Student conflicts in schools represent an issue facing the nation’s education system daily. These conflicts are having a direct impact on student attendance. In this 21st century world of social media and immense technological advancement, how can educators get out in front of the conflict between students, parents, and educators? What are the current factors that play into student attendance and how does a student’s behavior while at school directly relate to a student’s avoidance of attending on a regular basis? The main aim of discussing this paper is to find answers to the following questions in a mutually friendly result to solve conflicts cases present in schools.
Cognitive Load
When talking about education it’s difficult not to mention Bloom’s Taxonomy. In the contemporary world, Bloom’s Taxonomy consists of three hierarchical set models that are used to classify the objective of education learning into groups of specificity and difficulty. The three main domains that cover the learning goals include, cognitive, affective and the sensory (Adams, 2015). The cognitive domain is mostly emphasized in education and is often used by teachers to develop curriculum learning objectives, assessments, and activities. The theory of cognitive load is another philosophy that everyone in education is well aware of.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The cognitive load theory is divided into three groups which are intrinsic, extraneous and germane theory and respectively represent the “sensory memory, working memory, and the long term memory.” The level of Bloom’s Theory is directly correlated with a breakdown of cognitive load theory which relates with and how useful information a school student can hold for certain duration before he or she becomes overwhelmed by the information.
It’s important for a school teacher to become responsible and be aware of how the balance classwork and lessons adequately so that the students don’t suffer cognitive overload due too much information presented to him or her. At any point when a student experience cognitive overload, the only way a student can respond is through withdraw or shut down. This one of the factors that cause the student to misbehave in a classroom environment since the feel tired, overwhelmed and can no longer understand what they are being taught in the classroom (Adams, 2015).
Behavior and Punishments
One of the main factors that cause students to misbehave in the classroom can directly be linked to poor lesson planning by a teacher due to the fact the teacher creates a power imbalance in a classroom environment and solely makes all the decisions without consulting the students. In the case where conflict exists in the learning environment and the power, the approach is used to solve the conflict problem then there is a chance that one of the parties involved in the conflict will be disadvantaged (Alstot & Alstot, 2015). Therefore the disadvantage can either be an actual present or perceived, however, it played a role in causing conflict.
There are so many kinds of philosophies explaining student behavior management. A lot of schools use the punitive line of punishment to students that misbehave in school environment whereas other school institutions which are more advanced uses a therapeutic line of thinking model when dealing with school conflict (Blad, 2016). The two approach work somehow but the student-centered management behavior management program has proven to work successfully when compared to the rest. Students get to know that the school management cares for them even when they have made blunders and instructors are there to support them through their learning process (O’Neill, Albin, Horner, & Sprague,2015).
The school management together with teachers and other educational leaders are responsible when it comes to handling cases of student’s indiscipline in a school environment. Cases of student’s dropout from school are directly linked to how a school institution solves cases of school indiscipline. Most of the conflicts that arise due to students misbehave can easily be circumvented in a lot of cases if the students receive good assistance from school leaders to assists them solves conflicts (Nooruddin & Baig, 2014). Furthermore, if a school culture only works on punishing students, then students lack the courage to express themselves in a situation that arises due to conflict.
Combining power imbalance together with poor teaching plan in a classroom situation definitely makes school students to feel wholly helpless and depending on the group that a student fall on the Bloom’s Taxonomy hence the more vulnerable students becomes more overwhelmed and unable to cope up with what they feel and in this context then end up misbehaving in classroom (Tenuto et al., 2014). Student indiscipline in a case for an institution since in order creates a good school culture good behavior management must be made a top priority in every school.
Absenteeism
The above-mentioned school conflicts caused by students results in school absenteeism, at a point where students feel they no longer have control of their lives or they feel a particular necessity in their lives is not met then this can lead to them avoiding going to school (Balfanz & Byrnes, 2012). Furthermore, when a student finds that he or she is constantly getting in trouble and punished regularly this will affect a student perception about school and finally, the student can end up dropping out of school. Lastly dropping out of school goes from being a school issue to becoming a legal problem due to not showing up in school (Havik et al., 2015).
In a school which possesses the culture of students truancy is alarming level, this complex challenge can become hard to solve it. As outlined above in every school environment student are stereotypically disadvantaged when speaking out their mind and feelings since they hold no power in a school environment (Maxwell, 2016). So students who lack the courage and know-how of defending themselves when mediating with school management they automatically get punished and lose interest for being in school and the worst that can occur is when students feel hopeless and helpless and they end up dropping out of school.
One of the things that can solve students’ absenteeism is the regular motivation of students on how to succeed in school, motivation empowers students they become aware on the value of education and need for going to school and everyone around the becomes happy (Sedden & Clark, 2016).
The Connection between Diversity, Absenteeism, and Behavioral Problems
One of the challenges that affect the capability of a student in school and outside school environment is the challenge linked to diversity. In a case where students feel like they no longer belong to a certain environment then the students can develop a certain behavioral problem or decides to withdraw from school (McCloud, 2015). A lot of school teachers tend to assume that social problem linked diversities cannot affect students’ performance but in a real sense, research has shown that the two are linked.
School students that feel not accepted in a school environment will frequently act out since a lot of them have no idea about on any other way of expressing out how they feel, more specifically students who are impacted negatively by language barrier due to racial diversity they feel more powerless when involved in a social conflict in school (Park & Chang, 2015. Finally, when all these racial diversity issues pile up on a student school life he or she will automatically become absent from school.
It is the responsibility of school leadership to ensure that they create a school environment that promotes mutual trust and respect among all students and teachers, a culture that makes everyone feel welcome and feel satisfied when in school (Saylik et al ., 2016).
Interventions and Solutions for Conflicts
In every school environment, the growth-minded culture in school is important when it comes to improving students’ performance and success. Studies connect the growth mindset with a lot of benefits and most of these benefits accrue to all parties involved in education. Which include greater ease when captivating academic risk, motivated to learn, enhancing student brain development and lower students stress these are some of the positive benefits that arise from schools the involves growth of student mindset (Prokopchuk, 2016). High level of performance both to the school department and the student is one of the main important that is associated with this process.
A school with an administration which listens and regularly empowers students to speak and express themselves can improve entirely the culture and climate of a learning institution. A lot of these social aspects play an important goal in creating a good culture in school. The culture makes students feel cared for in all matters concerning them (Prokopchuk, 2016). The culture created by students helps prevent students from absenteeism and misbehaving in the classroom.
School with a good climate and effective culture are linked with having a good school counselor. A school counselor is there mainly serve students experiencing emotional and mental health issues. Also, the counselor talks to students and urges them to avoid engaging themselves in bad behaviors which may result in indiscipline cases and absenteeism in school. Learning institution that employs professional counselor has the advantage of maintaining school discipline within a school and solving student conflict in a friendly way (O'Connor, 2018).
Schools with a strong partnership between students, administrators and parents have the ability to create a cosmic school life different for a student (Blad, 2016). Creating a culture that makes students to feel empowered and express them genuinely, there is likelihood in the decline of school absenteeism and behavior related issues in a school environment (Havik, 2015).
Conclusion
Many factors can be associated with student behavioral problems and attendance, but there is one common factor in the mediation of these delicate situations, the educational leader. Maintaining and taking ownership of the school culture, behavioral management system, and overall culture of the school plays a key role in the overall attendance and success of students. When students feel safe and cared for, they want to be in school. School leaders must maintain strong relationships with faculty, parents, and students in order to help their school community succeed. Skilled negotiations of conflict on behalf of students and between students have been proven to be one of the most substantial areas of expertise that school counselors possess. It takes an entire school community working together for students to achieve their goals and succeed.
References
Adams, N. (2015). Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 103(3) , 152-153. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.3163%2F1536-5050.103.3.010
Alstot, A. E., & Alstot, C. D. (2015). BEHAVIOR MANAGEMENT: Examining the Functions of Behavior. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 86(2) , p. 22.
Balfanz, R., & Byrnes, V. (2015). A Report on Absenteeism in the Nation's Public Schools. Education Digest, 2 , p. 4-9.
Blad, E. (2016). School Discipline; "The High Cost of Harsh Discipline and Its Disparate Impact". Education Week, 5 . Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A455786532/BIC1?u=vic liberty&xid=cdeee75
Havik, T., Bru, E., & Ertesvag, (2015). School Factors Associated with School Refusal- and Truancy-Related Reasons for School Non-Attendance. Social Psychology of Education:An International Journal 18, p. 221-240.
Maxwell, L. (2016, June). School building condition, social climate, student attendance and academic achievement: A mediation model. The Journal of Environmental Psychology, 46, 206-216.
McCloud, J. (2015). "Just Like Me": How Immigrant Students Experience a U.S. High School. High School Journal, 98(3) , p. 262-282.
Nooruddin, S., & Baig, S. (2014). Student behavior management: school leader’s role in the eyes of the teachers and students. International Journal of Whole Schooling, 10(2), p. 1.
O'Connor, P. (2018). How school counselors make a world of difference . Phi Delta Kappan, 99(7) , 35-39. doi:10.1177/0031721718767858
O'Neill, R. E., O'Neill, R. W., Albin, K. S., Horner, R. H., & Sprague, J. R. (2015). Functional Assessment and Program Development for Problem Behavior (3rd ed.) . Stamford, CT: Cengage.
Park, J. J., & Chang, S. H. (2015). Understanding Students' Precollege Experiences with Racial
Diversity: The High School as Microsystem. Journal of College Student Development, 56(4), p. 349-363.
Prokopchuk, J. (2016). Unpacking the impact of school culture: A principal's role in creating and sustaining the culture of a school. SELU Research Review Journal , p. 73-82.
Saylik, A., Polatcan, M., & Saylik, N. (2016, February). Diversity management and respect for diversity at schools. International Journal of Progressive Education, 12(1) , p. 51-63.
Sedden, M. L. & Clark, K. R., (2016). Motivating students in the 21st Century. Radiologic Technology, 87(6) , p. 611-616.
Tenuto, P. L., Gardiner, M. E., & Yamamoto, J. K., (2014). Emotion in leadership: Secondary school administrators’ perceptions of critical incidents. Educational Management Administration Leadership, 42(2), p. 165-183.
