New classroom management resources for Australian teachers and leaders

AERO has released a suite of new resources offering practical, evidence-based strategies to help teachers and school leaders create supportive learning environments.

Teacher greeting students lining up at door as they enter the classroom

Building on our previous classroom management releases, the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) has developed a further suite of resources. These include video examples, professional learning and peer mentoring resources, and practice guides for supporting students’ diverse needs.

Commissioned by the Australian Government, these resources respond to a critical challenge: 1 in 3 Australian teachers are losing valuable teaching time due to classroom disruptions that impact student safety and learning outcomes.

Our resources offer practical, evidence-based strategies to help teachers manage classroom environments as effectively as possible. Developed through extensive consultation with teachers, school leaders, parents, experts and academics, these resources provide a nuanced approach to creating consistent and supportive learning environments.

Dr Tim McDonald, a key expert advisor on the project that developed these resources, emphasises that they’re more than just management tools. ‘These are a collaborative blueprint for creating more responsive, inclusive and effective learning environments,’ he explains. ‘By supporting teachers with practical, evidence-based strategies, we're not just improving classroom management – we're working to enhance the entire educational experience for students and educators.’

The following lists the new resources, with brief descriptions:

Practice videos

We worked with a variety of primary and secondary schools across Australia to produce example videos that show the classroom management practices introduced in our practice guides in action. These videos cover:

Skills videos

We’ve also produced a set of videos that focus on skills outlined in our skills resources and demonstrate how they can be used in the classroom. The skills covered include:

Professional learning resources

Our classroom management professional learning resources are designed to help school leaders lead staff in professional learning to support a whole-school approach to classroom management. They include a facilitation guide and slide decks on evidence-based and whole-school approaches to classroom management, entrance routines, circulation, and responding to disengaged and disruptive behaviour.

Practice guide and observation tools

Our new practice guide and accompanying classroom management observation tools help experienced teachers and school leaders use AERO’s foundational classroom management resources to support colleagues with refining their classroom management practice.

Teachers and school leaders can use these tools with their colleagues to identify specific aspects of the skill or practice they demonstrate, take notes on what they observe, identify strengths and areas for refinement, and provide feedback.

The skills and practices covered by these tools are:

Supporting students' diverse needs practice guides

We’ve developed a new set of practice guides in partnership with MultiLit and the Institute of Special Educators (InSpEd). These practice guides are designed to help teachers refine or refresh their understanding and practice of supporting students with diverse needs. They cover topics including:

You can check out all of AERO’s latest classroom management resources by visiting our updated user guide.