Evaluate what psychologists have learned about disruptive behaviour. (16 marks)
One issue psychologists have discovered about disruptive behaviour relates to individual differences. Fontana’s definition of disruptive behaviour is subjective which means it varies from one teacher to another. For example according to a biological psychologist such as Eysenck, an introverted teacher has a lower tolerance level for noise and is therefore more likely to use the label disruptive than an extraverted teacher in the same situation. A teacher’s tolerance levels may change depending on the activity in hand e.g. working in groups or listening to a lecture or even depending on their mood. Kounin’s Management Model which suggests ways of preventing disruption through teaching strategies implies that the teacher may even be the cause of the disruption itself and offers 5 characteristics of good teaching practice to prevent it. Finally, individual differences may relate to the children themselves and it is known that boys tend to be five times more likely to be disruptive than girls. (156)
