The Redirect Behavior Model and the Effects on Pre-Service Teachers’ Self-Efficacy

Abstract

The ability for a novice teacher to confidently address inappropriate behavior has a substantial impact on student achievement, teacher attrition, and the reduction of bullying instances (Allen, 2010; Marzano, 2003).  Classroom management plays a critical role in the success of the student as well as the teacher.  The authors propose an intervention that potentially may have considerable impact on a novice teachers’ confidence regarding classroom management.  The idea of providing guidelines for novice teachers to implement while redirecting student behavior could perhaps impact self-efficacy with classroom management.  This paper describes the implementation of the Redirect Behavior Model (RBM) with pre-service teachers during a five week practicum.  The RBM is a proactive communication model that provides scripted guidelines for teachers to follow while they redirect inappropriate student behavior.  The pre-service teachers were given extensive training on the RBM and was able to implement the model during an extensive field placement.  Participants were 31 undergraduate pre-service teacher candidates, majoring in secondary education and enrolled in a junior-level classroom management course.  The participants were trained in all three phases of the RBM prior to engaging in an extensive field practicum.  Participants responded to an informal survey to explore students’ self-efficacy about their knowledge and ability to manage student behavior.  Paired samples t tests were used to evaluate possible differences between pre- and posttests for the two sets of items (knowledge and self-efficacy).  The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of training in the RBM on pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy in classroom management.

Keywords: key words, self-efficacy, classroom management, redirect behavior model