The Roles of Teaching Experience and Authoritative Classroom Management Style on Student Discipline

Abstract

Two elements that have been identified as having notable impacts on a student’s educational experience include classroom management strategies and years of teaching experience. The following investigation explored the degree to which years of teaching experience and an adherence to an Authoritative classroom management style influence classroom discipline. Based on a review of recent research in the area of teacher training and teacher development, it was hypothesized that a teacher’s years of professional teaching experience moderated by an Authoritative classroom management style would predict the frequency of office discipline referrals and discipline related teacher-parent or guardian communication. The results of this investigation failed to confirm the predicted associations between the Authoritative classroom management style, and the use of office discipline referrals and frequency of parent or guardian communication. However, findings from this investigation did highlight several areas of potential significance regarding classroom management including the teacher’s age, classroom management style, and teacher experience in the use of office discipline referrals and parent or guardian communication.