Abstract
In South Africa where schools face unique challenges, such as diverse student populations and limited resources, effective classroom management strategies are of utmost importance. Efficacious classroom management is a vital job of a classroom teacher and is essential for student academic attainment. Studies have shown that effective classroom management is essential for deliberate instruction and for achieving the required objectives. However, studies have indicated that South African teachers lack the content and pedagogical knowledge to adequately implement classroom management techniques in the classroom. Ascertaining the thoughts and beliefs of teachers may reveal where the teachers’ struggles lie, especially considering the many challenges teachers face trying to manage students from varying socioeconomic backgrounds and linguistic abilities. Observations may determine if there are any discrepancies between the beliefs of teachers and their classroom management practices and may confirm these perceived challenges. Therefore, this study seeks to ascertain the overall ideas and beliefs that teachers have about classroom management and amelioration of student academic performance and how teachers implement classroom management as a teaching and learning approach. A qualitative methodology was used to achieve these ends, and convenience sampling was applied to select 10 participants from three different primary schools from the foundation phase. Background information and data were obtained through semi-structured interviews. The findings were that there is a correlation between teachers’ classroom practices and students’ learning outcomes. That is, the views and beliefs held by these participants were linked to their perceptions of how student learning takes place through the application of the behaviourist learning theory, cognitive learning theory or constructivist learning theory. These beliefs correlated with the classroom management processes and procedures teachers implemented which they believed ameliorated student learning.
Keywords: Classroom routine, classroom management; primary school; student academic attainment; Student behaviour; intermediate phase; management strategies, teachers’ beliefs.