Classroom management at different timescales: An interpersonal perspective

This chapter reviews and summarizes research that has been carried out on classroom management from an interpersonal perspective since 2006. The interpersonal approach to classroom management analyzes teaching in terms of the interactions and relationships between teachers and their students. After an introduction of the basic concepts and mechanisms of interpersonal theory, such as the Interpersonal Circle, and its application to teaching and classroom management, this chapter describes how using concepts derived from social dynamic systems theory can help understand interpersonal dynamics between teachers and students. Then, measurement instruments for teacher-student interactions, (e.g., the Continuous Assessment of Interpersonal Dynamics) and its representation in State Space Grids, and for relationships (the Questionnaire on Teacher Interaction) are presented. Associations are discussed of these interactions and relationships with other educational variables such as student, class, and teacher characteristics, student achievement and emotions and teacher job satisfaction and physiological measures. Changes in interactions and relationships are reviewed on three different timescales: how teacher and student behaviors feed into moment-to-moment classroom interactions, how interactions are associated with teacher-student relationships and social climate developing over weeks and months, and with a teacher’s interpersonal style which develops over the teacher’s professional life.