Abstract:
Although Bartlett (1991, p.13) informs us that: the only in-depth research into pupil attention in initial encounters in an Australian context was undertaken by Bartlett (1989)Ó, the problem of pupil management is of sufficient import that Barry and King (1988, p.150) suggest that management problems will occur during teaching practice. This paper will attempt to address the apparent need for research into the establishment and maintenance of pupil management. The study considered in this paper was conducted within the epistemological framework of a disciplined inquiry which reflects the stance that the wide spectrum of interrelated influences that structure the social situation in the classroom revolving around the management of pupil behaviour make it inappropriate to take, only, the narrow view required by traditional scientific research methods. The view taken in this study is that as much of the relevant data involved in the performance of pupil management in the classroom as is practicable should be gathered using both quantitative and qualitative methods (Gibson,1960). This paper includes the presentation of the results gathered from a part of a study which focuses on the five week teaching practice (for eleven subjects) near the end of the teacher training programme. The data which will be presented in this paper has been generated from; supervisor reports on the subjects teaching practice performance, the Rules Observation Instrument (R.O.I.) data from observation of classroom lessons, video recordings of lessons taught by the subjects, pupil responses on the modified Classroom Environment Scale (C.E.S.), and transcripts of recorded interviews with the subjects.