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Article — Classroom Discipline Corollary: How to Teach Students to Be Self-governing
Classroom Discipline Corollary:
How to Teach Students to Be Self-governing
In my last newsletter, I wrote about developing a system of classroom discipline based on self-government. I decided that it might be helpful to write a corollary that explains one way a teacher could go about teaching students to govern themselves.
First of all, lay out the expectations for the students. In my classes, I really only have three main student responsibilities that cover the usual problems I face in my classes. A teacher in a school with more discipline problems may have to add to the list provided below. All students are asked to treat every member of the class with respect, to have integrity in doing their work independently, and to sit up straight in class. Other responsibilities include being ready with their books and supplies when class begins, being in dress code, and doing their best in all class learning opportunities. This year, I had a student say to me at the end of the first week of school, “I heard you were strict.” I responded, “I am.” Any veteran teacher knows the importance of maintaining a good rep at school;)
Honestly, though, am I asking an incredible amount from my students in terms of behavior and academic integrity? Why they think I seem strict, I am not entirely sure, but I think it has to do with two things: I do not allow my students during class to talk when I or another member of the class is speaking, and I require my students to sit up straight. Every person deserves to be heard in a class where wonder and inquiry are being encouraged and sitting in a slovenly position is a poor habit that needs to be eliminated from the maturing student’s repertoire. Students who sit with their heads on their hands or put their heads down on their desks are not expressing an openness to learning with their body language and they are projecting a rather disrespectful posture to the speaker, be it the teacher or another student in the class. Now, some types of head-resting-on-hands poses are not postured for falling asleep nor are they disrespectful to the speaker, but try policing that with a class of twelve year olds;) My mentor taught me not to allow students to talk when the teacher or another student is speaking and not to rest their faces on their hands (taking exams or doing homework does not count) and she was right. The classroom should be a place of mutual respect for each member and a place where questions and musings of wonder are encouraged to be spoken out loud and to be heard. When students are required to listen to each other and to sit up straight, they do much better in class and they learn good habits for adulthood.
Here is the list of student responsibilities that I require for students ages 9-18.
Students are expected to display self-government at all times during class and while entering and exiting the classroom.
Students are expected to be respectful and courteous to all members of the class at all times.
Students are expected to be in proper dress code at all times.
Students are expected to prepare for class soon after they enter the classroom by getting out paper, a writing utensil, their planner, and any necessary handouts or books.
Students are expected to have good upright posture at all times.
Students are expected to conduct themselves in an honest manner with regard to assignments and exams. Students do not have permission to work on assignments together or to share information they gleaned from their own study with each other.
Students are expected to give their best effort on all assignments and to seek assistance from the teacher whenever necessary by tutoring before or after school.
Students are expected to take responsibility for missed homework and exams due to absences by scheduling a time for completion with the teacher.
Students will follow the guidelines and policies provided by the teacher as well as those set forth in the class syllabus and parent-student handbook.
Reasonable, right?
In teaching students that the foundation for classroom discipline will be self-government, some of them look confused at first, but as the reality sinks in, they often gasp and sometimes look petrified. “Why?” you might ask. Because their teacher has placed the responsibility for controlling themselves squarely on their shoulders, and any consequences that develop are due to their own lack of self-government. Students love to say “I was ‘just’” to justify their poor behavior or they blame their teacher for being unfair, out to get them, or not liking them, etc. as an excuse to their parents for getting into trouble at school. Under the system focused on self-government, all consequences are known ahead of time and they are a direct result of the student not governing him/herself – NOT because the student displeased the teacher.
Students do not have much liberty until they mature into their older teen years, but the little they do have, they want to hold on to, and part of that freedom is not having a bunch of rules hanging over their heads. Once that point is made, in addition to others like being able to sit wherever they want as long as they control themselves and being able to talk quietly as they get ready for class, students become very motivated to keep their liberty.
On the first day of class, I go over the syllabus with my classes and I explain how the classroom discipline will operate for the year. I give each student a prepared sheet of paper on which they can write. As you know, defining terms is important, so I define the terms self-government, internal government, and external government, and I explain how internal and external government work together. I draw a diagram of circles that illustrates the level of freedom, or lack thereof, that a person enjoys when he/she is self-governed or is not self-governed and the students draw the circles on their paper as well. I ask the students to consider which person has more freedom in his/her life: the person with lots of internal self-government or the person with very little internal self-government. They always know the correct answer. We review the student responsibilities page again, and then I drop the hammer.
I tell the students to turn the paper over to see the list of “Dr. McIntyre’s Classroom Rules.” I hear gasps all over the room as the students view a blank page titled “Dr. McIntyre’s Classroom Rules.” I remain quiet for a moment and let the reality sink in. The room gets whisper quiet as students contemplate the responsibility that they have been given.
Once the students get over the initial shock of not seeing a list of rules, I explain that there are no rules . . . yet. Students will fill in the rules that I give them individually when they do not govern themselves. Sitting there waiting for my words to sink in, I see a mixture of happiness, the good students who never get into trouble, confusion, “How can a teacher not give out any rules?”, and abject fear from the students who get it and know the jig is up. Generally, students are used to a system where they have to follow the teacher’s rules and basically please the teacher or they will get punished. Now, they are being given the responsibility and liberty of governing their own behavior based on explicit expectations. After some quiet moments, the questions come and I reaffirm that there are no rules as long as the students govern themselves according to the expectations listed in the “Student Responsibilities” section of the syllabus. I next explain that if they do not govern themselves internally, then I, their teacher, will govern them externally.
The first time I presented this plan to a group of seventh graders that I had taught as sixth graders in a classical charter school, a student sitting near me began weeping uncontrollably. He understood fully that it was he, not the teacher, who was responsible for correcting his poor behavior. I asked him, “What’s wrong?” He responded, “I was really terrible in 6th grade and now I am going to get lots of rules.” I told him that it was a new year and that he could choose to be different. He received two rules at the beginning of that year and he had to have one extended, but he did not get any the rest of the years that I taught him. I implemented a form of this plan to 4th graders my first year of teaching. They were a wild group of kiddos who figuratively and literally ran off both of their third grade teachers. If I had not been determined not to quit, they would have run me off, too, that first quarter. They understood what self-government meant once I explained it to them and they learned to control themselves . . . eventually. (I wrote about these students in a previous newsletter.)
Finally, I go over the class contract that I make between myself and each student. If a student repeatedly refuses to govern him/herself, 3-4 times, then he/she will receive a one-hour detention and a rule to govern his/her behavior for the next thirty calendar days. If, in the next thirty days, the student breaks the rule, then he/she receives another detention and the thirty days starts over again. Once the thirty days is over, the student goes back to the plan of governing him/herself internally.
I usually spend a week training my students in self-government by pointing out behavior that is not under control, which will receive consequences in the near future. The second week, I announce that the warning period is over and now the system of self-government is up and running. I warn students one time in class that their behavior is not under control, then I take away their freedom temporarily to sit where they want in order to challenge them to learn to govern their talking (some end up being moved for longer periods), I next speak to them after class and let them know consequences are coming. Next, I give a lunch detention where the student spends his/her lunch with me writing sentences for about ten minutes then eating lunch in silence while all of his/her friends can be heard outside enjoying their freedom. We talk about the issue at hand, form a plan to resolve it, and I let the student know that the next instance of poor behavior in this area will result in a detention and a rule being imposed.
If the student continues not governing him/herself, then I give him/her a specific rule governing his/her misbehavior and a one-hour after-school detention. I challenge him/her to take responsibility for his/her actions, then I assist him/her in forming a plan for how he/she will develop self-government in the area in which he/she is struggling. It is important to note here that if a student refuses to take responsibility for his/her actions, then this plan can still work, but with a limited effect. I have the student write sentences on the board, students really dislike doing this, or clean around the school. Once the detention is over, I reinforce the student’s understanding that his/her rule will last for thirty days and remind him/her of the consequences for breaking it.
Once the student comes off the rule, we talk about what he/she did to develop self-control, how he/she will proceed governing him/herself going forward, and that we are putting the episode behind us and moving forward with a clean slate once again. In all the years I have used this plan, I have had only a handful of students get a rule. A couple of students had to extend the original thirty days and a couple of students received two rules in quick succession, because they had more than one issue of self-control. Generally, after two rules, students learned to govern themselves. Before implementing this plan, I had many more detentions and it took longer for students to learn self-government.
The system I use was borrowed and adapted from a book I read called Teen-Proofing by John Rosemond. The main benefit of this plan is that everyone in the class knows the responsibilities and the consequences ahead of time, so there is no antagonism between the teacher and the students on issues of discipline. The added benefit is that students, especially younger students who lack self-control, learn self-control. If you have young children or teenagers, I highly recommend reading John Rosemond’s book(s).
Dr. McIntyre’s System of Classroom Discipline
Self-government – direct, restrain, regulate, and control one’s self with the aid of one’s conscience and the Holy Spirit
Different types of government
Internal – a person is governing himself with the aid of his/her conscience and the Holy Spirit – other people or entities are directing him/her – there are times when he/she must control him/herself
External – other people/entities are regulating and/or controlling a person through disciplinary practices, because the person will not control him/herself and ignores his/her conscience and the Holy Spirit
Diagram of a person who has little internal self-government and a person who has a large amount of internal self-government
The innermost ring represents a person’s level of self-government.
The first ring, outside the inner ring, represents external government from parents, teachers, club leaders, coaches, local police, etc.
The next two outer rings represent external government from state and federal institutions.
*We always have government over us. The question is “Who is doing the governing?”
Are we governing ourselves through direction with the help of our conscience and the Holy Spirit?
OR
Are we ignoring our conscience and the Holy Spirit and having to be regulated or controlled by others externally?
Which person has the most freedom – the person controlling himself or the person being controlled by others?
Galatians 5:1 “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
Classroom Contract:
Students will exhibit self-government in following the expectations and procedures for the class.
If a student consistently shows that he/she will not be self-governing, then he/she will receive a one hour detention and a rule governing the poor behavior for the next thirty calendar days. If the student breaks the rule in the next thirty days, he/she will get a one hour detention and the thirty days starts over.
Once the thirty days is over, the student goes back to the expectation of being self-governed internally.
Dr. McIntyre’s Classroom Rules:
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