25-06 Environments for Flourishing: Classroom Management in a Catholic School

Effective classroom management supports students' flourishing, which involves their academic learning but extends far beyond it. With proper attention to relationships, community, and structures for the learning environment, students will experience the sense of purpose, security, and connection that supports their optimal development as learners and Christians. This course helps new teachers set up and run their classroom in a way that promotes the distinct mission and identity of a Catholic school, including professional guidance for setting up a classroom, practical strategies for managing students’ behavior, and effective procedures for reinforcing expectations. 

Course Goals

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the interrelated components involved in effective classroom management, including relationships, community, the environment, and strategies for managing behavior,
• Recognize how classroom management relates to a Catholic school’s mission and identity,
• Explain how teachings of the Catholic faith and expertise from the education profession can be integrated to manage the students and activities in Catholic school classrooms, and
• Apply what is learned to develop a distinctively Catholic classroom where individual students and the learning community flourish.

Course Content

Unit 1: The Catholic School Classroom

Unit 2: Building Relationships and Communities

Unit 3: Structuring Learning Environments

Unit 4: Proactive Behavior Management

Unit 5: Reactive Behavior Management

Unit 6: Putting it into Practice

Course Format

• Seven weeks in duration; first week for orientation.
• Up to 20 students in each course.
• Video lectures with text transcripts available.
• Supplemental readings are provided to encourage further exploration, internet links provided for all readings.
• Written assignments (ao\pproximately 250 words) with a practical emphasis required.
• Facilitator-moderated weekly Zoom sessions with participants.

Participation Requirements

• Watch or read the lecture for each unit.
• Read recommended texts as desired, keep notes, questions, and comments for class discussions.
• Answer a weekly discussion question. 
• Respond to weekly unit assignment.
• Attend weekly Zoom for each unit. If you cannot attend in “real time” you can still meet the participation requirements.
• Complete the course evaluation.

Time Expectations

2- 4 hours per week, depending on your level of engagement  and schedule.

Course Certificate

An electronic certificate of completion awarding 21 contact hours will be available in course when completing all course requirements.

Course Developer Bios

Clare Kilbane, Ph.D. is a Professor of the Practice at the University of Notre Dame affiliated with the McGrath Institute for Church Life. She has a wide-range of expertise across a variety of educational areas. Clare has worked as a classroom teacher, teacher educator, curriculum developer, and media producer. Additionally, she has produced many books, articles, and other creative works. At the McGrath Institute, Clare educates theology teachers, performs research and development for its online theology program, and serves as the Learning Designer for much of its educational programming. Clare and her husband Dennis are the parents of a college-aged daughter and live in South Bend, Indiana.

Monica Kowalski, Ph.D. is an Associate Teaching Professor for the Alliance for Catholic Education at the University of Notre Dame, where she also serves as Associate Director of Program Evaluation and Research for the Institute for Educational Initiatives. She has experience teaching in elementary schools, working in college admissions, and consulting and providing professional development to teachers in Catholic schools across the United States. Monica’s background is in educational psychology and her research interests include student and teacher motivation and wellbeing, with a particular focus on Catholic schools. Monica is the current editor-in-chief of the Journal of Catholic Education. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and their three children.