

Given that poorly designed lessons, uninteresting learning materials, or unclear expectations, for example, could contribute to greater student disinterest, increased behavioral problems, or unruly and disorganized classes, classroom management cannot be easily separated from all the other decisions that teachers make. While a limited or more traditional interpretation of effective classroom management may focus largely on “compliance”-rules and strategies that teachers may use to make sure students are sitting in their seats, following directions, listening attentively, etc.-a more encompassing or updated view of classroom management extends to everything that teachers may do to facilitate or improve student learning, which would include such factors as behavior (a positive attitude, happy facial expressions, encouraging statements, the respectful and fair treatment of students, etc.), environment (for example, a welcoming, well-lit classroom filled with intellectually stimulating learning materials that’s organized to support specific learning activities), expectations (the quality of work that teachers expect students to produce, the ways that teachers expect students to behave toward other students, the agreements that teachers make with students), materials (the types of texts, equipment, and other learning resources that teachers use), or activities (the kinds of learning experiences that teachers design to engage student interests, passions, and intellectual curiosity). When classroom-management strategies are executed effectively, teachers minimize the behaviors that impede learning for both individual students and groups of students, while maximizing the behaviors that facilitate or enhance learning. Generally speaking, effective teachers tend to display strong classroom-management skills, while the hallmark of the inexperienced or less effective teacher is a disorderly classroom filled with students who are not working or paying attention. Although the ability to experience flow varies from one individual to another, the phenomenon can be encouraged through approaches such as attention training, meditation, maintaining a sense of curiosity, dedicating oneself to lifelong learning and exploring what particular types of activities flow for you.Classroom management refers to the wide variety of skills and techniques that teachers use to keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task, and academically productive during a class. Temporal sensing is altered so that, typically, much more time elapses during a flow experience than the individual would have estimated.įlow experiences have been studied and applied to inform many areas of endeavor including personal growth, workplace psychology, metacognitive therapy, music, sports, education, mindfulness training, game design and gaming. Satisfaction in the actions and immediate internal feedback about their success are also pleasurable. The activity is intrinsically enjoyable and there is a sense of effortlessness. The individual is working at the limits of his capabilities, envisioning steps forward almost simultaneously with taking action. The first and most integral element of a flow experience is intense absorption that precludes multitasking, daydreaming or attention to other matters. In his 2004 TED talk, Csíkszentmihályi explained the phenomenon as a function of cognitive processing limits: the intense concentration on the activity at hand prevents the capacity for other processing, such as rumination or awareness of hunger. The term flow arose from the way many of the artists described the experience as like being carried along on a current of water. The psychologist was interviewing artists about their tendency to become so absorbed in their work that they lost awareness of anything else, including basic needs for food, water and sleep. The experiences are considered profound enough to improve the individual’s overall satisfaction in life.Īlthough flow experiences have been observed for thousands of years, Mihály Csíkszentmihályi coined the term in 1975. Sometimes referred to as being “in the zone,” flow states are known to enhance creativity and performance and spark innovation. Flow, in the context of psychology, is a state of intense engagement, focus and contentment in the present moment and current activity.
