What role do "Rules" play in my classroom?
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There are certain elements of the school experience that are so essential to our conventional ideas about school that it's hard to imagine a school without them. A few examples include: the teacher telling the students what page to turn to, or asking children what they did on their summer vacation, or dividing the curriculum into "subjects." Such things are not necessarily bad, but like any habit that is repeated unconsciously, they can hide assumptions and consequences that upon reflection, may not be what we intend.
One example of this is the idea of classroom "rules." It's commonplace to expect that one of the first things that a teacher will do at the beginning of a new school year is communicate the classroom rules to his or her new students. There are stylistic differences in how teachers approach this task:
- Some start off the first day right away with predetermined rules; others ask for student input.
- Some sets of rules come complete with "consequences" for breaking them; others offer rewards for compliance.
- There are those sets of rules that are heavy on don't and those that focus on do.
These differences can tell you a lot about a teacher's regard for student perspectives, but in the end, they are still Rules.
What's wrong with rules? one might ask. For one thing, the mere existence of a rule betrays the teacher's suspicion that things might go wrong, that the children will not always behave as desired. This can, of course, set up a self-fulfilling prophecy. Also, rules necessarily require enforcement. As a teacher who wants to encourage children to regulate their own behavior and develop students' self-discipline, you may want the intellectual burden of distinguishing acceptable and unacceptable behavior to fall on those who need to learn it most: the children. Rules encourage problem-finding but prevent problem-solving.
Check out the resources below to explore some further ruminations on the concept of rules. Also, read this week's blog from Inspired Teaching's Senior Research Associate Julie Sweetland to learn how she used "expectations" with her class.
Special thanks to Julie Sweetland for doing much of the writing for this issue of the Inspired Teacher!
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Golden "Rules" for Teachers
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These are "rules" Inspired Teaching used to use for a tutoring program we ran several years ago. The wisdom in these words may inspire you for the months that lie ahead.
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Teacher Resources
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Creating Class Rules: A Beginning to Creating Community
In this well explained lesson plan, Teacher Renee Goularte talks about the process she goes through with her students to establish goals and needs for her K-2 students. She doesn't actually call them rules, and in this lesson plan she includes a link to an article she wrote explaining why.
The ABCs of Conflict Resolution
This is a wonderful resource from Teaching Tolerance that includes 5 well described lesson plans and materials for professional development all on the topic of "culturally responsive conflict resolution." The lessons would fit well at the start of the year if student-facilitated conflict resolution is something you plan to include in your classroom community.
Beyond Discipline
This classic essay by Alfie Kohn dissects the concept of classroom management and the social expectation that the role of a teacher is to control his or her class.
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