The Relationship between Teachers’ Effectiveness and Management of Classroom Misbehaviours in Secondary Schools

doi:10.4236/psych.2011.29136

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Psychology

2011. Vol.2, No.9, 902-908

The Relationship between Teachers’ Effectiveness and

Management of Classroom Misbehaviours in Secondary Schools

Bonke A. Omoteso, Adeola Semudara

Department of Educational Foundations and Counselling, Obafemi Awolowo University,

Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Email: [email protected]

Received August 4th, 2011; revised September 20th, 2011; accepted October 29th, 2011.

The study investigated the nature of classroom misbehaviours among secondary school students in Ondo State,

Nigeria. It also determined the effectiveness of the teachers and the strategies adopted by the teachers to manage

classroom misbehaviours. Furthermore, it established the relationship between teachers’ effectiveness and man-

agement of classroom misbehavior with a view to maintaining discipline in schools. The study adopted descrip-

tive survey design. The population comprised the teachers and school administrators in Ondo State. The sample

consisted of 420 teachers and 180 school administrators selected randomly from 10 secondary schools selected

by stratified sampling technique using location of schools and ownerships of schools as strata. Two instruments

namely “Questionnaire on Management of Classroom Misbehaviour” (QMCM) and “Teacher Effectiveness

Scale” (TES) were used to elicit information from the students. QMCM was made up of three sections. Section

A consisted of items on socio-demographic variables such as sex, location of schools and ownership of schools.

Section B requested the teachers to indicate the types of misbehavior that take place in the classroom and their

frequencies of occurrence. Section C comprises strategies used by teachers to manage classroom misbehaviours.

TES was the ratings of teachers’ effectiveness as done by the school administrators. Results showed that the fol-

lowing misbehaviours occurred frequently in the classrooms: talking while was teaching (75.4%) and fighting

(90.9%). The strategies adopted by teachers included giving advice (90.5) and referring the students to the

school counsellors (88.6%). The teachers were rated effective in attending classes punctually (81.3%) and in

communicating clearly with the students (96.0%). Furthermore, there existed a significant relationship between

teachers’ effectiveness and management of classroom misbehavior, r = 0.0525 which is signifi ca n t at .05 level.

Keywords: Teachers’ Effectiveness, Management, Misbehaviour

Introduction

Classroom misbehavior among students is one issue that both

parents and educators agree is a problem. Many people blame

the teachers and the school authority. Many others believe that

the media including music, television, books and recently the

internet have been responsible for classroom misbehaviours. It

is a fact that in the past, our secondary schools experienced

only few cases of classroom misbehaviour, but in the “com-

puter age” where adolescents are exposed to violent films,

wrestling, boxing and other different kinds of exposure, class-

room misbehavior increases.

Classroom misbehavior among secondary school students is

any activity that interferes with teaching and learning. Activi-

ties such as unpreparedness for class, talking in class, fighting,

cheating, rudeness to teachers, and so on might disrupt the

process of teaching and learning (Slavin, 2001; Hussain, 2005).

Misbehaviour is also any activity that hinders the misbehaving

students to learn. Misbehaviour can arise because students feel

frustrated and bored in schools. Another reason why students

misbehave is because they want teachers’ attention. A lot of

problems which teachers must deal with are minor disruptions

in the classroom. In dealing with classroom problems, it is best

to correct behaviours by using the simplest intervention. Thus,

it is expected that if the teachers takes cognizance of the unruly

behavior of the students and applies the appropriate class con-

trol method, punishment or sanctions, the students will derive

maximum advantage from the classroom learning. However,

in order that the teacher may be able to effectively manage

his/her classroom, he/she needs to have sufficient and more

importantly confidence and develop abilities in classroom

management (Cartledge & Johnson, 1996). Martin, Limfort &

Stephenson, 1999) revealed that most teachers confessed that

their inability to deal with misbehavior in their classrooms was

as a result of their lack of experience and preparation. By im-

plication, confidence is a prerequisite to effective classroom

management (Cartledge & Johnson, 1996).

The ability of a teacher to effectively manage a classroom

depends also on the teacher’s mode of training and work ex-

perience (Lin & Gomell, 1998). The Nigerian Certificate of

Education (NCE) is the basic qualification for teachers in pri-

mary and junior secondary schools in Nigeria. This minimum

standard was fashioned out to produce highly qualified and

competent teachers in primary and junior secondary schools in

Nigeria. (National Policy on Education (NPE), 2004). As indi-

cated in the NPE a would be teacher should undergo at least a

three year teacher training programme in the university in order

to qualify as senior secondary school teacher. Sadly, many

teachers lack the skills required to be effective as teachers, due

to poor preparation in the training process. In fact, Little (1999)

found that many teachers who completed their teacher educa-

tion reported not to have received formal training on classroom

management. It is therefore not surprising that most teachers

find it difficult to handle classroom behavioural problems that

students elicit (Cains & Brown, 1998).

Further, the experience (length of service) of the teacher may

also be a potent factor in determining the success that the

teacher makes of his or her teaching in the classroom. Perhaps,

it may be highly expected that a teacher with a long service in

B. A. OMOTESO ET AL. 903

the school would have developed level of experience that can

make him to be confidence in classroom management (Welsh,

1995). It may thus be expected that a teacher who has spent a

long time in teaching activities would likely surpass his coun-

terparts with fewer years in the teaching career. This may sug-

gest that there is a relationship between work experience and

ability to effectively manage classroom misbehavior. In the

opinions of Gailo & Little, (2003), teachers develop a range of

behaviour management strategies as they spend more time in

the classroom and deal with behavioural problems of their stu-

dents.

A teacher’s gender may also affect the effective management

of classroom behavioural problems. It is common belief that

female teachers are less firm when it comes to management of

classroom misbehaviours and may not be able to effectively

manage the classroom as their male counterparts. To Savran

and Cakirogu (2003) male teachers are more in control of their

classrooms because they are autocratic, rigid, impersonal, as-

sertive and more aggressive than female teachers.

There are lots of other factors that influence the classroom

misbehavior like peer influence, school size and school climate,

poverty and so on. Manifestation of students’ misbehaviour can

range from mild indiscipline to non-criminal acts committed in

the school and juvenile delinquency. While the most common

students’ behaviour problems involve non-criminal conduct,

behaviour problems can appear in children as young as early

elementary years. Hence, the worst student behavior problems

are often experienced in high school.

The issue of classroom misbehavior calls for concern, In

Ondo state it has been taken for granted for a long time conse-

quently contributing considerably to poor and under-achieve-

ment of most students in secondary schools. In fact, it hinders

the misbehaving students’ ability to learn.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to

1) Investigate the nature of classroom misbehavior in secon-

dary schools;

2) Examine the factors (sex, location of school, school own-

ership) associated with classroom misbehavior in secondary

schools;

3) Investigate the strategies that are being used by teachers to

manage classr oom misbehavior;

4) Determine the teachers effectiveness in managing class-

room misbehavior; and

5) Establish the relationship between teachers’ effectiveness

and their ability to manage classroom misbehavior.

The following question are asked to guide the study

1) What is the nature of classroom misbehaviours among

secondary school students?

2) What are the factors associated with classroom misbehav-

ior among the students?

3) What are the strategies adopted by the teachers to manage

classroom misbehaviours?

4) How effective are the teachers in managing classroom

misbehaviour?

Research Hypotheses

1) There is no significant sex difference in the management

of classroom misbehavious by the teachers.

2) There is no significant influence of school location on the

management of classroom misbehaviours by the teachers.

3) There is no significant influence of ownership of school

on the management of classroom misbehavior by the tea che rs

4) There is no significant relationship between teachers’ ef-

fectiveness and management of classroom misbehaviours by

the teachers.

Methods

Research Design

The study employed survey research design.

Populati on and Sample

The population comprised all teachers and school adminis-

trators (Principals, Vice Principals and Heads of Departments)

in Ondo State, Nigeria. The sample for the study consisted of

420 teachers and 180 school administrators selected randomly

from 10 secondary schools selected by stratified randomly (us-

ing location of school and school ownership as strata) from

each of the six senatorial districts in the state. Seven teachers

and three school administrators were selected from each of the

selected sixty secondary schools.

Research Instruments

Two instruments titled “Questionnaire on Management of

Classroom Misbehaviour” (QMCM) and “Teachers’ Effective-

ness Scale” (TES). The QMCM was adopted from Adeniyi

(2007) while the TES was adopted from Omoteso (1998). The

QMCM was made up of three sections. Section A was made of

socio—demographic variables such as sex, school location and

school ownership. Section B requested the teachers to indicate

the frequencies of occurrence of the various classroom misbe-

haviours such as talking while the teacher is teaching, rudeness

to teachers, distraction, eating during lesson, sleeping during

lesson, chorus answers, chewing gum and leaving classroom

without permission. Three points Likert scale was used ranging

from “Always”, “Frequently”, and “Never” which were coded 3

2, and 1 respectively. Section comprised strategies for manag-

ing classroom misbehaviours. The teachers responded to the

items on three points Likert scale from “Agreed” (3), or “Dis-

agreed” (2) or “Undecided” (1). The School Administrators

also filled this section for the teachers they rated for effective-

ness. The TES was the ratings of teachers’ effectiveness as

done by the School Administrators The items were also rated

on four points of “Very Effective” (3) “Effective” (2), and “Not

Effective” (1). The instruments were validated by the original

users. The test re-test reliability of QMCM as carried out by

Adeniyi (2007) yielded a correlation coefficient of 0.86 while

that of TES was 0.76 (Omoteso, 2004). The test re-test reliabil-

ity coefficients of the instruments as carried out by the re-

searchers were 0.79 for QMCM and 0.85 for TES. All these

values are significant at .05 l evel.

Results

First, answers are provided for the research questions.

Research Question 1: What is the nature of classroom mis-

behaviours am ong secondary schoo l students?

In order to answer this question, the information elicited

from the teachers on the nature of misbehaviours they experi-

enced in their classrooms was subjected to frequency counts

and percentage analysis. The results are presented in Table 1.

Table 1 shows the nature of classroom misbehaviour in sec-

B. A. OMOTESO ET AL.

904

ondary schools studied. Majority of the respondents (75.4%,

= 1.51) indicated that students frequently engaged in talking

while the teacher is teaching. Other misbehaviours frequently

exhibited by secondary school students were fighting during

class work (90.9%,

= 1.81 ), aggression (72.0%,

= 1.41),

bullying (75.3%,

= 1.51), rudeness to teachers (74.2%,

1.48), sleeping in class during lesson (68.7%,

), giving chorus

answers (68.9%,

) and copying the notes from other student

during lesson. Furthermore, (75.4%,

= 1.51) indicated that

the students frequently displayed unpreparedness for class work.

Boredom was seen as a major kind of misbehavior exhibited by

the stu dent s by 43 .5% (

= 0.57) of the respondents. However,

many respondents (76.0%,

=) indicated that the students

never got involved in cheating and 82.0% (

= 1.58) indicated

that the students rarely chewed during lesson and that the stu-

dents never left the classroom without permission (73.3%,

0.74).

Research Question 2: What are the strategies adopted by the

teachers to manage classroom misbehaviour?

To answer this question, the responses of the teachers on the

strategies adopted by the teachers to manage classroom misbe-

havior were subjected to percentage analysis. The results are

presented in Table 2.

Table 2 indicates the strategies used by secondary teachers in

managing classroom misbehavior. Majority of the teachers

(90.5%,

= 2.72) gave advice to the students who misbe-

haved. Other strategies used by the teachers were referring the

students to the school counsellors (88.6%,

= 2.66), and fix-

ing eyes on the misbehaved student (88.2%,

= 2.65). Fur-

thermore, other strategies identified by the teachers were as-

signing a portion of land to be cleared by the student who mis-

behaved (57.6%,

= 1.73), making the student to stand at

back of the classroom during lesson (59.6%,

= 1.79), mov-

ing the student from his seat to another (56.7%,

= 1.70) and

reporting to the school principal or vice principal (53.5%,

1.60) However, 64.6% (

= 1.29) of the teachers disagreed

with giving the students who misbehaved strokes of the canes.

Other strategies that the teachers disagreed with were reporting

the students to their parents (64.6%

= 1.29), sitting near the

students during lesson (70.0%,

= 1.40), giving painful pun-

ishments (60.9%,

), calling out the student’s to insult him

(72.7%,

), sending the student out of the classroom (51.3%,

= 1.03) and asking the student to close his eyes and raise up

his hands.

Research Question 3: How effective are the teachers in

managing classroom misbehaviour?

In order to answer this question, the information collected

from the teachers from the school Principals, Vice Principals

and Heads of Departments was subjected to percentage analysis.

The results are presented in Table 3.

Table 3 shows that the teachers were rated effective in at-

tending class punctually by 81.3%, (

= 2.44) communicating

clearly with the students (96.9%,

= 0.02), attending to stu-

dents’ enquiries (96.9%,

= 0.01), checking students’ notes

(78.8%,

= 2.06) and giving assignments regularly by 60.0%,

(

= 1.80). They were rated effective in providing feedback to

students on assignments by 64.4% (

= 1.93), revising class

work with students (68.2%,

= 2.04), accessibi lity to st udents

(90.6%,

= 2.72), friendliness with students (95.1%

2.85), and being firm on matters of students’ behavior. Fur-

thermore, they were rated very effective in that they were well

respected by most students by 84.4%,

(

= 2.53) writing

lesson notes promptly and properly (58.8%,

= 1.76), pro-

viding marking scheme for grading (52.2%,

= 1.59) and

taking pains to explain difficult exercise to students when nec-

essary (87.5%,

= 2.63).

Research Hypothesis 1: There is no significant sex difference

in the management of classroom misbehaviour by the teachers.

To test this hypothesis, the information collected from the

teachers on management of classroom misbehaviour of students

and their sex was subjected to t-test analysis. The results are

presented in Table 4.

Table 1.

Classroom misbehaviours amon g s e co n da ry sc hool students.

Always Frequently Never

S/N Classroom Misbehaviours %

1 Talking whi le the teacher is teaching 4.2 0.16 75.4 1.51 20.4 0.20

2 Fighting 2.7 0.08 90.9 1.81 6.4 0.06

3 Cheating 4.2 0.12 19.1 0.38 76.0 0.76

4 Aggression 5.5 0.16 72.0 1.44 22.5 0.23

5 Bullying 10.0 0.30 75.3 1.51 14.7 0.15

6 Rudeness to teacher 12.2 0.37 74.2 1.48 3.6 0.05

7 Causing distractions 19.1 0.57 70.7 1.41 10.2 0.10

8 Eating during lesson 22.0 0.66 73.8 1.48 4.2 0.04

9 Sleeping during lesson 13.8 0.41 68.7 1.37 17.5 0.18

10 Boredom 13.4 0.40 43.5 0.57 43.1 0.43

11 Chorus answers 8.4 0.25 68.9 1.38 22.7 0.23

12 Copying notes from other student’s note during lesson 12.4 0.37 72.7 1.45 14.9 0.15

13 Unpreparedness for class work 4.2 0.12 75.4 1.51 20.4 0.20

14 Chewing in class 1.8 0.05 10.2 0.32 82.0 1.58

15 Leaving classroom without permission 2.2 0.07 24.5 0.49 73.3 0.74

B. A. OMOTESO ET AL. 905

Table 2.

Strategies for managing classroom misbehaviour.

Agreed Disagreed Undecided

S/N Strategies %

1 Given strokes of cane 31.8 0.95 64.6 1.29 3. 6 0.04

2 Assignment of farm portion to clear 57.6 1.73 40.9 0.82 1.5 0.01

3 Reporting to parents 33.8 1.01 64.6 1.29 1.6 0.02

4 Moving stu dent from on e seat to another 56.7 1.70 42.4 0.85 0.9 0.01

5 Reporting to principal or vi ce principal 53.5 1.60 44.7 0.89 1/8 0.02

6 Making the students to stand at the back of the

classroom. 59.6 1.79 40.4 0.81 - -

7 Teacher sits beside the misbehaved students w h il e the

teaching is going on 30.0 0.90 70.0 1.40 - -

8 Calling out the student’s name to insult him 26.0 0.78 72.7 1.45 1.3 0.01

9 Giving advice to the student 9 0.5 2.72 8.4 0.17 1.1 0.01

10 Giving pain inflicting exercise such as kneeling down,

and frog jump 37.3 1.12 60.9 1.22 1.8 0.02

11 Fixing eye s on the students 88.2 2.65 10.0 0.19 1.8 0.02

12 Sending the misbehaved student out of the classroom 48.0 1.44 51.3 1.03 0.7 0.01

13 Asking the stude nt to closes and hands up 46.4 1.39 52.7 1.05 0.9 0.01

14 Referring the student to school counselor 88,6 2.66 8.7 0.17 2.7 0.03

Table 3.

Teachers’ effectiveness.

Effective Just Effective Not Effective

S/N Items

The teacher %

1 attends class punctually 81.3 2.44 15.6 0.09 3.1 0.03

2 communic ates clearly w i th the students 96.0 2.91 5.1 0.02 -

3 a tte nds to stud ent s’ enqu ir ies 96.9 2.91 3.1 0.01 -

4 checks students’ notes 78.8 2.06 35.0 0.49 6.2 0.06

5 gives assignment regularly 60.0 1.80 24.4 0.31 15.6 0.16

6 provides feedback to students on assignments 64.4 1.93 25.6 0.51 10.0 0.10

7 revises class work with stude nts 68.2 2.04 25.6 0.51 10.0 0.10

8 is accessible to students 90.6 2.72 7.5 0.15 1.9 0.02

9 is friendly with students 95.1 2.85 5.0 0.10 - -

10 is firm on matters of students’ behavio r 87.5 2.63 8.8 0.18 3.7 0.04

11 well respect ed by most students 84.4 2.53 9.4 0.65 6.3 0.06

12 writes lesson note s promptly and properly 58.8 1.76 26.9 0.37 14.3 0.14

13 provides marking scheme for grading 52.2 1.59 28.1 0. 56 18.7 0.19

14 takes pain to explain difficult exercise to students

when necessary 87.5 2.63 9.4 0.19 3.1 0.03

From Table 4, there are 220 and 200 female teachers respec-

tively who filled this section of the questionnaire correctly. The

mean for the male teachers is 53.32 while that of female is

52.51. The standard deviations of the scores are 5.48 and 5.92,

the degree of freedom is 418. The computed t value is 6.495

which is significant at .05 level. Theses results suggest that

there is a significant difference in the ways male and female

teachers manage classroom misbehaviour in secondary schools

in Ondo State.

Research Hypotesis 2: There is no significant influence of

school location on the management of classroom misbehaviour

by the teachers.

In order to test this hypothesis, the information collected

from the teachers on location (urban and rural) of the school

and management of classroom misbehaviour was subjected to t

test analysis. The results are presented in Table 5.

From Table 5, 252 teachers were from urban schools while

168 teachers were from rural schools. The mean scores for the

two groups are 55.61 and 50.22 respectively. Their standard

deviations are 5.78 for teachers from urban schools and 6.08 for

teachers from rural schools. The t value is 4.327 which is sig-

nificant at .05 level. These results show that there is a significant

B. A. OMOTESO ET AL.

906

influence of school location on the management of classroom

misbehaviour by the teachers.

Research Hypothesis 3: There is no significant influence of

ownership of school on the management of classroom misbe-

haviour by the teachers.

To test this hypothesis, the information collected from the

teachers on the ownership of schools (private and public) and

management of classroom misbehaviour was subjected to t test

analysis. The results are presented in Table 6.

Table 6 shows that there were 155 teachers from private

schools and 265 from public schools. The mean scores for the

two groups are 53.50 and 52.33 respectively. Their standard

deviations are 5.48 for teachers from private schools and 6.0 for

teachers from public schools. The t value is 2.243 which is not

significant at .05 level. The results indicate that there is no sig-

nificant influence of school ownership on the management of

classroom misbehavior by the teachers.

Research Hypothesis 4: There is no significant relationship

between teachers’ effectiveness and management of classroom

misbehaviour by the teachers.

In order to test this hypothesis, the information collected on

teachers’ effectiveness and management of classroom misbe-

havior from the school administrators was subjected to Pearson

correlation analysis. The results are presented in Table 7.

From Table 7, 120 School administrators rated teachers on

effectiveness scale. The ratings were correlated with the school

administrators’ scores on management of classroom misbehav-

ior. The correlation coefficient computed for the two measures

is .525 which is significant at .05 level. The results suggest that

there is a significant relationship between teachers’ effective-

ness and management of classroom misbehaviour.

Discussion

The first finding of this study showed that the major class-

room misbehaviours prevalent in secondary schools in Ondo

state were unpreparedness for class work, talking during lesson,

fighting, rudeness to teachers, causing distraction during les-

sons, sleeping during lessons, giving chorus answers and copy-

ing notes during lessons. These misbehaviours are apparent in

most of the schools in Ondo state and the reason for this may be

as a result of the students wanting to express themselves and

the need to exercise their freedom. It may also have to do with

the phase of life these students are in, most of them are in their

adolescent years. These results corroborate the findings of

Slavin (2000); and Hussain (2003). Inattention was identified as

one of the types of misbehaviours in the schools studied. The

causes of inattention might be as a result of lack of interest of

the students in the lesson or the teacher and lack of materials

for teaching and learning. Inattention might have also set in if

the method of teaching is boring and if time-table is badly ar-

ranged. Another form of misbehavior noticed in Ondo state

secondary schools was causing distraction in the classroom.

Raising issues that are not related to the topic being taught,

doing things in excess and over-reacting to issues are some of

the ways by which students may cause distractions in schools.

The results however, showed that bullying was not rampart in

most secondary schools in the state. This result is not in line

with the findings of Olweus (1997), Rigby (1997) Donalson

(1999) and MacDonald (1999) who found that bullying is the

most common form of indiscipline in schools. The implications

of these results are that classes will be disrupted and conse-

quently resulting to poor academic performances on the parts of

Table 4.

Sex difference in the mana gement of classroom misbehaviour.

Sex N

SD Df t P

Male 220 53.32 5.84 418 6.495* <.05

Female 200 52.51 5.92

*significant at .05.

Table 5.

Influence of school l ocation on management of classr o om misbehaviour.

Location of S chool N

SD Df t P

Urban 252 55.61 5.78 518 4.327* <.05

Rural 168 50.22 6.08

*Significant at .05.

Table 6.

Influence of school ownership on the management of classroom misbehaviour.

School Ownership N

SD Df t P

Private 155 53.50 5.48 418 2,243 >.05

Public 265 52.33 6.0

Table 7.

Relationship between te a ch e rs’ effectiveness and manageme n t of classroom misbehaviour.

Correlation N r P

Teachers’ Effectiveness 120 0.525* <.05

Management of classroom misbehaviour 120

*Significant at .05.

B. A. OMOTESO ET AL. 907

the students. These misbehaviours might have accounted for

poor performances of students in senior secondary school ex-

aminations for the past five years in the state specifically and in

the country in general.

The study also found the strategies that were used by the

teachers to manage classroom misbehaviour in the state. The

strategies included giving advice, referring students to the

school counsellors, reporting to the school principal, moving

students from one sit to another, making any erring student to

stand throughout the period, and assigning farm portion to be

cleared by the student who misbehaves. These results are in line

with the findings of Oladele (2004) who discovered that teach-

ers could manage classroom misbehavior through preaching

discipline in the classroom by ensuring orderliness, and power

of cooperation among the students. The results also showed that

all the strategies adopted by the teachers were capable of con-

trolling classroom misbehaviours among secondary students.

The measures such as teachers engaging students in private talk,

being friendly with students, use of appropriate method of

teaching that ensure good communication and participatory

lesson, arranging the class in an orderly manner, teachers at-

tending class regularly, having respect among the students, and

taking pains to explain difficult exercises to students when

necessary can be helpful in shaping the behaviours of the stu-

dents. If the teachers are committed to using these strategies,

there is bound to be great improvement in the students’ behav-

iours and academic performances. These results are in line with

the findings of Carbone (2001).

Furthermore, the results showed that there was a significant

difference between the classroom misbehaviour of students

from urban and rural secondary schools. This result is expected

because in the urban centres, students are exposed to various

violent films, horror films, boxing, wrestling and other different

kinds of exposure to corruption and indiscipline through the

internet thus making classroom misbehavior to be on the in-

crease. The same cannot be said of the students in the rural

areas where societal values and culture are paramount and

where students guide against soiling their parents names. Par-

ents and teachers therefore must engage their children and stu-

dents in worthwhile activities. Adequate home works should be

given to the students by the teachers and parents must ensure

that their children do their home works.

There also existed a significant difference between the class-

room misbehaviours of male and female secondary school stu-

dents. The cases of classroom misbehavior were prevalent

among male students than the female ones. This might have

been as a result of the nature of the two sexes. In most schools

in the state, the cases of reported classroom misbehavior were

more among the boys than among the girls. Girls at times exer-

cise some sort of fear for their teachers and parents, while male

students are daring especially if their teacher is a female. How-

ever, some girls may be unpredictable as some try to compete

in all ramifications with their male counterparts thereby result-

ing into confrontations even in the classroom. These results

corroborate the findings of MacDonalds (1999) that affirmed

that girls display subtler and complex forms of behavior than

boys but these behaviiours may be difficul t to d etest.

A significant difference was not found between the manage-

ment of classroom msibehaviours of teachers from privately

and publicly owned secondary schools in the state. The reason

for this might be because the teacher in both types of school

undergo similar training and programmes and are equipped

with the same techniques of handling classroom problems. In

the state, all teachers are allowed to attend seminars and work-

shops organized by the state government on the need to im-

prove educational standard in the state. At these seminars and

workshops, teachers are taught how to deal with classroom

situations when problems occur and the need to ensure teacher-

student relationship in a progressive way.

In this study a process measure of teachers’ effectiveness was

used, namely the ratings of the School Administrators (Princi-

pals, Vice-Principals and Heads of Departments). A significant

relationship was thus found between teachers’ effectiveness and

their management of classroom misbehaviours. This result is

not unexpected because an effective teacher is the one who

possesses such characteristics as impartiality, firmness in deci-

sion making, possession of adequate knowledge of his subject,

of good personality and a role model to the students. The at-

tributes are necessary for teachers to manage classroom situa-

tion accordingly and to be able to relate more professionally

with students. These results confirm the findings of Rogers

(1999) and Crone (2000) who discovered that adoption of de-

mocratic approach by the teacher is necessary to enhance stu-

dent-teacher relationship. Also, students prefer a teacher who is

friendly and ready to listen to their complaints. The implication

of the finding is that any teacher who possesses these attributes

may be adequately equipped to manage students’ classroom

problems.

Conclusion

The study concluded that the secondary school students

studied were involved in classroom misbehaviours such as

fighting, talking while the teachers were teaching, and eating

during lessons. Managing the classroom misbehaviours would

depend on how effective the teachers are, because this study

found a significant positive relationship between teachers’ ef-

fectiveness and management of clas sroom misbehavior.

Recommendations

 Teachers should take time to study their misbehaving stu-

dents in order to help them adjust.

 Teachers should adopt democratic approach as this enhances

student-teacher relationship.

 Teachers should attend seminars organized by the state gov-

ernment on the need to improve the educational standard in

the state.

 Parents should make themselves more available and accessi-

ble to their adolescent children. This is in a bid to know them

better and help them make positive use of their time.

 Parents should monitor what their children watch on the

television and the internet.

 The government at the state level should ensure that each

school has at least one trained counsellor instead of leaving

the teacher to do all the work.

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