Classroom management in urban schools: proposing a course framework

ABSTRACT

Students of color in urban areas experience a multitude of intersecting oppressive structures that influence their behavior in schools. As a result, teachers in these schools often face distinct student behavior challenges to which they are often ill-equipped to respond. Colorblind approaches to student misbehavior, those that do not acknowledge students’ environments and cultures, are often punitive in nature and result in consequences that are not in students’ best interests. We propose, then, that preservice teachers who aim to teach in urban schools are required to consider contextual and cultural influences on student behavior as part of their teacher preparation coursework. Drawing upon existing scholarship, we propose a course framework that focuses exclusively on techniques that cultivate strong student-teacher relationships and academically supportive student behaviors. The framework consists of five thematic units: 1) trauma-informed and trauma-sensitive classrooms, 2) facing cultural conflicts, 3) culturally informed care, 4) culturally relevant/responsive classroom management, and 5) restorative discipline philosophy and practices.

KEYWORDS:

• Classroom management
• teacher education
• school discipline
• urban education
• course development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Though this course was conceived for a U.S. context, it may be adapted to other urban contexts framed by similar race and class issues.

2. Black is used here to refer to the African diaspora, which includes persons of African ancestry with cultural and national affiliations outside of the African-American context.

3. A complete list of learning outcomes is found in Appendix A.