I was and did

Not a thing in undergrad.

Nothing on classroom management until inservice, several years into teaching.

In ed psych, not strategies per se but strategies for ascertaining what was going on. Generalities, reward systems, etc.

In a class just on classroom management we went back to reward systems, classroom layouts, rule-setting and goal-setting. On subverting the students in a class and getting peer pressure to work against disruptors. On ways of managing time and organization.

There were required observation hours. A large portion of them were to be devoted to observing and commenting not just on teaching strategies but on classroom management strategies.

My program allowed internships. But the one I picked I picked because it had the optino of student teaching. It was a requirement, as far as I was concerned.

We had to tutor individuals in the community, including profoundly handicapped...even if we were not going for special ed. We had small groups of kids on campus to work with, plus the intense internship for about 2 months.

We covered it in a couple of classes and then massively in student teaching (I had a rough placement).

in my teacher education classes, both undergrad and grad level on classroom management. Observations and practical application in my own classroom were better teachers than most of the stuffed shirts in Education departments across the country. Watching teachers that I really respected and also observing or experiencing poor teachers were a great way to learn, for me. Having spent 13 years of teaching experience under my belt when I left teaching, now that I am retiring from the military and hoping to return to a high school classroom it will be interesting to see what has changed, and how I have changed.....

The people that are teaching classroom management are a specific type of person. Very rule oriented. Yellows if you have done that color personality thing. If you aren't a yellow, then that won't work for you. I spent a good deal of time trying to do what I was taught and it never worked. Only once I started realizing it wasn't my thing (which took far too many years for me to realize) that I started adopting classroom management tactics that work for me (I'm a green). I haven't sent a kid to the office going on 3 years now. And before that one kid, it was another 2 years. That kid tried to say he didn't do anything which the office staff laughed at.

I learned more actual, practical information during student teaching, though. Coursework generally covered how to write and teach lesson plans in specific subjects.

And, of course, there has always been a focus, in districts I worked for, on staff development in classroom management.

I've concluded that classroom management is an OJT deal that everyone handles differently. I think formulaic classroom management strategies are limited in their utility and often become counterproductive when applied inflexibly rather than modified to suit a particular learning environment.

It was included in the 1992 INTASC principles for teacher training (NCATE, CCSSO). It's not always a stand alone class, but it's often in either the educational psychology class or clinical training. The topic was included for teacher training long before the 90's though.

No matter what training the teacher has, they can't always change the school or district values that make classroom management something beyond the individual teacher. Only the administration, the community, and the faculty together can create a consistent system so that management planning works.