ABSTRACT
Practising any profession involves a combination of ‘craft’ experience and ‘technical’ theory. As far as classroom management is concerned, there has often been a tendency to ascribe success to personal charisma and ‘on the job’ learning at the chalkface. Whilst these are undoubtedly contributory factors, research and observation have also identified techniques in lesson organisation and teaching style which can be articulated as a theory of classroom management. However, in doing this there are hazards in avoiding the Scylla of abstraction and the Charybdis of the commonplace. On the one hand, teachers may complain that psychological and sociological terminology elevates discussion to an inappropriately rarefied level divorced from the everyday reality of the classroom. On the other hand, research may be dismissed for merely restating tricks of the trade, normally acquired through personal experience.
