Educational Research Journal

Abstract

Employing the same researching instrument used in Leung & Ho’s (2001) study, 187 secondary school teachers from 14 secondary schools reported their perceptions of disruptive classroom behaviors. These 14 schools were located at different areas of Hong Kong. By combining the data found in Leung & Ho’s (2001) study, the present study attempts to take a preliminary step on investigating whether secondary school disruptive behaviors are a continuation of primary school disruptive behaviors. Based on current research findings, the results initially show that secondary school disruptive behaviors are a continuation of those found in primary school. “Talking out of turn”, “Non-attentiveness”, “Idleness/slowness” and “Forgetfulness” were most often voted by teachers as disruptive and frequently occurring. Moreover, many more boys than girls were identified by school teachers as the most disruptive children, however, the percentages of voting drop from 93% (by primary teachers) to 71% (by secondary teachers). Moreover, more boys than girls were regarded as disruptive but the boy: girl ratio gap was narrower between primary (2.1:1.0) and secondary school (1.4:1.0) teachers’ rating. The rising trend of more secondary schoolgirls displaying disruptive behaviors is an increasing concern. Interestingly, secondary school teachers reported that they spent less time maintaining classroom discipline than primary teachers. Suggestions on improving classroom discipline have been provided to educational administrators and policy makers.

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