Conflict management strategies in coping with students’ disruptive behaviors in the classroom: Systematized review

Abstract

Introduction:

Classroom management is leading the class by setting the class schedule, organizing the procedures, supervising the learners’ progress, and predicting and solving their problems. Students’ disruptive behaviors and classroom management are the most important challenges and concerns of the teachers. The current review aimed to analyze the classroom management techniques and strategies used to cope with the students’ disruptive behaviors.

Methods:

The present study was systematic review. The articles in Science Direct, PubMed and Scopus databases and Google Scholar search engine were searched using the keywords of classroom management, students’ disruptive behaviors, difficult students, and confrontation strategies during 2000-2017. A total of 31 articles were included in the study for analysis.

Results:

The results showed all the techniques and strategies used and teachers’ challenges in dealing with students’ disruptive behaviors were included in conflict management strategies, which were classified into three categories, i.e. cooperative and problem solving strategies, avoidance strategies and punishment strategies. Moreover, the studies mostly emphasized the use of cooperative and problem solving strategies, and the most highlighted methods were making effective mutual communication with students to correct their negative behavior, training and preparing the teachers for dealing with the students’ disruptive behaviors and using various teaching methods and approaches based on the classroom situation.

Conclusion:

To cope with the challenges of students’ disruptive behaviors, the teachers can use different strategies. Also, sufficient knowledge and skills about teaching, familiarity with the relevant and influential disciplines in dealing with students and making effective communication in the class can be helpful in developing and enjoying more effective skills in classroom management.

Introduction

Disruptive behavior in classrooms is a significant challenge for learning in schools and risk factor for the students' academic achievement and a significant source of teachers' work related stress (1). In the last two decades, the learners’ behaviors have changed a lot, involving the teachers in educational centers in a significant behavioral challenge (2). Classroom management is done by the teacher to create discipline and motivation and to attract the students’ cooperation in the learning process. If the teachers cannot manage their class by various teaching techniques, the teaching process will result in failure (3,4). Classroom management is a term that teachers use to guarantee a teaching process free of problems, even with the presence of the students’ disruptive behaviors. This term is defined as prevention of the incidence of behaviors that are probably the most difficult aspects of teaching for the teachers (5).

On the other hand, teaching is a complicated process in which the teachers have to win the hearts of the students and even feel themselves attached to the unruly students (6). This winning of the hearts occurs via interpersonal interactions. Studies have shown that the teachers who support the development of such relationships encounter less behavioral problems in their classroom on the part of the students and experience a better academic performance (7).

The learners’ behavioral problems are challenging in all academic levels. Destructive behavior refers to the repetition and persistence in the behaviors of some students that disrupt the teachers’ teaching and students’ learning (8).

Most studies have shown that the learners’ misbehaviors and classroom management are one of the biggest challenges and concerns of teachers (9). Disciplinary problems also cause academic failure in the larners and have a negative impact on the academic atmosphere and learning in the classroom (10). According to most teachers, if behavioral problems occur frequently in the classroom, making communication during teaching is disturbed (11), teachers will not be able to teach, and learners will not be able to learn. Nowadays, the educational psychologists believe that effective classroom management can promote the learners’ learning opportunities (12). Every educator, instead of getting angry, insulting the students and sending them out of class in the face of encountering disruptive behavior, can use effective classroom management strategies (13). Teachers should learn the claroom managemnet startegeis and apply the most efficient ones based on the conditions (14).

The vital components of teachers’ preparation are knowledge and skills about the students’ education and familiarity with relevant and effective fields of study to bring about efficient development and familiarity with unconventional cases and classroom management skills (5).

Moreoevr, teachers need to be fully prepared to confront the challenges inside the classroom (15). Different studies have sporadically investigated the classroom managemnt techniques and confrontation strategies for the students’ disruptive behaviors (16). However, few stduies have analyzed these methods. In the last two decades, a global movement by the redsearchers and policymakers has been initiated to stduy the factors involved in making the educational systems more efficient (17). Hence, the present research aimed to review the techniques and strategies used in classroom managemnt to cope with the stduents’ disruptive behaviors.

Methods

The present review employed a systematized, evidence-based approach. This method includes one or more characteristics of a systematic review, but it does no claim to present the same results as a systematic review does. In this study, the articles were not assessed qualitatively (18). To use the content of articles based on the study objectives, the content of each paper was studied several times and the teachers’ strategies in coping with the stduents’ disruptive behaviors were extracted and classified separately. The Science Direct, PubMed and Scopus databases and Google Scholar search engine were searched using the keywords of classroom management, students’ disruptive behavior, difficult students and confrontation strategies; the articles published from 2000 to 2017 were selected. This period was chosen because (19) of inevitable changes in education, teaching/learning methods, classroom management and prevalence of electronic equipment like computer and cell phone in the last two decades (20).

The inclusion criteria of the articles, in addition to the period 2000-2017, consisted of focus of stduy on the problems or challenges proposed in classroom management, access to full-text articles, and papers written in English language. The exclusion criteria comprised of abstracts without the text and articles focusing on course content management instead of classroom managemnet. Searching was performed by two researchers. First, the title and abstract of the articles were studied and irrelevant papers were detected. Then, the full-text artiles focusing on the challenges and problems of classroom managemnt and stdudents’ disruptive behaviors were retrieved and analyzed. The papers whose full-text was not accessible or whose language was other than English were excluded from the study. In the case of contradiction between the two researchers’ viewpoints on one article, a third researcher was asked to make decision about the given paper. The extracted data from the resources were organized and summarized, and the expressions from original articles used by the authors were used (19). (Table 1 , Figure 1)

Table 1.

Search strategy in different databases

PubMed	((((disruptive behavior[Title/Abstract]) OR problem students[Title/Abstract]) OR difficult students[Title/Abstract])) AND manage*[Title/Abstract]= 207
Scopus	TITLE-ABS-KEY ( disruptive AND behavior OR problem AND student OR difficult AND student AND manage* ) = 233
Science direct	TITLE-ABSTR-KEY("disruptive behavio*" OR "problem student*" OR "difficult student*") and TITLE-ABSTR-KEY(manage*)=141

Figure1.

Flow diagram of the systematic review

Results

From among 153 articles searched in databases, 31 were included in the final analysis (Table 2). As shown, most of the studies were conducted in the United States and the most frequently used research method was survey. Furthermore, the conflict management strategies that teachers used for the students’ disruptive behaviors were classified into three categories, including cooperative and problem solving strategies, avoidance strategies and punishment strategies, as shown in Table 3.

Table 2.

Characteristics of the articles included in the study

No.	Author	Country	Research method	Sample	Results
1	Tantleff-Dunn, 2002	USA	Survey	122 students	Despite students’ relationship with teachers with regard to conflicts, most students are dissatisfied with their teachers’ responses.
2	Giallo, 2003	Australia	Descriptive	54 graduate teachers- 25 student teachers	Readiness and experience in classroom management affect the teachers’ self-efficacy. The type of student-teacher relationship depends on the teacher’s self-efficacy and experience.
3	Lewis, 2005	Australia China and Israel	Survey	748 teachers-5521 students	Use of different disciplinary strategies varies among cultures and nations. Cultural differences in respect for men and women, disciplinary rigors and military interventions in various countries affect classroom management.
4	Kulinna, 2006	USA	Descriptive	300 teachers	Factors such as gender, teaching experience and educational environment in which the teachers work affect their reports about students’ disruptive behavior.
5	Meyers, 2006	USA	Descriptive	226 faculty members	Teachers’ strategies and behaviors in dealing with classroom conflicts differ, and teachers’ readiness for coping with disruptive behaviors is important.
6	Clark, 2007	USA	interpretive qualitative method		Different perceptions and discrepancies between students and teachers about educational issues and teachers’ informal behaviors can cause conflict in classroom. More studies are needed to increase knowledge and perception with regard to failure to accept education, its effects and its psychological and social consequences.
7	Simonsen, 2008	USA	Review (Describe the outcomes of a systematic literature search)		Teachers have to be trained on how to implement the strategies that have more possibility of success in classroom management.
8	Clark, 2008	USA	Phenomenological study		Using humiliating methods by faculties, injustice and pressuring students with illogical demands can cause conflict between students and teachers.
9	Nordstrom, 2009	USA	Survey	593 students	The students’ belief system and attitude toward the value of learning and the environment that promotes learning affect the possibility of their involvement in disruptive behaviors in the classroom.
10	Clark, 2009	USA			The faculty members are challenged by students’ misbehavior and many of them are not ready to cope with them. Some faculty members, due to serious consequences of conflict in their personal and professional life abandon the teaching profession.
11	Hubbell, 2010	USA	Theoretical, experiential and reflective analysis/ Review		Classroom can be an important place for students’ personal development. The issues related to intergenerational changes and unity of students in a class can affect the student-teacher relationship.
12	Beaty-O’Ferrall, 2010	Baltimore, USA			Teachers can proceed to achieve a strong management system based on development of personal relations with students by integrating knowledge and skills in education, counseling and psychotherapy and developing positive relations.
13	Yoncalik, 2010	Turkey	Survey/Scale	102 teachers	Female teachers face more severe misbehaviors than male teachers. On the other hand, as students grow older the frequency of their disruptive behaviors increases. However, this can be reduced via cooperation of school principals and development of safe educational environments.
14	McClowry, 2010	USA	Survey	116 students and their parents- 42 teachers	Students and teachers’ attitudes about disruptive behaviors and teachers’ professional and managerial skills affect classroom management.
15	Sun, 2011	Hong Kong	Qualitative study	18 students	Students tend to perceive misbehaviors because they disrupt the teachers’ teaching and students’ learning. Among various misbehaviors, talking out of turn and disrespect toward teacher are recognized as unacceptable behaviors. These behaviors disrupt the teaching and learning process and violate such values as respect, conformity and obedience in the teacher-student relationship in the classroom.
16	Clark, 2011	USA			Promoting motivation, problem solving ability, self-directedness and mental relaxation are effective factors in interaction and professional development of students, and these factors are always changing.
17	Ronan, 2011	USA			Students’ assessment is one of the conflicting issues between student and teachers. Making an appropriate relationship with students, students’ familiarity with rules and expectations and assessment criteria are considered significant. Also in a proper assessment, students should be given a chance for self-assessment.
18	Parsonson, 2012	New Zealand	Review		Increasing the students’ participation in the teaching process, encouraging students, clarity of classroom rules and concentration on appropriate and positive behavior of students are suggested to be followed.
19	Yuan, 2012	China	Review		Lack of penalty and punishment procedures, establishing a positive student-teacher relationship and promoting the teaching/learning process are effective steps to be taken to prevent students’ misbehavior in the classroom.
20	Ghazi, 2013	Pakistan	Descriptive/ survey type	500 teachers	Teachers have been reported not to be prepared to establish discipline in the classroom. The principals and teachers are required to receive appropriate trainings to deal with students’ disruptive behaviors.
21	Azad, 2013	USA (Pennsylvania) (Indian University)	Case example		Teachers’ goals include termination of students’ disruptive behaviors, civil participation and students’ progress in the classroom.
					Coordination between teachers and employees in educational environment regarding the students’ regular disruptive behaviors results in a win-win situation for all the participants, termination of disruption, positive attitude and performance and finalization of students’ graduation.
22	McClowry, 2013	USA	Survey/scale	44 teachers - 152 students	Students’ mood and gender are associated with their misbehavior in the classroom. Students with high mood have more undesirable behaviors and susceptibility than students with moderate and low mood.
23	Harshner, 2014	USA	Review		Students’ sleepiness in the classroom is basically a risk factor for depression and disorder in the classroom. Promoting the university policies and planning regarding the solution of this problem and proper adjustment of class hours have significant impact on solving this problem.
24	Farmer, 2014	USA	Review (Theoretical consideration)		Teachers should manage the class by spending time and learning diverse strategies in various situations. Otherwise, students’ disruptive behaviors become more prevalent and intense with the passage of time.
25	Sulivan, 2014	Australia	Survey	1380 teachers	Teachers apply numerous strategies to handle students’ disruptive behaviors. By understanding the classroom environment, they can use its effects on the behavior and interaction of students and concentrate more on students’ cooperation and learning rather than punishment.
26	Rahimi, 2015	Iran	A path method	26 students	In classes where teachers use unpleasant behaviors and punishment strategies, students perceive learning as a difficult task and a penalty. Disciplinary strategies in the classroom have been taken into account from the social standpoint and teaching standards. In classes where teachers use disciplinary strategies, they do not adequately welcome reward and admiration of students’ good behaviors.
27	Sun, 2015	Hong Kong			To cope with students’ misbehaviors in the classroom, teachers make use of efficient strategies such as setting rules, sarcasm, direct statements, penalty, irrelevant talk, establishing communication and interaction for the management of behavior, good and trust-stimulating relationships with students, positive behavioral changes and students’ participation in learning.
28	Tran, 2015	Vietnam	Survey	397 teachers	Using coping styles to manage misbehavior in the classroom is a mediator between the teachers’ concerns about students’ misbehavior and use of classroom management strategies. Teachers’ attitudes toward the use of management strategies vary. Teachers who use passive strategies like avoidance make more use of aggression and punishment strategies. In contrast, teachers who utilize problem solving and relaxation strategies make more use of techniques such as diagnosis and identification of problem, reward, discussion and hinting strategies.
29	Rad, 2016	Iran	Qualitative content analysis	14 teachers - 8 students	To cope with students’ disruptive behaviors, teachers use behavior management strategies, learning strategies, friendship strategies, teaching through role playing, authority, establishing a strong and effective bond with students and creating an interactive educational environment.
30	YUSOFF, 2016	Malaysia	A case study (Tools+ semi-structured interview)	14 teachers	There is positive correlation between disruptive behaviors and poor academic achievements of students, which leads to other problems like absence, expulsion from school and delinquent behaviors. Training the teachers on classroom management and students’ disruptive behaviors plays a pivotal role in reducing and controlling these behaviors.
31	Abry, 2017	USA	Randomized Controlled Trial	143 teachers	Social and emotional learning programs help teachers to gain a mutual understanding of students and increase student-teacher interactions.

Table 3.

Teachers’ strategies in coping with students’ disruptive behaviors

Author																															Subtheme	Conflict management strategies
Abry, 2017	YUSOFF, 2016	Rad, 2016	Tran, 2015	Sun, 2015	Rahimi, 2015	Sulivan, 2014	Farmer, 2014	Harshner, 2014,	McClowry, 2013	Azad, 2013	Ghazi, 2013	Yuan, 2012	Parsonson, 2012	Ronan, 2011	Clark, 2011	Sun, 2011	McClowry, 2010	Yoncalik, 2010	Beaty-O’Ferrall, 2010	Hubbell, 2010	Clark, 2009	Nordstrom, 2009	Clark, 2008	Simonsen, 2008	Clark, 2007	Meyers, 2006	Kulinna, 2006	Lewis, 2005	Giallo, 2003	Tantleff-Dunn, 2002
																	*								*		*				Unity of teachers in classroom management	Cooperative and problem solving strategies
	*	*		*					*	*		*	*	*			*		*		*				*				*		Effective mutual communication
	*						*																								Clarity of the teacher and student's talks
										*	*																				Attention to the physical space of the classroom (color of walls and ventilation)
	*			*	*	*							*	*												*					Setting rules and a disciplinary framework at the beginning of teaching
														*								*									Clarity of expectations in designing lesson plan
*	*	*		*		*	*										*		*		*	*									Mutual interaction with students to correct their negative behaviors
*	*								*	*	*						*												*		Training the teachers to cope with students’ disruptive behavior
						*							*										*		*						Creating respectful educational environments
*			*					*		*									*		*		*								Recognizing emotional challenges, and physical problems of students
*			*					*		*									*		*		*								Recognizing emotional challenges, and physical problems of students
		*				*								*																	Reinforcing sympathy among students
*	*	*						*	*										*		*		*								Using different teaching methods
																			*		*	*	*								Presenting appealing educational content
								*		*		*																			U-shape arrangement of classroom
		*		*	*																										Promoting the sense of responsibility and strengthening it in students
										*											*									Using an intermediary to diagnose a problem
																	*														Teacher’s preparation for teaching
													*	*																	Proper assessment of students
		*		*	*	*			*													*									Encouraging student participation
										*																		*			Considering cultural differences
		*			*				*										*												Making time
					*																										Ignoring the questions ruining	Avoidance strategies
						*				*																				*	Avoiding reaction against disruptive behaviors
																							*								Using humiliating practices and ignoring students
										*			*									*									Administrative measures and disciplinary procedures	Punishment strategies
													*																		Removing students from classroom
													*																		Limiting the student’s activity
																							*		*						Underestimating students
																									*						Humiliating students
				*																				*							Teachers’ meaningful and angry looks at students
			*																	*				*							Teacher’s anger
																															Teachers’ prejudice

Discussion

The aim of this study was a Review of Conflict Management Strategies Teachers for disturbing behaviors the students use in the classroom.

A factor that disturbed the classroom management was controversial issues between the teacher and students. There are numerous strategies for solving this problem. With respect to the situations and circumstances, the instructor should use the most effective strategy in that position. According to its results, it is one of the strategies which are very effective in eliminating the contradiction, the existence of order in the effectiveness of teacher teaching. A classroom teacher can provide a good learning environment for students.

In cooperative and problem solving strategies, problem solving is a purposeful behavior that requires an appropriate mental manifestation of the problem. Then, appropriate methods and strategies are needed to promote the problem from the initial stage to a desirable and purposeful status, during which the students’ active participation is highly emphasized because the students share and set up the activities. Based on the collected data, the following strategies are indicative of these kinds of strategies (21). One of the significant strategies in conflict management in the classroom is employing disciplinary strategy. This strategy should be used along with promotion of accountability and its reinforcement in students by involving the students in the subject of class and encouraging them to negotiate and discuss. Discipline is necessary for creating a favorable ground to prevent the students’ misuse and deviation from the learning process (22). Teachers also need to equip themselves with two aspects of science and skills, especially in the field of classroom education, and get familiar with its principles so that they can pursue learning goals.

Designing a lesson plan with clear expectations adjusted to the course objectives, in addition to creating discipline, is a strategy that can prevent conflicts due to indefinite expectations. Also, making more time for the students and having an intimate relationship with them are techniques that reduce challenging behaviors in students (23). Using positive reinforcement and encouragement, maintaning proper behaviors, using simple and effective educational methods and clarity of class rules have been suggested to be helpful. In this regard, the use of multiple techniques in appropriate circumstances is an effective way to advance the teaching process (24). Unity of teachers over classroom mangemnt and educational planning has been suggested to prevent confrontation with the students’ disruptive behaviors (25).

Factors such as the students being late to class, leaving the class early and using the class time for irrelevant conversation with the teacher can disrupt the classroom process and negatively affect the other students’ satisfaction. In such conditions, teachers are suggested to set attendance rules at the beginning of their class and encourage the students to focus on the course by using their verbal skills (26). Teachers should also talk to these stduents in a quiet and private environemnt with respect and explain the effect of disruptive behvaiors on the classroom. They also need to mention the rules of disruptive behaviors and provide the stduents with a chance to improve or stop their disruptive behaviors (27).

Other issues that need to be considered in creating discipline and regulations are culture and gender. Studies have shown a relationship between gender and students’ behavior in the classroom, and boys have been reported to have a more destructive behavior than the girls. Studies have also indicated that the teachers’ behavior in coping with students is different depending on their gender, and boys receive more negative feedback than the girls from their teachers (28).

The teachers’ report of students’ disruptive behaviors has been found to be associated with the teachers’ gender, their experience and field of work (29). The female teachers face more students’ misbehavirs than the male counterparts. In this regard, the cooperation of school adminidtators and teachers can be effecive in controlling the students’ disruptive behaviors (30).

Further, diverse disciplinary strategies are used differently in various cultures and nations, and cultural factors and differences among countries dictate different behaviors in dealing with students. For example, the cultural differences related to respect for men and women, disciplinary strictness and military interventions in various countries affect classroom management (31). Therefore, familiartity with cultural differences and using cooperative and problem solving strategies depending on the cultural values of every educational institution are of great importance.

Using learning strategies, classroom management by the teacher, creating stronger bonds among the students and establishing an interactive educational environment can be helpful in coping with students’ disruptive behaviors (32,33).

Making a mutual relationship creates a ground for teacher-student interaction during the teaching period, in which the teacher will not spend time on unnecessary issues. The more a teacher’s knowledge of learners, the more he/she will be logical in dealing with their different personality types. Effective claroom management depends on the teacher’s ability in using an appropriate tone and encouraging the learners to cooperate in the classroom (22). Effecive comminicaion helps to clarify the facts and reduce the chance of conflict. Effective communication means both stduents and teachers need to talk clearly and listen carefully and exchange ideas in order to come to a mutual understanding (14). If the instructor cannot communicate effectively with learners, one cannot expect to be able to provide classroom conditions for more learning. The observance of this principle will increase the student's psychological safety and will follow the presence of a space with mutual respect of professors and students.

Skills such as emotional intelligence can reduce the negative effects of stress in students. This kind of intelligence helps human beings through the management of interpersonal and intrapersonal communications. Accordingly, a student can better receive help from a teacher by virtue of better communication with him/her (34).

Studies have sown that some students’ misbehaviors ocuur due to the teacher’s lack of attention to the students’ talks and absence of skill in guiding the class discussion. From the stduents’ viewpoint, these behaviors can disturb the students’ learning and teacher’s teaching (35).

Some stdueis have indicated that talking out of turn, daydreaming, inanity, disrespect toward teachers and verbal aggression, use of electronic machines like cell phone to send text message, games, surfing the web and listening to music are current classroom problems. These problems are indicative of this reality that stduents do not have proper learning attitudes and values and are tired, lazy and unmotivated. Teachers have to make time to manage the classroom and teach problem solving strategies in various classroom situations. Otherwise, such behaviors will occur more frequently and intensely with the passage of time (2).

To understand the students’ behaviors, teachers need to put themselves in their shoes and make sure other measures are useless before using punishment methods. Proper use of reward can be a positive controller and can help to restore the students’ self-esteem, solve the problem fundamentally, improve the teacher-student relationship, and reduce the possible occurrence of misbehavior in students. The teacher should adopt a friendly approach in the classroom and try not to apply tough, harsh and parental behaviors (36).

On the other hand, correct implementation of moralities and sensitivity to the ethical issues of the students play a vital role in making effective communication, interpersonal commitments, and social interactions. Sympathy is one of the essential factors involved in ethical commitment that enhances moral sensitivity (37). Hence, familiarity with and attention to the concept of sympathy and employment of this skill from the very beginning terms and renforcing it in stduents can be helpful in establishing an efficient teacher-stduent communication, thereby preventing the destructive behaviors.

The findings of Yusoff et al. showed that faculties that were responsible for teacher training did not prepare the novice teachers for the management of problematic classes. This is one of the reasons for quitting the profession, especially among the novice teachers (38).

For the classroom management, teachers have to know that the students’ misbehavior may be due to physical problems, emotional challenges and environemntal factors. Thus, a teacher’s correct recognition of and attention to these factors and preparing the novice teachers will decrease the disorders (39). Disrespect in the academic environemnt has a negative impact on the health of the teacher and student, weakens the professional communications and inhibits effective learning-teaching process (23).

In this regard, the teachers’ favorable psychological condition is important for communication with students. Teaching can be stressful and, therefore, diturb the teacher-stduent relationship. Teachers’ recognition and screening of psychological and educational conditions as well as eliminating the problems prior to the strat of teaching can reduce the incidence of communication problems (40). One of the methods teachers can make use of to deal with the stduents’ disruptive behaviors is the use of counselling and psychotherapeutic methods to create sympathy and describe attitude and negative behavior (5).

Some studies have suggested working with disruptive students, making time to solve their problems in the classroom and not coping with them are the best and most constructive strategeis in dealing with students (39). Creating a sense of belonging to the classroom increases the students’ self-confidence and desire for learning. In contrast, adopting punitive strategies and methods has a negative impact on the students (22).

Assigning responsibility to students with a proper behavior, expressing the trainer’s expectations from the studnets clearly, encouraging the students’ good and positive behaviors, predicting the learners’ behaviors, establishing mutual interaction with the students to correct their negaive behaviors, rewarding the studnets’ behaviors, encouraging postive behaviors, and returing the question to the students have been recommended to be helpful (2). Furthermore, by understanding the mechanism of the effect of classroom environemnt on the students’ behaviors, the teachers can use this environment to promote learning and better behaviors in students by encouraging participation and concentrating on interaction rather than punishment (41).

Some studies have suggested the mediating role of another perosn with more experience in dealing with disruptive studnets such as the university dean in order to resolve the conflicting situations in the classroom. Teachers can also use their recommendations and strategeis to resolve the conflicts (42,43).

Teachers believe that they can have more control over the students and prevent their drowsiness by arranging the chairs in a U-shape manner. Also, they can decrease the stduents’ sleepiness by incraesing the number of practical courses, reducing the class hours and not running classes after lunch (42). For more student-student and techer-stduent communication and interaction, in addition to arranging the chairs in U-shape, the physical environment of classroom like the color of walls and ventilation, which make the students lively and energetic and prevent lethargy and boredom, should be taken into consideration. Encouraging the students is another method that can be effective in classroom (44).

To prevent the students’ aggressiveness and disruptive behaviors, teaching techniques such as role-playing, active learning strategies, holding conferences with attendance of students and teachers and promotion of civil behaviors for more student participation in the learning process can be helpful (45).

Presenting the educational course content using appealing and diverse methods can be a successful strategy in handling the students’ aggression. Teaching strategies along with friendship strategies have also been recommended. Interactive teaching strategies and discovering the students’ learning abilities can improve the teacher-student relationship. Further, social skills can improve the teacher-student relationship and largely lead to a safe educational environment (42,46).

Students’ assessment has always been an educational problem and a challenge between teachers and students (40). Assessment is a process that requires appropriate and specific criteria and tools. Therefore, subjective evaluation cannot accurately show the abilities of stduents and may cause conflicts in teacher-student relationship (47,48).

Research has shown that providinmg the students with self-assessment and using their pespectives in designing the teaching process and plan can be effective in reducing disruptive behaviors and reactions (48). In this regard, the teachers’ readiness, experience, slef-confidence and self-efficacy in classroom management are of great significance. The management of disruptive behavior and misbehavior depends on the experience and self-efficacy (49,50). Hence, it is necessary to provide additional trainings and prepare the teachers before starting their classes (13).

Based on this systematic review, avoidance is another strategy. In this type of strategy, individuals avoid conflict or ignore their will for the benefit of others (21). The teachers’ attitudes in picking misbehavior management strategeis in the classroom are important. Results have shown that teachers that use avoidance strategeis make more use of agression and punishment strategies (51).

Some studies have recommended that tachers should avoide reaction against disruptive behaviors, avoid overreaction and not succumb to the stduents’ wishes. Moreover, being unresponsive to the disruptive questions in the classroom on the part of the teachers has been suggested (2).

Furthermore, studies have reported various classifications for the students’ disruptive behaviors in the classroom, and teachers often behave passively and do not react to the moderate disruptive behaviors (41).

Every teacher in his/her classroom may confront unruly students with disruptive behaviors. Students’ disruptive behaviors can be such instances as sleeping in the class, talking with classmates, talking on the phone, playing online games or even doing aggressive behaviors which can lead to disturbed learning and teacher’s anger (52). Some of teacher use punishment strategies such as the meaningful looks of the teacher at a learner who is making noise decreases his/her misbehavior. In addition, looking angrily at the learners who have disrupted the classroom makes them listen to the teacher (53).

Effective communication can be achieved by using appropriate educational behaviors, listening to the stduents and giving equal attention to the stduents by looking at them similarly. A teacher must be a role model. Some teachers consider themselves superior to the studnets and regularly try to humiliate them by sarcastic language, which consequently leads to inefficient educational atmosphere. The result of such an approach is impolite student and reaction to the teacher’s unfair behaviors (25).

Behaviors like understimating students, fear of teacher and teacehr’s unrealistic expectation from stduents can bring about disruptive behaviors in students. Thus, respect for a successful teaching is neccesary, and the faculty memebrs or teachers play a vital role in creating a respectful educational environment (25,42).

In rare cases, students may insist on doing their disruptive behaviors. In such cases, administrative and disciplinary measures may be required. Taking actions to stop disruptive behaviors, getting students involved in the learning process and preventing other students’ involvement are some strategies that can help the teachers in this regard (54).

Teachers’ prejudice about the human nature, especially inherent tendencies of the students in using classroom management strategies, is considered significant. A teacher who has negative assumptions about the student’s nature selects the classroom management strategies aiming to control the student by punishment, coercion and reward. On the other hand, teachers who consider the students inherently good control them by discussion, talk and encouragement to do good behaviors (38).

Criticisms and punishment for misbehavior are strategies that teachers usually use (Sun 2015). Removing students from classroom, administrative referrals, limiting and inhibiting the student’s activity are behaviors that are performed by inefficient teachers (24).

Limitation:

In this study, only English-language studies were used and limited databases were searched for articles.

Implications for future research and practice:

According to the results of this study, it is recommended that studies should be carried out aiming at identifying and presenting solutions to interrupt the students' disruptive behaviors to more accurately understand these behaviors and solutions to fix these factors. Also, given that the students’ cultural differences and students’ personality can affect the use of these strategies, considering these factors is important in future studies.

Conclusion

The findings of this research showed that studies mostly focus on using cooperative and problem solving strategies, and most of the methods emphasized establishing mutual communication and interaction with students to correct their negative behaviors, training and preparing the teachers for coping with students’ disruptive behaviors, and using various teaching methods and approaches based on the classroom situation. Punishment and avoidance strategies like removing students from the class and humiliating them are not recommended.

Having knowledge and skills about education and establishing an effective communication in the classroom can bring about effecive development and familiarity with unconventional cases and classroom management skills. Since unrespectful and threatening behaviors, disrespect and violating the teacher's privacy and the classroom, even minimally, can significantly influence the educational environments, it is necessary to have adequate knowledge about such behaviors. Hence, future interventional stdueis are suggested to identify appropriate strategeis for dealing with these behaviors, and by recognizing the behaviors by the advisors and counseling centers, universities need to try to elimnate these challenges. Furthermroe, meetings on reforming the curricula, assessment methods and content of curriculum are required to be held to meet the professional needs and modify professional communications. Group discussions are also advised to attract diferent perspectives, exchange ideas and teach stress control techniques.