The impact of elementary school teachers’ beliefs about classroom management on intervention implementation decisions

There is a gap in the research about teacher beliefs as it pertains to how these beliefs guide teachers’ intervention decisions, particularly decisions about classroom management. The proposed study is interested in understanding and exploring how teacher beliefs impact classroom management implementation decisions. While classroom management interventions are used across grade levels, behavior management is a primary concern during the elementary school years. Therefore, the proposed study will be conducted with elementary school teachers.

In order to more keenly examine this teaching experience, the proposed study will use a phenomenological approach to discern whether there are overarching themes in how teachers think about classroom management, plan and implement classroom management interventions, adjust to changes in the classroom environment, and represent their beliefs about classroom management in their classroom activities. This information will be obtained through the use of qualitative methods such as semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and two lived experience descriptions.