Classroom Management Philosophy:
Empowering Students for a Collaborative Approach
to Classroom Management
Too often in the media we hear complaints that today’s youth are not actively engaged in contributing to their communities. Stereotypes about today’s youth suggest that they don’t follow current events, they don’t vote and the simply just don’t care. This, of course is a generalization however statistical data does reinforce the notion that young people are much less engaged in their communities. Personally, I think there is little mystery behind the fact that young people do not recognize the importance of being actively engaged citizens. In many cases, children spend the majority of their childhood being told what to do, how to do it and not to question what they are being told. Rather than allowing them the opportunity to explore their own ideas and come to their own conclusions, we seem to expect children to accept the knowledge and reasoning enforced upon them by the adults in their lives.
It is my belief that citizen engagement must begin in the classroom. School should not be a place where students simply show up, listen, memorize and regurgitate information to get through. Instead, students should be actively involved in contributing to their own learning experience. This does not mean that there should be no structure or organization within the classroom. In fact, I believe that structure is extremely important for students to be successful; however, students should have input as to how their learning environment is structured and designed. By allowing students to contribute to the decision-making process, students can begin to feel empowered to make suggestions and voice their opinions. Furthermore, this additional involvement increases students’ accountability for their own actions and behaviours.
Making a classroom contract with students is an effective way to involve them in creating the learning environment they feel they need to be able to thrive. Rather than dictating a set of rules and routines, teachers should work collaboratively with their students to make a list of agreed upon rules for their classroom. Having students contribute to drafting the classroom rules ensures that each student is aware of the rules and encourages students to be more accountable for their actions. Once a list has been drafted, the class can make a poster to visually display the rules in the classroom. Furthermore, students can be asked to sign the poster to indicate that as a class they have agreed to the list of rules to create a “contract” between the members of the class that will govern their behaviour throughout the course of the year.
Although the contract will vary from class to class depending on the input of the students, in general classroom rules should reflect a desire to create a learning environment in which each individual feels welcome and comfortable expressing themselves. This may include rules such as “have respect for others’ thoughts and feelings” or “be accountable for your actions”. By creating rules that are non-specific as opposed to rules that are clearly defined (do this, don’t do that), we can encourage our students to consider the underlying values that inform these rules. As a result, students are challenged to reflect on their behaviour and consider whether or not their actions are consistent with the values the class has identified as being important. For example, if you have a rule in your classroom that states “raise your hand before you speak”, students will simply raise their hands before speaking because this is what they are being told to do; however, if your classroom rules simply state “be respectful of others”, students can come to the conclusion that it is not respectful to interrupt or interject when others are speaking. This may not result in every student raising their hand before speaking, but it should encourage students to be polite and mindful of others when speaking aloud in class - this is, after all, the reasoning behind having students raise their hands.
Evidently, there will be times when students do not comply with the established school and classroom rules. In these scenarios, it is crucial that teachers carefully consider how they respond. Often our knee-jerk reactions, stemming from anger and frustration, can be to use punitive measures that seek to control and intimidate students into to complying with our demands. While these punitive measures may be momentarily successful, they are not effective in addressing the root cause of the student’s misbehaviour. Furthermore, they may damage the relationship of trust and respect that exists between the student and the teacher.
In order to effectively deal with student misbehaviours, teachers must be willing to look beyond the behaviour to explore the potential underlying causes. For example, students who are continually disruptive in class are often branded as “trouble makers”; however, there may be a reasonable explanation for the student’s behaviour. In some cases, the student may be capable of learning at a higher level and are therefore bored with the classroom material being taught. Or, the student may feel they are incapable of learning the classroom material and therefore are acting out as a way of distracting themselves from having to deal with the assigned material. Regardless of the cause, the teacher must be willing to take the time to discuss the behaviour with the student.
Whenever possible, the student should be given the opportunity to contribute towards finding a solution. This collaborative problem-solving approach further increases students’ accountability as it does not simply require that they do as they are told. Instead, students are challenged to reflect on their behaviour and are empowered to come up with solutions they feel are appropriate to prevent the behaviour from re-occurring. Any discipline administered should always be focused on helping the student understand the impact of their behaviour and why it is not acceptable. With this approach, the eventual goal is that the student will be able to internalize the underlying beliefs and values to consider the impact of their actions and regulate their behaviour in the future.
To attempt to prevent misbehaviours, teachers can incorporate classroom building activities, such as icebreakers and getting to know you games, that give students the chance to engage with each other in fun and exciting ways. Often, particularly in middle schools, students organize themselves into small cliques of friends and do not venture far outside these defined social groups. While this is a fairly natural tendency, divisions within the classroom can contribute to students feeling left out or uncomfortable participating in the classroom. Furthermore, in some situations these classroom divisions can lead to instances of bullying and exclusion. Classroom building activities can help push students out of their comfort zone to connect with students they would not normally choose to interact with. This creates opportunities for students to discover commonalities between them and bond with one another. As a result, a much more cohesive classroom environment can be established.
The establishment of a positive learning environment is a crucial to helping students achieve their full learning potential. By fostering a safe and positive environment in which students need not fear criticism or judgement, we increase the likelihood that that students will feel comfortable participating in the classroom. This ability to participate freely is fundamental to allowing students to explore new ideas, voice their opinions and expand their minds. As educators, this should be our primary focus. The classroom should not be a place where students simply recycle old ideas, but instead should be a place where students are encouraged to ask questions, critically evaluate the dominant schools of thought and propose their own solutions to the issues facing society today. In doing so, we go beyond simply teaching curriculum standards and move towards developing engaged and empowered citizens capable of critically evaluating the world around them.
References:
Breaux, Elizabeth. (2011). Enseigner avec succès : 20 erreurs à éviter pour devenir un enseignant efficace. Montréal, QC : Chenelière Éducation
Kohn, Alfie. (2006). Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Ouellete, Lisette . (2010). Un enseignant bien outilé, des élèves motivés. Montréal, Qc: Chenelière Éducation
It is my belief that citizen engagement must begin in the classroom. School should not be a place where students simply show up, listen, memorize and regurgitate information to get through. Instead, students should be actively involved in contributing to their own learning experience. This does not mean that there should be no structure or organization within the classroom. In fact, I believe that structure is extremely important for students to be successful; however, students should have input as to how their learning environment is structured and designed. By allowing students to contribute to the decision-making process, students can begin to feel empowered to make suggestions and voice their opinions. Furthermore, this additional involvement increases students’ accountability for their own actions and behaviours.
Making a classroom contract with students is an effective way to involve them in creating the learning environment they feel they need to be able to thrive. Rather than dictating a set of rules and routines, teachers should work collaboratively with their students to make a list of agreed upon rules for their classroom. Having students contribute to drafting the classroom rules ensures that each student is aware of the rules and encourages students to be more accountable for their actions. Once a list has been drafted, the class can make a poster to visually display the rules in the classroom. Furthermore, students can be asked to sign the poster to indicate that as a class they have agreed to the list of rules to create a “contract” between the members of the class that will govern their behaviour throughout the course of the year.
Although the contract will vary from class to class depending on the input of the students, in general classroom rules should reflect a desire to create a learning environment in which each individual feels welcome and comfortable expressing themselves. This may include rules such as “have respect for others’ thoughts and feelings” or “be accountable for your actions”. By creating rules that are non-specific as opposed to rules that are clearly defined (do this, don’t do that), we can encourage our students to consider the underlying values that inform these rules. As a result, students are challenged to reflect on their behaviour and consider whether or not their actions are consistent with the values the class has identified as being important. For example, if you have a rule in your classroom that states “raise your hand before you speak”, students will simply raise their hands before speaking because this is what they are being told to do; however, if your classroom rules simply state “be respectful of others”, students can come to the conclusion that it is not respectful to interrupt or interject when others are speaking. This may not result in every student raising their hand before speaking, but it should encourage students to be polite and mindful of others when speaking aloud in class - this is, after all, the reasoning behind having students raise their hands.
Evidently, there will be times when students do not comply with the established school and classroom rules. In these scenarios, it is crucial that teachers carefully consider how they respond. Often our knee-jerk reactions, stemming from anger and frustration, can be to use punitive measures that seek to control and intimidate students into to complying with our demands. While these punitive measures may be momentarily successful, they are not effective in addressing the root cause of the student’s misbehaviour. Furthermore, they may damage the relationship of trust and respect that exists between the student and the teacher.
In order to effectively deal with student misbehaviours, teachers must be willing to look beyond the behaviour to explore the potential underlying causes. For example, students who are continually disruptive in class are often branded as “trouble makers”; however, there may be a reasonable explanation for the student’s behaviour. In some cases, the student may be capable of learning at a higher level and are therefore bored with the classroom material being taught. Or, the student may feel they are incapable of learning the classroom material and therefore are acting out as a way of distracting themselves from having to deal with the assigned material. Regardless of the cause, the teacher must be willing to take the time to discuss the behaviour with the student.
Whenever possible, the student should be given the opportunity to contribute towards finding a solution. This collaborative problem-solving approach further increases students’ accountability as it does not simply require that they do as they are told. Instead, students are challenged to reflect on their behaviour and are empowered to come up with solutions they feel are appropriate to prevent the behaviour from re-occurring. Any discipline administered should always be focused on helping the student understand the impact of their behaviour and why it is not acceptable. With this approach, the eventual goal is that the student will be able to internalize the underlying beliefs and values to consider the impact of their actions and regulate their behaviour in the future.
To attempt to prevent misbehaviours, teachers can incorporate classroom building activities, such as icebreakers and getting to know you games, that give students the chance to engage with each other in fun and exciting ways. Often, particularly in middle schools, students organize themselves into small cliques of friends and do not venture far outside these defined social groups. While this is a fairly natural tendency, divisions within the classroom can contribute to students feeling left out or uncomfortable participating in the classroom. Furthermore, in some situations these classroom divisions can lead to instances of bullying and exclusion. Classroom building activities can help push students out of their comfort zone to connect with students they would not normally choose to interact with. This creates opportunities for students to discover commonalities between them and bond with one another. As a result, a much more cohesive classroom environment can be established.
The establishment of a positive learning environment is a crucial to helping students achieve their full learning potential. By fostering a safe and positive environment in which students need not fear criticism or judgement, we increase the likelihood that that students will feel comfortable participating in the classroom. This ability to participate freely is fundamental to allowing students to explore new ideas, voice their opinions and expand their minds. As educators, this should be our primary focus. The classroom should not be a place where students simply recycle old ideas, but instead should be a place where students are encouraged to ask questions, critically evaluate the dominant schools of thought and propose their own solutions to the issues facing society today. In doing so, we go beyond simply teaching curriculum standards and move towards developing engaged and empowered citizens capable of critically evaluating the world around them.
References:
Breaux, Elizabeth. (2011). Enseigner avec succès : 20 erreurs à éviter pour devenir un enseignant efficace. Montréal, QC : Chenelière Éducation
Kohn, Alfie. (2006). Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Ouellete, Lisette . (2010). Un enseignant bien outilé, des élèves motivés. Montréal, Qc: Chenelière Éducation