This study was conducted to find out what kind of method, in what situation would a pre-school teacher control the behavior of a child, what the pre-school teacher thought about the using control methods, when it is used, and what the most effective m...
This study was conducted to find out what kind of method, in what situation would a pre-school teacher control the behavior of a child, what the pre-school teacher thought about the using control methods, when it is used, and what the most effective method was by attending classes at Haenara Pre-school in Eijung-bu 24 times and Keunma-eum Pre-school in Anyang 72 times for a total of 96 times which can be calculated into 576 hours of participant observation and in-depth interviews.
Each situation for controlling a child is unique because a child's behavior can be controlled in one situation and not in the other. Therefore, I have attended pre-school classes to observe how the teachers controlled the children in the classroom, and I had in-depth interviews with the students and the teachers.
The summarization of the study results on the questions that have been made are as follows.
First of all, what are methods that are used to control children in a pre-school classroom? Let's divide control into linguistic and nonlinguistic control. Linguistic control can be calling the student's name, the class name (using codes), differentiating voices, changing volume and pitch of voice, tone of words, using student's fantasies, acting, praising another student, admonishing, reminding, commanding indirectly, commanding, warning, scolding, making fun of, threatening and discussing in groups. There is a total of 19 examples of non-linguistic control such as changing expressions, looking in the eye, staring, signalling, changing actions, repeating desirable actions, changing seats, competing with others, acting as teachers, giving privileges, taking away chances, giving prizes, Waite-Time, playing games, putting pressure in groups, consequence, nobody speaking, and standing in front of the chair, classroom door or hallway. Direct control methods were used by the interviewees in general. An analysis of classroom Management Practices Employed by Experienced Preschool Teachers; Skills, Context, And Thoughts for the Linda (1995) study rarely used threatening and instead used indirect commanding as a method of control. However, the following control methods not used as often: differentiating voices, making gestures, stimulating curiosity, using incomplete sentences, asking for help, using fantasies of a child, praising, and acting.
Secondly, in what situation does the teacher use control over the children? The teacher usually controls a child behavior when a child breaks a daily routine, interferes with activities, or does not follow basic manners. It is also used for safety reasons, to show off to fellow teachers, parents, and principal, and to let the children have a taste of elementary school. For teachers with many students in the class usually use the control method as an effective way of running a class instead of using it as a way to meet each child's demands and interests.
Thirdly, what does the teachers think about using control and does the teacher have any worries? According to the situation, education and values of the teacher, the same situation can be handled differently. Therefore, a consistent controlled method cannot be used. When the teacher focuses on a problem child and applies different methods of control according to gender and characteristics of the child, the child thinks that the teacher is unfair. Because the teacher thinks that the control method does not work for the problem child, he/she goes through agony over not being able to find the right way. The teachers think that when a child needs more control over his/her behavior, that child is hated by the teacher. Therefore, the child is kept on watch, and the teacher tend to play without him/her. The children of a class where the teacher uses more control methods tend to be more dependent to their teacher compared to other classes. Even though the teacher worries that he/she is controls the student as a habit, he/she cannot think of an alternative way. The teacher also knows this method does not consider individual characteristics of a child but still uses it for the sake of the whole class.
Finally, what is the procedure for control and what is the effective method in using it? This question can be answered by observing the teacher's application method and his/her effective use of it. I will go over the procedure for control first. When a child starts interfering, the pre-school teacher observes how that action had occurred and decides if he/she will use control or not. When he/she decides to use control over the child, she considers several factors: is the child out-going; has the child been under control before or not; if the child has, what was the most effective way to control him/her from past experience; what is the current status of the class. After considering these factors, the teacher tries to take control of the child and if it doesn't work, she needs to reconsider the factors.
The effective way of taking control of a child is based on observation and in-depth interviews of teachers at Haenara Pre-school in Eijung-bu and Keunma-eum Pre-school in Anyang. The most important thing for a teacher is to express his/her love to the child and develop a trusting relationship. As long as the teacher is clear that he/she wants control by talking clearly in short sentences, changing voices and pitch which differ from the ordinary voice, changing expressions, and controling the frequency of using control, children will be under control once a trusting relationship has developed. A child is more under control when a teacher makes the effort to check if a promise or rule made with the child is not broken, make sure the rules are known to the children in March (the first month of pre-school), praise the child when he/she has shown improvement of an action which had been controlled so that it gives the child motivation to do more, and give the child time to think what he/she did wrong instead of the teacher pointing out what he/she did wrong. However, when a teacher does not clearly state that he/she wants control, state it with another activity, use long sentences, use same face expression and volume, or make no change in pitch, it was observed that the children were not under control.