Transitioning to competency-based, student-centered learning requires shifting classroom culture—from teacher-led control to student-driven autonomy.
Shifting Classroom Culture
Strong relationships form the foundation of student ownership and risk taking. When teachers connect personally, they gain insight into individual strengths and needs. Bringing students into decision-making—like topic selection or collaborative themes—boosts engagement and leadership in the 21st-century classroom.
Top 15 Classroom Management Strategies
Set Clear Expectations Early on
It may be worthwhile for teachers to establish clear behaviours and academic expectations with their students either at the beginning of a unit, term or year. Involving students in setting some of these expectations will help build and encourage ownership because, when students know what’s expected of them, they feel more secure and engaged. Starting lessons with a warm-up session could also initiate constructivism.
Create a Positive, Inclusive Atmosphere
To ensure competency based, active learning, it is imperative that we foster a culture of respect in our classrooms. We can easily do so by respecting diversity in thoughts, opinions, language, and showing appreciation for different perspectives. Because, when students feel safe, included and valued, they’re more likely to participate and take risks in their learning processes, making them into lifelong learners.
Use Non-Verbal Cues
When we try to manage big classrooms, with a diverse group of students, it may be useful to develop a system of non-verbal cues like hand signals, eye contact or even claps and clicks, to maintain classroom control without disrupting the flow of lessons. Giving regular opportunities for pauses can help in bringing the focus and concentration back to children. This would aid in keeping the class flowing without disruptions and allow students to remain engaged.
Implement Cooperative Learning
Sometimes we avoid giving students hands-on learning opportunities and rely on demonstrative teaching methodologies, due to sheer large class sizes. To ensure constructivism and experiential learning processes in big classroom groups, it maybe worthwhile to consider organizing students into small groups to work on tasks that require them to collaborate and problem-solve. Here, you could even make one child a group leader, and keep changing the group leader every time. Once you have student leaders for every group, you have sub managers to manage. Using such collaborative processes fosters communication skills, teamwork, and critical thinking while reducing classroom management stress.
Incorporate Active Learning Strategies
Many simple activities like think-pair-share, jigsaws, presentations, gallery walks and group discussions as well as debates require students to move, discuss, and actively engage with the course material. When we include such teaching learning strategies, it makes learning active and keeps students involved. This greatly helps in deeper learning by reinforcing content in dynamic ways.
Maintain Consistency
It is important to stay consistent in our routines, rewards, and discipline. Try to avoid giving mixed responses while managing classrooms. Children thrive in an environment where they know what to expect, because predictability reduces anxiety and fosters trust between teacher and students. Building consistency in management strategies will greatly enhance student responses and engagement.
Use Clear, Simple Instructions
It is extremely important to give clear, concise and step wise instructions to children for every task. Also, one must check whether students have understood the instructions clearly, before they begin their tasks. When students do not comprehend instructions well, it can lead to misunderstandings, which can build frustration and cause misbehaviour. Ensuring clarity would help to keep the class on track.
Provide Choice and Autonomy
When we give children a variety of learning opportunities to choose from, they learn to take responsibility of their learning. Offering students choices in how they want to demonstrate their learning (e.g. using projects, models, charts, flipbooks, presentations, essays, animations, audio visual aids etc ) and what topics they would explore can help build autonomy and make learning personalised. Autonomy increases student engagement, aid agency building giving children responsibility for their learning.
Model the Skills You Want Students to Use
Children learn from the behaviours that adults model. When we demonstrate collaboration, critical thinking, and problem-solving in our teaching, it reinforces the same in the students. It is also because students often mirror the behaviour they see, so showing these skills in action helps them learn to use them.
Establish a Routine for Transitions
Another very useful tip would be to use a bell, or a drill, a clap or a song or dance to create smooth, predictable transitions between activities. This would help in increasing focus and concentration in children by reducing distractions and minimizing downtime between activities.
Focus on Social-Emotional Learning
When we try to include active learning processes that lead to experiential learning, we need to incorporate regular social and emotional activities such as mindfulness, reflection, or discussions on emotional regulation. Including such activities in our lesson plans would not only promote a positive classroom culture but also help develop self-awareness and empathy in students. This can lead to high levels of critical thinking, creativity, innovation and collaboration in children.
Reinforce Positive Behaviour
To reinforce positive behaviour in classrooms, educators need to focus more on praising and rewarding positive behaviour instead of correcting negative behaviour. When positive behaviours are reinforced, it motivates students and encourages them to repeat desired behaviours.
Allow Flexible Seating arrangements in Classrooms
Allow students to choose their seating arrangements depending on the task at hand. Whenever there is group work involved, you could perhaps allow children to set up their sitting in groups, during the various stages. Sometimes, children like to sit together in a huddle during the ideation time, whereas for independent work, children may find sitting alone to be better. Giving children flexibility to choose their seating arrangement can greatly help in classroom management. Flexible seating also promotes collaboration since it allows students to choose an environment where they can focus best. When we give children collaborative activities, then, seating arrangements can greatly influence the brainstorming and ideation processes.
Educators need to model a Growth Mindset
What we, as educators, believe sets the tone of the classroom culture and mindset. When we celebrate mistakes and look at them as learning opportunities, then children are not worried or stressed about performance. This changes the focus towards authentic learning. When there is no fear or pressure of performance, children learn better and there is higher engagement. The fear of mistakes is negated, and in fact children start embracing failure. When there’s no fear of failure, children become lifelong learners and model a growth mindset by focusing on effort and improvement. A growth mindset encourages resilience and helps students view challenges as part of the learning process.
Build a culture of self-reflection
When we make regular reflections on classroom management strategies and teaching approaches, we look at our methodologies and classroom culture with an objective mind. When we are able to analyse and are open to adjusting pedagogical approaches, based on what’s working and what’s not, we devise strategies based on the needs and qualities of our learners. Self-reflections help us grow as a teacher, creating a dynamic and evolving learning environment for our students.
Embedding 21st-Century & Experiential Practices
Competency-based classrooms thrive in an environment where students take ownership of their learning. Inviting students to co-design projects, lead peer reviews, and set class goals can hugely help in achieving learning outcomes. Experiential methods—group challenges, presentations, or field visits—help integrate communication, collaboration, and creativity skills.