120 hr. TEFL Course Module 9-Classroom Management (Pt.4 Respect)

Module 9: Classroom management

9.2 Respect

We briefly discussed respect in the previous section, but it is so important to the way you will manage your classroom that it warrants its own section. Building an atmosphere that is based on mutual respect will help you avoid most of the problems new teachers face. Let’s first discuss how respect manifests in your classroom.

9.2.1 Why is respect important?

Respect is a fairly small word that represents a lot and can have many different manifestations in the classroom. Respect in the classroom does not just mean that students listen to the teacher; it is so much more than that. There are three types of respect you need to facilitate in your classroom:

Respect for the teacher: This is the kind of respect people usually think about when you talk about respect in the classroom. While this is only one of three types, it is still extremely important. Part of discovering who you are as a teacher is discovering your teaching style. Some teachers demand specific behavior in their classrooms and hold students accountable for acting outside of these guidelines, while others are more laid-back in their style. Neither will work, however, if the teacher has not gained the respect of the students. If the environment is too strict and students do not respect the teacher, they will lash out and be combative. If the environment is too laid-back and loose and students do not respect the teacher, they will walk all over him or her and not listen. Regardless of what your teaching style evolves into, your classroom environment has to be predicated upon respect.



Respect for other students: Besides direct lecturing, almost every teaching strategy requires students to interact with each other or take intellectual risks. If your students do not show respect for each other in the classroom, these strategies will not work. How can you expect a student to answer a question that he or she is not sure of when the other students in the class feel justified in disrespecting and ridiculing him or her? If you ever want to have class discussions, work in groups, have your students present, or do anything that involves students speaking out loud and taking a chance, you need to be able to rely on the class treating each other with respect.

Respect for themselves: Just as much as you need your students to treat each other with respect for students to feel comfortable taking risks, you need the students to have respect for themselves. You do not have ultimate control over this, but you can do everything you can to constantly encourage them to respect themselves. This means being encouraging of students sharing and offering them positive reinforcement for contributing to the class.


If you can find a way to facilitate all three types of respect, you will be able to accomplish so much more with your students.