Kounin and the Conductor Metaphor
After reading about Jacob Kounin's model of classroom management, I set out to determine if the metaphor of the orchestra conductor was reasonable. On a search of the internet, I found an article on leadership at the Ericsson website. The following came from their site:
Imagine the orchestra, the conductor standing ready to play. Everyone knows their role; everyone is briefed and knows their part. Practice with mistakes having been made and rectified, problems and questions sorted. Everyone is ready. The conductor makes ready. Everyone is silent and with a nod the music starts. This is what being a leader and a team is all about. Communication at perfection.
If you look at that role, you will find that the conductor is important, but unless he is a good communicator and get the whole of the orchestra in tune, the effort is lost. Performance is filled with faults, the players disgruntled. The audience will leave and not return. Practice and communication to the whole group and on a one-to-one basis are vital. This makes a good conductor perform masterpieces.
With this in mind, I think it is reasonable to cast the teacher into an orchestra conductor's role. As stated in Building Classroom Discipline, Kounin's principal teachings focus on the following:
Withitness refers to the teacher's knowing what is going on in all parts of the classroom at all times. By the very nature of the job, a teacher must act as a conductor. The conductor is constantly monitoring all of the members of the orchestra to achieve the optimal performance. In that same manner, a teacher must be aware of everything that goes on in the class in order to create a positive classroom atmosphere.
Momentum and smoothness are essential to a conductor. A musical selection would lose the effect if members had to stop and talk in between parts. Likewise, when changing the direction of the class, the transitions must be smooth, for it is at this time that student misbehavior is most likely to occur. (Charles, 34) As Deb Wuest states, Kounin's model focuses on preventive discipline -- techniques and strategies designed to prevent the occurrence of discipline problems in the first place. Maintaining momentum and smooth transitions is "more important to work involvement and classroom control than any other behavior-management technique." (Charles, 38)
Group alerting is absolutely essential if a conductor is going to direct a high quality performance. He must be able to quickly get the attention of all of his members. For conductors, universal signs make this much easier for them than it is for teachers. Teachers must employ the use of body language as well as verbal phrases. The end result, if effective, is a class that is alert, attentive and involved.
Student accountability is perhaps the key ingredient in a well managed classroom. Like in an orchestra, each student has a part and must be an active participant for the process to be effective. Tactics such as asking all students to write an answer, then choosing one or two to respond. (Wageman) This raises the likelihood that students are on-task and actively involved. When students are actively engaged in an activity, they are less likely to misbehave.
Overlapping is a skill that both good conductors and teachers need to possess. It refers to attending to two or more issues at a time. (Charles, 40) During a performance, a conductor is always checking on the various parts of his ensemble and making signals to help improve their performance. Likewise, it is important for a teacher to be able to work simultaneously with many students when they are completing tasks independently as well as within groups. They also need to be able to monitor and correct misbehavior in the entire room even if they are stationed in just one location.
Satiation must be avoided at all costs because when students become bored, misbehavior is often likely to occur. Another way to be an effective teacher is to provide challenges for students. This helps foster a positive learning environment.
Both teachers and conductors are leaders in their own environment. In both of these cases, communication is the key. Communication must be frequent and delivered in different methods. I believe that the metaphor is quite fitting. I would love to say that while I was teaching I was had all of those qualities all of the time, but I know that isn't really the truth. Some days I was really withit, and others, don't ask. I think that if I was being rated as the conductor it would depend on what day you came to the performance.
References:
Websites:
Wageman. Jacob Kounin: Instructional Management.
Wuest, Deb. Are You With It?
Book:
Charles, C.M. Building Classroom Discipline.