Noise in the Classroom: Obstacle or Opportunity?

Igor Zagashev

I'll betake me to them that carry the reputation
of wise men and hunt after that golden bough,
as says the proverb. Among whom the grammarians
hold the first place - grown old among a company
of boys, deaf with their noise ... they think
themselves the most excellent of all men,
so greatly do they please themselves in frighting
a company of fearful boys with a thundering
voice and big looks.

Erasmus of Rotterdam
From "The Praise of Folly" (Translated by John Wilson)

I say, they were so noisy today...
From a conversation between two teachers.

Every schoolteacher is familiar with the phenomenon of "noise in the classroom". The general conception is that noise is something the teacher should be afraid of, something to be avoided, something that hinders the realization of educational purposes. My suggestion is that noise should be perceived simply as an objective reality we have to consider in our work.

How do teachers usually act in a noisy classroom situation?

Collect the students' notebooks with an air of importance.
Have the noisiest students stand up, and keep them standing "until they calm down".
Raise their voices so as to be heard above the students.
Scold (and offend) the students.
Beg them to please quiet down.
Take offence and blame the students.
Pause ominously and stare pointedly at the source of the noise.
Rap on the table with a set of keys (or a pen or pointer).
Threaten the students or try to make them feel guilty.

These actions of the teacher are predicated on the assumption that noise in the classroom is something that must be stopped, rather than something that might be used for the benefit of the teaching-learning process. Some methodologists regard any signs of noise in the classroom as a sign of teacher error. However Fritz Perls, a well-known psychotherapist, believed that a mistake may lead to the creation of something new and different; that it possesses creative potential. Many researchers into the creative process, among them psychologist V. M. Allakhverdov, think that making erroneous decisions is often a necessary step towards establishing the truth. We shall try to consider noise as part and parcel of the lesson. But first, we shall explore the causes of the phenomenon.

So what are the most common causes of noise in the classroom?

The use of unclear or unfamiliar terminology. Experience shows that even at teacher seminars, where the participants have scholarly degrees, it is sometimes worthwhile to define the terms used, and give illustrative examples. And the same is certainly applicable to schoolchildren. Without meaning to sound simplistic, our observations show that after a teacher uses four or five unknown words, noise in the classroom dramatically increases. Experienced teachers have a nose for such words, and in a case where they are obliged to use unfamiliar terms or phrases, the vague expressions of the students, occasional yawns, vacant stares and other "symptoms" will signal that it is time to provide some explanation. Take, for example, the frequently used terms "literally", "abstract", "systematically", "consciousness", "behavior", etc. Try to explain the meaning of these words to yourself, and you will have some idea of what children feel when they hear them.
Unclear assignments. The ability to give clear instructions is a hallmark of pedagogical skill. However, students' understanding of these instructions depends on the situation: the class may understand the teacher perfectly well on one occasion and misinterpret the same task on another. In planning activities, the teacher should be aware of student reaction to each and every word of the assignment. But even this is not enough. The students will truly accept an assignment only if it is logically connected with the previous parts of the lesson; and even more important, if they can see and understand the point of the assignment - its educational aim. Performing meaningless tasks may result in mindless facility, but this result is not educationally sound.
No outlet for pent-up energy. For some obscure reason, physical exercise and warm-ups are considered expedient only in the elementary classroom. Teachers of upper grades are generally skeptical toward the idea of warming up. But the fact is, if the teacher does not initiate any activities to release accumulated energy, it is apt to find other, more harmful, outlets: graffiti on the desks, scratches on the wall, etc. Noise in the classroom is just one way of "letting off steam". Certainly, actual physical exercises with older students may seem awkward, but warming up can take other forms. The teacher may sing a song with the class, play an intellectual game, or simply talk for a while about something different, e.g. tell an interesting story. A skilled teacher will easily find a way back to the theme of the lesson.
Absence of logical connections or "transitions". This is another reason for the classroom to become noisy. Human perception is continuous and integral: we do not like to be interrupted in the middle of the thinking process, to have our expectations upset by something completely new and unexpected (which is one of the reasons for our general dislike of TV advertising).

Often the teacher presents a task that has no connection with the previous activity, saying simply "Well, and now let us move on to something else...". Such "leaps" cause mental strain for the majority of children and invariably produce a negative reaction. Those who are not especially good at behaving themselves develop an irresistible desire to talk about something else. The noise-generating situation just described falls under the heading of "lesson plan mistakes". The continuity of the lesson, its "logical transitions", should be planned beforehand. And in the case of an awkward transition, it is better for the teacher to back up a step and restore the missing logical link.
The "residue" of previous emotions. Students may arrive in your class after writing a difficult paper, receiving a poor grade, or experiencing a conflict with another teacher, a fight during recess, a quarrel with a friend, etc. For the most part the specific causes will remain unknown to us. But a shrewd teacher is attuned to minor signs - such as snatches of conversation overheard in the hall - that can reveal such emotional baggage. If these signs go unnoticed, behavior problems during the class can hardly be avoided. One way to neutralize previous emotions is to focus the class's attention on the here-and-now or on the future (for one cannot be in the past and in the present simultaneously). There are many techniques for such focusing: having the students guess the theme of the lesson, or asking them to describe an object, or describe their feelings, etc. The traditional trick of having "problem" students work at the blackboard remains effective, too.
A student's personal problems. This cause may be the most difficult to identify, because it is rooted not in the lesson, but in the student's personality. Psychologist R. Dreikurs named four "mistaken goals" leading to behavior problems: an attempt to attract the adult's attention; a desire to show one's own power; revenge (either toward a particular teacher, or toward the adult world in general); and displaying inadequacy (expressed as boredom). The first three cannot be dealt with within a single class period - they require much patience and persistence.
Inappropriate pacing of the lesson - either too fast or too slow. When students are out of sync with the pace set by the teacher they may become noisy. This situation is not so easy to correct, for our personal tempo is often rooted in the peculiarities of our own nervous system. But the teacher who recognizes this as a problem may be able to balance the situation through the use of class activities that are less dependent on the instructor's idiosyncrasies.
An overly didactic tone. Some teachers cannot resist an opportunity to teach a moral - as well as an intellectual -lesson. They overlook the fact that the actual effectiveness of such a "lesson with a moral" is usually close to zero. While we can - and should! - debate this contention, one thing is indisputable -excessive moralizing in class leads to excessive noise. And how difficult it can be then to descend from the exalted realms of ethics to the ordinary prose of science! There is no point in giving advice in this situation, but perhaps it is worth remembering that often the advice we give to others (as to how to behave, etc.) is in fact meant for ourselves. If the shoe fits...
Teacher's monologue. Noise in the classroom may be generated by an imbalance in activity between teacher and students. "Either equal to or less than", a rule frequently cited in pedagogical circles, means essentially this: the duration of the teacher's speech in class should not exceed the duration of the students' speech. Certainly there are teachers who, like talented actors, are able to hold the audience's attention for a long time. It is truly a pleasure to see such teachers perform. But I am concerned with the others, the majority... We are constantly engaged in dialogue in our lives, and consequently we have difficulty attending to long monologues. That's all there is to it. Only the most well-bred individuals can restrain themselves for long periods of time.

There may well be other causes - this is not intended to be an exhaustive list of noise-generating situations. I do want to suggest that we consider classroom noise not as something to be feared and avoided, but as a fact of life that we must accommodate and learn from.

References

Allachverdov, V. M. (1993). Opyt teoreticheskoi psikhologii (v zhanre nauchnoi revoliutsii) [Experiment in theoretical psychology: In the genre of the scientific revolution]. Saint Petersburg: Pechatnyi dvor.

Dreikurs, R. (1971). Maintaining sanity in the classroom: Illustrated teaching techniques. New York: Harper & Row.

Perls, F. S. (1995). Vnutri pomoinovo vedra [In and out of the garbage pail]. In F. S. Perls, P. Goodman, & R. Hefferlin, Praktikum po geshtalt-psikhologii [Practicum on Gestalt psychology]. Saint Petersburg: XXI Century.

Igor Zagashev, Deputy Director on Science and Methods of Teaching of Nekrassov College, Saint Petersburg, Senior Teacher of the Department of Psychology, Saint Petersburg State University.

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