A Cross-Cultural Study of Teachers’ Beliefs and Strategies on Classroom Behavior Management in Urban American and Korean School Systems

• Published in: Education and urban society Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 286 - 309
• Main Authors: Shin, Sunwoo, Koh, Myung-Sook
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA Sage Publications 01-02-2007; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Behavior management; Beliefs; Chi-square test; Classroom behaviour; Classroom management; Classroom Techniques; Classrooms; Comparative analysis; Content analysis; Cross Cultural Studies; Crosscultural aspects; Cultural Differences; Foreign Countries; High Schools; Korea; Management style; Management styles; Management techniques; Public schools; Questionnaires; Secondary school students; Secondary School Teachers; Secondary schools; South Korea; State schools; Statistical Analysis; Student Behavior; Student behaviour; Students; Survey data; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Surveys; Teachers; Teaching; Teaching methods; U.S.A; United States; Urban areas; Urban communities; Urban Schools; Variance analysis; United States; South Korea; cross culture; high school; classroom management
• ISSN: 0013-1245; 1552-3535
• DOI: 10.1177/0013124506295280

The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers’ beliefs on classroom behavior management strategies for students in urban public high schools between teachers in the United States and the Republic of Korea. This study incorporates data collected from teacher self-reported survey questionnaire, which is the Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory. The participants are 116 American teachers and 167 Korean teachers who are teaching high school students in each country. A two-way analysis of variance, chi-square test, independent t test, and content analysis are implemented to analyze data. The ANOVA reveals that there are no statistically significant cross-cultural differences between the two groups of educators by their years of teaching experience. Nonetheless, several key findings are identified between the two groups of educators: There are statistically significant cross-cultural differences in teachers’ instructional and students’ management styles.