Investigation of Primary School Teachers’ Perception of Discipline Types They Use for Classroom Management

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the primary school teachers’ the perceptions of discipline types they use for classroom management; and also to find out if there is a statistically significant difference between the perceptions of discipline types used in classroom management according to the demographic characteristics of primary school teachers.The research is prepared in accordance with the survey model. Population consists of primary school teachers working in İstanbul province in 2015-2016 academic years. As for the sample, it consists of 275 primary school teachers working in Bağcılar, Bahçelievler, Başakşehir, Gaziosmanpaşa and Küçükçekmece districts in İstanbul province in 2015-2016 academic years. Data were collected through “personal information form” and “discipline types that teacher use for classroom management scale”. Data were analyzed with SPSS and frequency, percentage, t-test, Mann Whitney-U Test, Kruskal Wallis-H Test were used.As a result of the study, it was found out that the total perception of primary school teachers regarding the sub-dimensions of the types of discipline they use in classroom management, and their perception of the sub-dimensions of preventive discipline, supportive discipline and corrective discipline are at the level of “totally agree (always)”. In general, teachers use all three types of discipline in classroom management. It was seen that primary school teachers prefer most the preventive discipline approach in classroom management, which is followed by the supportive discipline approach. The types of discipline used by primary school teachers in classroom management do not vary significantly by the variables of gender, age, education status and professional seniority. The perceptions of the primary school teachers working at private schools of preventive discipline are higher than those of the primary school teachers working at a state school. Widowed teachers prefer the preventive discipline and corrective discipline practices more than single, married and divorced teachers. Teachers who worked at their school for 16-20 years prefer supportive discipline practices more than teachers who worked at their school for 1-3 years, 4-7 years, 8-10 years and 11-15 years. Teachers who worked at their school for 16-20 years prefer corrective discipline practices more than the teachers who worked at their school for 1-3 years, 4-7 years, and 8-10 years. Furthermore, teachers who worked at their school for 11-15 years prefer corrective discipline practices more than the teachers who worked at their school for 1-3 years.