Jennie Critzer had no trouble maintaining classroom discipline, and she skillfully used a variety of what teachers call "learning structures" — lecturing, problem-solving, coöperative learning, discussion.
Teachers whose students described them as skillful at maintaining classroom order, at focusing their instruction and at helping their charges learn from their mistakes are often the same teachers whose students learn the most in the course of a year, as measured by gains on standardized test scores, according to a progress report on the research.
The emphasis on conformity and maintaining classroom discipline further challenges the implementation of nontraditional teaching methods in local schools.
Teachers in Singapore have similar responsibilities as teachers in other OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Developmentt) countries, classified into three broad areas: (1) teaching, (2) maintaining classroom discipline, and (3) administrative tasks (OECD, 2014).
The AWW is expected to take-on and execute a wide-variety of ECCE tasks including organization of preschool education activities for three hours a day, attending to peripheral activities such as the preparation of classroom materials, establishing functional links with primary school teachers and maintaining classroom attendance records.
"The goal is not to put kids out, but to maintain classrooms free of disruptions that make it impossible for teachers to teach and kids to learn," said Jane Bruss, the spokeswoman for the Toledo public schools.
"In reality, charter schools generally receive less per-pupil funding than traditional district public schools and often receive little or no funding to purchase buildings or maintain classrooms.
Janitors are generally trained to maintain classrooms clean, but they do not see the presence of mosquitoes as a health threat.
The school's tidy playground and immaculately maintained classrooms are filled with the happy cries of the hearing-impaired children, carrying UNICEF schoolbags.
Struggling to maintain classroom discipline, some of the country's 160,000 primary school teachers resort to corporal punishment.
