HOW DO TEACHERS LEARN TO MANAGE CLASSROOM-BEHAVIOR - A STUDY OF TEACHERS OPINIONS ABOUT THEIR INITIAL TRAINING WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CLASSROOM-BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT

Structured interviews were carried out with 176 secondary school teach ers to elicit their views/opinions about their initial professional tr aining and their later practical experience, with particular reference to classroom behaviour management. The results showed that the vast m ajority of teachers believe classroom management skills to be of major importance to them professionally. Nearly three-quarters of them were dissatisfied with the preparation in this area of professional skills provided by their initial training courses. Many thought that their c olleagues spent too much time on matters of order and control and 38% thought that they, themselves, did also. Generally, they showed an int erest in attending training courses in classroom behaviour management. Many felt that such training could reduce stress among teachers and m ight help to reduce troublesome behaviour among their pupils. Nearly a ll of them thought that it would be of benefit to their younger collea gues who were just beginning their careers.