Psychology

Student Aggression
Student’s name
Institution

Socioeconomic shifts and factors resulting in a change of the family structure have resulted in rising demands on the school system. This is notable due to the increase in violence and incidences of aggressive behaviors amongst students. However, it is within the purview of an educator to manage classroom behaviors by putting in place standards encouraging desirable ones. The following is a look at an incidence in a tenth-grade class involving student aggression.
What Might the Teacher Do?
The first reaction of a teacher during fights is breaking them up. Instinctively, this ensures an end to the destruction of property while at the same time preventing injuries. This should be done in a manner that displays authority. In addition, the teacher should initiate reconciliation by offering the students a monitored opportunity to explain themselves. This would give him insight into the nature of the conflict and therefore enable him to choose the best approach. Besides that, the resolution will enhance class unity and create an atmosphere of openness. This establishes the teacher as the mediator during any future aggression.
Could the Conflict Have Been Prevented?
All educators contribute to student behavior. Their actions during calm and tense moments send signals that get reception from the students. This is a fact that serves to promote the fact that any verbal or physical aggressiveness may be avoided. Impartation of the students with life skills aimed at managing unacceptable behaviors (O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith, 2011).

This would create an atmosphere of constraint. Additionally, by ensuring students understand the seriousness of the resulting consequences, the teacher will add onto the aggression constraints.
How Can a Teacher Best Cope with Aggression?
Of utmost importance are the teacher’s empathetic skills. These will enable him to better apply principles of behavioral learning (O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith, 2011). The benefit of this approach is to facilitate an understanding of the actual roots of aggressive behavior and how to best prevent its reoccurrence. It is, however, important that the teacher maintains a calm tone while dealing with the issue. Though the need for punishment may arise, the teacher needs to create incentives that prompt the students to control their negative emotional urges. An atmosphere of calmness acts as an effective reinforcement while preparing him to address the issue not just for those involved but also for the whole class. In other words, it will help turn the situation into a life skills lesson thus checking future aggression.
What Would I Recommend?
First of all, the educator should apply prevention mechanisms. This is because punishing students afterward creates only temporal compliance while eliciting mixed reactions. Prevention aims at monitoring behavior and creating necessary strategies to uphold positivity while reducing undesirable tendencies. Developing an interest in the students’ life would usher him into their world enabling him to gauge the level of predisposition to aggressive behavior. Secondly, interaction with students should be enhanced in order to create a feedback mechanism. Insecurities and other esteem issues resulting in negative behaviors will be unraveled as a result. With this, the teacher will be in a better position to properly apply differential reinforcement (O’Donnell, Reeve & Smith, 2011). Finally, the teacher should display keenness for mild indicators of disruptiveness. This would additionally give him an upper hand in dealing with classroom aggression amongst antagonistic students.
References
O’Donnell, A. M., Reeve, J., & Smith, J. K. (2011). Educational psychology: Reflection for action. John Wiley & Sons.