Teachers' views on the creation and applicability of classroom rules in primary school

Rules are a part of our society and individuals try to comply with the rules from the moment they are born. There are written and unwritten rules that we must follow in our society, as well as rules that are a part of our life that we must follow in our classroom and school. While determining the classroom rules in the contemporary education system, the structure of the classroom, classroom management, teacher characteristics, student characteristics and environmental conditions are taken into account. Classroom rules provide a more harmonious, effective and efficient lesson in the classroom. In this respect, classroom rules have been the subject of many researches in terms of providing benefits to teachers within the scope of classroom management and creating an effective classroom climate. The aim of this research is to determine the opinions of teachers about the creation and applicability of classroom rules in primary school. The research is a qualitative research. The data were analyzed by descriptive analysis method. The research was conducted with 30 classroom teachers working in 15 schools in Elazig in the 2020-2021 academic year. In this context, interviews were conducted with 7 female and 23 male classroom teachers. The data of the research were collected with semi-structured interview questions. As a result of the research, classroom rules, behavior rules, discipline rules, school rules, order rules, rules related to lessons, social rules came to the fore while class rules were categorized in parallel with teachers' opinions. Accordingly, it has been determined that the classroom rules can be changed at different phases of the education-teaching period according to the developmental characteristics of the students, instructional needs, the seasonal conditions and special circumstances. It has been concluded that the classroom teachers included the children completely or mostly in the process while creating the classroom rules, and they included their families and school management in the process when necessary, for the purpose of providing information, opinions and suggestions.