- Astiba Kebong’o argues that effective classroom management requires more than rules and subject knowledge.
- She says teachers’ emotional intelligence can strengthen discipline, fairness and relationships with learners.
- The article explains why empathy, self-control and dignity should remain central to classroom management.
Every teacher knows that managing a classroom is not always easy. There are days when learners are attentive, cooperative and eager to learn. There are also days when a teacher walks into a class and everything seems to go wrong.
A learner talks continuously. Another refuses to follow instructions. Someone has not completed an assignment. A simple correction turns into an argument. Before long, the lesson that was carefully prepared has been overtaken by discipline issues.
It is in such moments that emotional intelligence becomes important.
Teaching is not only about knowing the subject and delivering content. It is also about dealing with people. Learners come to school with different personalities, abilities, expectations and experiences. How a teacher responds to them can influence not only discipline but also the quality of learning that takes place.
Psychologist Daniel Goleman brought considerable attention to emotional intelligence, particularly the ability to recognise, understand and manage one’s emotions while relating effectively with others. For teachers, this is more than a psychological idea. It is something they practise every day.
A teacher who knows that he or she is becoming angry can choose to pause before responding. That pause may prevent a small incident from becoming a major confrontation.
This does not mean that teachers should tolerate indiscipline.
Schools need rules. Learners need boundaries. Teachers have a responsibility to maintain order and protect the learning process. However, there is a difference between being firm and being unnecessarily harsh.
A learner who has broken a rule should be corrected. But correction should focus on the behaviour rather than attacking the learner’s character.
Calling a learner a “failure”, “lazy” or “troublesome” may provide momentary satisfaction to an angry adult, but it does little to correct the underlying problem. In fact, such labels can stay with a child long after the particular incident has been forgotten.
The better approach is to ask what needs to change and how the learner can be helped to make that change.
Listening before judging
This requires teachers to listen.
Sometimes a learner who is constantly disruptive is simply making poor choices and must be held accountable. At other times, the behaviour may be connected to academic difficulties, peer pressure, family circumstances, frustration or other challenges.
Understanding the reason behind behaviour does not mean excusing it. It simply helps the teacher respond more wisely.
This is where guidance and counselling, parents, class teachers and school administrators have an important role to play. A teacher should not be expected to carry every learner’s problem alone.
Research supports the importance of teachers’ emotional skills. A study involving 559 teachers found a relationship between teachers’ ability to deal with emotions and their classroom-discipline management. Other research has similarly linked teachers’ social and emotional competence with teacher-learner relationships, classroom management and a positive classroom climate.
These findings are important because good classroom management is not simply about keeping learners quiet. A silent classroom is not necessarily a productive classroom.
Learners should be able to ask questions, make mistakes and seek clarification without feeling that they will be ridiculed. A child who is afraid of giving the wrong answer may eventually stop participating.
The teacher therefore has to create an atmosphere where mistakes are treated as part of learning while academic standards remain high.
Fairness is equally important.
Learners are quick to notice favouritism. They know when one student is punished for something that another gets away with. They also notice when a teacher allows personal feelings to influence decisions.
Emotional intelligence helps a teacher separate personal irritation from professional judgement.
The learner who has annoyed you today still deserves to be treated fairly tomorrow.
Discipline without humiliation
There are also occasions when the best response is not an immediate response. A teacher may be angry, and that is understandable. But making a serious disciplinary decision while emotions are running high can make matters worse.
Taking a moment, lowering one’s voice and choosing the right words can change the direction of an entire situation.
As Proverbs 15:1 reminds us, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
Gentleness should not be confused with weakness. A teacher can speak calmly and still make it clear that a particular behaviour is unacceptable.
There is also a need to recognise that teachers themselves need care.
It is difficult to expect a teacher who is constantly exhausted, overworked and emotionally drained to remain patient in every situation. Teacher welfare therefore has a direct bearing on classroom life.
Teachers need supportive colleagues, understanding school leadership, opportunities for professional growth and reasonable time to rest and recover. Emotional intelligence should not become another demand placed on teachers without addressing the conditions in which they work.
Patricia Jennings and Mark Greenberg’s work on the “prosocial classroom” has highlighted the connection between teachers’ social and emotional competence, their wellbeing, classroom management and the quality of relationships with learners.
This is something schools should take seriously.
A teacher’s influence also extends beyond the lesson being taught. Learners watch how their teachers handle disagreement, respond to mistakes and treat people who hold different opinions.
If a teacher teaches respect but routinely humiliates learners, the contradiction is difficult to miss. If a teacher expects learners to control their anger but responds aggressively to every provocation, the message becomes equally confusing.
Teachers are, whether they intend to be or not, role models.
This does not mean teachers must be perfect. They are human beings with their own pressures and difficult days. What matters is the ability to recognise when emotions are taking over and to regain control before those emotions affect learners unfairly.
In the end, emotional intelligence is not about making teachers soft. It is about making them more effective.
A teacher can be approachable without losing authority. A teacher can listen without accepting unacceptable behaviour. A teacher can show empathy while maintaining clear boundaries. A teacher can discipline without humiliating.
The question, therefore, should not always be, “How do I control this class?”
Sometimes it should be, “How am I contributing to the atmosphere in this classroom?”
The answer may explain why some lessons flourish while others quickly descend into conflict.
Good teaching requires knowledge, preparation and sound classroom management. But it also requires patience, self-awareness, fairness and the ability to understand the people sitting in front of us.
When teachers learn to manage their own responses, they are better placed to manage difficult situations. When they listen before judging, they are more likely to understand learners. And when they correct behaviour without destroying a learner’s dignity, they create room for growth.
READ ALSO: Busia mourns veteran journalist Moses Radoli after fatal road accident
The classroom should be a place where discipline and dignity can exist together.
That is not always easy.
But it is worth striving for.
By Astiba Kebongo
jackiekebongo@gmail.com
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