This paper reports on a study of effective classroom management in British primary schools, with particular emphasis on how teachers deal with deviant or disruptive behavior. The study was conducted through observation of 239 lessons and interviews with 60 teachers and through interviews with 430 pupils aged 5-12. The research found a lack of congruence between the pupils' perception of events and that of the teachers. Pupils are an important source of information, able to conceptualize their thoughts and willing to provide ideas on seemingly contentious subjects, such as deviance, in a structured, non-anarchic way. But teachers either do not recognize this or do not perceive pupils' views to be important. Although within some classrooms teacher-pupil interactions are used to discuss pupils behaviors, no opportunity is provided to discuss the teachers' behaviors. Pupils may also be concerned that they could not talk as honestly to their own class teacher as they did to a researcher for fear of retribution. Some of the findings of the study are: children are concerned with fairness; they do not like teachers who shout; and a particular strategy teachers frequently employ may not work because of the way it is perceived by their pupils. The paper concludes that while there are constraints to eliciting pupils' views on discipline, not the least of which may be the teacher's own attitude, pupils offer insights into classroom life that should not be ignored if teachers are to understand better the minor acts of deviancy that can occupy so much of their teaching time, as well as diminish some of the anxieties about control that teachers may feel. (Contains 22 references.) (ND)