4.3. Discussions on behaviour problems in feedback
sessions
Feedback session observations indicate that,
although more than 1000 comments regarding
behaviour in class were made by student teachers,
these were not referred to in the feedback to
the student teachers. Even in the feedback to the
student teacher who taught in a class where the
teacher was not present, during which the supervisor
had to call the class to order, no reference was
made to behavioural problems. The supervisor
angrily criticized the didactic methods in class. She
thought that if better methods had been used, the
student teacher would not have lost control of the
class. However, during the incident, she, herself, did
not use a more effective didactic method to get the
class back to order, but rather employed behaviour
management techniques. The feedback sessions
dealt mainly with didactic issues.
College supervisors highly complemented student
teachers on the way they treated their pupils.
However, none of the supervisors, in any feedback
session, referred to coping with behaviour problems.
Every time one of the student teachers tried to raise
the subject, the supervisor’s reply was not relevant:
most of them dismissed the problem, or related it to
a didactic problem; a few of the supervisors sent the
student teachers to consult with the cooperating
teacher or made threatening comments, such as
‘‘Do you still want to become a teacher!?’’ For
example, when a student teacher explicitly asked the
supervisor for help in behaviour management, the
supervisor asked: ‘‘What do behaviour problems
stem from?’’ and the student teacher answered, with
lowered eyes, ‘‘From boredom.’’ The supervisor
moved on to another subject in the realm of
didactics. It seems that the clear message to student
teachers in the feedback session was that behaviour
problems were not the issue and that it was better
for them not to bring up the subject in these
sessions. Indeed, very few student teachers brought
up subjects in the field of behaviour management,
although it was obvious that the subject was
bothering them. For example, they frequently
mentioned agreements made before the lesson with
pupils promising that they would behave themselves,
as well as agreements with the cooperating
teacher that she would handle pupils who were
discipline problems. In contrast, the theoretical
attitude of the supervisors was different: in the
interview, ten (66%) of the supervisors said that
they regarded feedback discussions on behavioural
issues positively. They claimed that discussing the
subject indicated sensitivity to pupils, professional
obligation, insight, maturity and self-confidence.
Only two interviewees stated that behaviour problems
did not come up in their discussions with
student teachers.