Abstract:
ClassDojo is a popular educational technology platform used by teachers to manage students’ behaviour and communicate with parents. However, similar digital classroom management tools such as ClassDojo have been a subject of debate. Within commercial educational contexts, these tools often are promoted as supporting teachers’ pedagogy and time management. This paper critically discusses three studies of Early Years and Primary School teachers’ use of ClassDojo in their classrooms for managing young students’ behaviour and reporting such data to parents. Drawing on Foucault's concept of pastoral power and data collected from the app, teachers and families, we show that managing student behaviour via an app such as Class Dojo may not be necessary when teachers use other behaviour management strategies. Our findings shed light on the overemphasis on extrinsic motivation that ClassDojo relies heavily on, including points and badges to manage behaviour, how the app lacks context and simplifies complex student behaviours into binary categories. We conclude with the recommendation that teachers avoid the hype of digital technology that lack empirical evidence and, instead invest valuable time and resources into behaviour management strategies focusing on evidence-based research to support their repertoire of managing student behaviour and family-school communication.