgren, Trezek, & Paul, 2015). It will make the student think about their behaviour and influence them to understand the issue.
• Move the student: Finally, the teachers can move the student from one seat to another or send the student to a “thinking chair” in place of sending them outside the class to deal with the attention seeking behaviour (Waterman, & Walker, 2009). It will allow the student to continue the class and stop misbehaving in the classroom environment.

The aforementioned solutions will be helpful to meet the classroom management challenges of attention seeking in the schools of Western Australia. It will help the school authorities to develop the skills of the teachers and implement a mind set among the teachers to use assertive techniques in order to deal with the behavioural issues of the student (Waterman, & Walker, 2009). However, the positive as well as negative implications of the proposed solutions are discussed in details herein below:

The primary benefit of the proposed solutions is that it will teach the educators regarding the negative consequences of using aggressive techniques to deal with the attention seeking problems and influence them to use the assertive techniques. Furthermore, the use of assertive techniques will promote positive behaviour among the students in Western Australia and improve the classroom environment. Furthermore, the proposed solutions will help the school authorities to minimise the issues of dismissal of the students and improve their academic achievement (Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 2015). The techniques to teach the student regarding the appropriate ways to express their needs will reduce distraction in classes and promote positive behaviour in the classroom environment.

The proposed solutions do not incur any sort of financial cost for the teachers. But, the teachers need to put effort in order to deal with the students. The teachers need to maintain note of the behaviour of the students and deal with the negative attention seeking behaviours through above mentioned strategies. In order to pay attention over the individual students with large number members in a single class, the teachers may feel stressed (Dreikurs, Grunwald, & Pepper, 2015).  Hence, the proposed solutions are time seeking and needs the teachers to put extra effort in order to observe the students and deal with their problems.

Conclusion

On the basis of the above analysis, the teachers face different problems in order to manage the diverse students in the classroom. The problem of attention seeking in classroom should be managed using assertive and polite techniques. The school authorities and Department of Education of Western Australia must implement policies and strategies to train the teachers for handling the attention seeking issues at classroom. A better way of handling the issue will promote positive behaviour among the students and improve the academic achievements of the pupils. Conclusively, the attention seeking issue must be dealt in a positive way to improve the environment of the classroom.

References

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