Novice teachers' classroom behaviour management: Situations, responses and impact on student behaviour

Classroom behaviour management is a persistent and often overwhelming challenge for novice teachers; they face frequent disruptive behaviours that they struggle to resolve effectively, which harms both the teaching process and classroom climate. This study investigates the specific strategies novice teachers use to manage behaviour, detailing what they experience, how they respond, the time each intervention takes and its impact duration. Through videotaped observations and interviews, our findings reveal that novice teachers predominantly rely on reactive strategies, commonly teacher-directed, such as directives. In contrast, they rarely use proactive, student-centred approaches, such as explanations or support. Although the directive responses provide immediate but short-term results, the less frequently used responses demonstrate more promising, longer-term impacts on student behaviour. These findings highlight the need for teacher preparation programmes and institutional support in schools to emphasise responsive, student-centred communication strategies, focusing on proactive approaches and emotional regulation skills to help teachers respond thoughtfully rather than reactively. Such support can guide novice teachers in becoming more aware of their responses and using more effective strategies for sustainable behaviour management.