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Classroom Management: Philosophical Foundations and Specific Application

Lee Rottweiler

Seattle Pacific University

07/20/2011

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Classroom Management: Philosophical Foundations and Specific Application

Too often, it seems, educational theorists and practitioners produce elaborate curricula,

instructional strategies, and classroom management systems without first identifying and elucidating the

long-term purpose or overarching goals their plans seek to achieve. Teachers are awash with detailed

descriptions of the way they should approach every facet of their interaction with students, but bereft of

clear visions and articulations of the ends each plan is meant to ultimately achieve. Regarding classroom

management in particular, this trend is particularly strong; author after author offer “effective”

approaches to classroom management, but few seem to have spent time seriously considering and

articulating what it is, precisely, that their strategies are designed to accomplish. To what end do they

suggest we “managing” our students? What ultimate purpose or overarching goal do they hope our

management will achieve?

Here, I take a different approach to constructing a classroom management philosophy. I seek to

first define the ends it is pursuing, and once defined, derive from ends the appropriate means. As such, the

following discussion is separated into three sections: The first section seeks to briefly convey what I see

as the ultimate purpose of education. Because the scope and purpose of this paper is not explicitly

philosophical, this first section seeks only to succinctly convey the premises from which my management

philosophy is derived. I leave in depth analysis and defense of these premises for another time, although I

believe most readers will be able to intuit each premises’ validity from the brief description included here.

Following my description of education’s ultimate purpose comes an analysis of that purpose, a

breaking down of the big idea into its component parts. This section seeks to make tangible and

attainable an overarching goal that may otherwise seem vague, abstract, and idealistic.

Finally, the third section of this paper offers a presentation of one particular classroom

management plan, a plan I see as likely to facilitate realization of the ultimate goal my teaching is

designed to achieve. While the basic rationale for the classroom management plan presented in this paper

is applicable to all K-12 classrooms, the specific components and activities it describes are designed to

meet the needs of upper middle school and high school students. Finally, it is important to note that while

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classroom management is the focus on this paper, it is only one component of what should be a

consciously chosen and cohesive approach to education: the other two components – curriculum design

and instructional strategies – should work in concert with one’s management approach toward

achievement one’s carefully articulated and well defined goal.

The Purpose of Education

Leo Tolstoy, in On Popular Education, hints at what I see as the only legitimate purpose of

education: “The criterion of pedagogics,” Tolstoy explains, “is only liberty” (Tolstoy, 1875). Although

vague, perhaps, upon first reading, deep reflection on Tolstoy’s statement leads to a humbling conclusion:

as teachers, this is the only goal we have the right to pursue because any other goal requires us to choose,

on behalf of our students, who they will become and how they will interact with the world. In a society

founded on individual liberty and representative democracy, these ultimate, existential choices are not

ours to make on behalf of our students. They should, and must, be left to each individual. Acceptance of

this premise leads us directly to what should be the overarching goal of education in the United States:

Stated simply, it must be the maximization of our students’ freedom – their freedom to choose who,

fundamentally, they wish to be and how they wish to interact with their world. Our curriculum selection,

instructional strategies, and the types of learning environments we choose to create should serve to

maximize students’ long-term freedom. Liberty, then, is the litmus test: any legitimate means employed in

the name of education must serve to increase, over the lifetime of each individual child, their opportunity

and ability to choose.

The Components of Liberty

Liberty, at the most basic level, requires free choice. And free choice, requires that an individual

possess three qualities: Firstly, they must possess the underlying personal and interpersonal faculties that

serve as prerequisites for choice, and they must meet previously established societal requirements that

qualify them to make those choices. Here, I am describing the basic knowledge, skills, abilities, and

experiences that serve to open choices up for an individual – the natural occurring and socially

constructed requirements one must meet before the possibility for choice arrises. In the personal realm,

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these faculties include self-awareness, the ability to self-reflect, confidence, physical and psychological

health, etc. Interpersonal prerequisites for choice include empathy; awareness of social norms, values, and

expectations; the ability to communicate effectively; the ability to collaborate, compromise, and compete;

etc. Societal prerequisites include the ability to read, the ability to think mathematically; the possession of

a high school diploma; meeting requirements for entry into postsecondary education; SAT and ACT

scores; passing state mandated tests; etc.

Perhaps a series of examples will serve to clarify the above statements. First, let us examine the

impact that several of the aforementioned prerequisites have on one’s freedom to choose who they will

be: In order to consciously choose my personal belief system, I must first develop a sufficient degree of

self-awareness and a certain ability to engage in self-reflection. These are the personal faculties that

prepare me to choose if and when I have the opportunity to do so. While these, on their own, will not free

me to choose the fundamental beliefs which guide my life, failure to develop self-awareness and an

ability to self-reflect will guarantee such choices will not be available to me.

Or, for a more concrete example, we can examine the impact that previously established societal

requirements have on one’s ability to choose how they will interact with the world: in order to freely

choose the type of college I will attend, I must have first met the minimum entrance requirements for a

variety of different colleges. Again, my freedom to choose a college is not gained simply by meeting

college entrance requirements, but failure to meet them certainly precludes free choice.

Free choice requires more than attainment of prerequisite capacities. In order for one’s choices to

be free, one must also be fully aware of the available options. This component of free choice is relatively

simple and will be easily clarified by building on the previous examples: Having developed a sufficient

degree of self-awareness and ability to self-reflect, freedom to choose my belief system is largely

dependent on the degree to which I am aware of the options from which I can choose. Taking an extreme

example, one can imagine an imminently reflective and self-aware individual who, having lived her entire

life in a remote village, is entirely un-free to choose her worldview because she is unaware that a choice

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is there to make. Unaware that other faiths and belief systems exist, her freedom to choose is limited to

minor variations of the worldview held by those in her small village.

Or, let us return to the college entrance scenario for a more tangible example: Clearly, in addition

to simply meeting college entry requirements, the degree to which students are free to choose their post-

high-school lives depends a great deal on their level of awareness regarding the myriad types of colleges

that are available to them. While they may be qualified to choose from hundreds or even thousands of

institutions, they are free to choose only from those which they are aware of. Clearly, freedom is limited

by our awareness of the options from which we are able to choose. The more options we recognize, the

freer we become.

Finally, free choice requires that one possess the intellectual tools and personal dispositions that

facilitate decision making. Once an individual has satisfied the prerequisites for choice and has become

aware of the myriad options available to them, that individual is not free unless they have the ability to

make an informed decision, and unless they actually take the initiative to make it. Freedom, then, is

dependent not only on the availability and awareness of options; in the end, it also depends on one’s

ability to compare, analyze, and think critically about those options, and on one’s willingness transform

critical thought into an active, applied decision.

Returning one last time to the preceding examples, we can imagine a self-aware and reflective

individual who is fully aware of the wide variety of faiths and belief systems from which he might

choose. But, if that individual cannot effectively analyze and compare those worldviews, and if he is not

accustomed to making choices for himself, his freedom of belief remains severely limited – despite his

knowledge of self and of alternatives, he will either settle for the worldview under which he was born and

raised, or he will allow someone in his life to make the choice for him; in each case, his individual

freedom is largely forfeited.

The same can be said for our high school senior: having met all necessary requirements for

college, and having listened to his counselor describe a wide array of collegiate options, his freedom is

still entirely dependent on his ability and will to choose between them. If he has not developed sufficient

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critical thinking skills, and if he is not accustomed to harnessing those skills to make decisions about his

life, he will either attend the college closest to home, or he will attend the college chosen by his counselor

or parents. In both cases, he is much less free than he otherwise could have been.

Liberty clearly depends on free choice. And choice is free only to the degree that an individual

possesses three essential qualities: (1) The personal and interpersonal faculties, as well as the achievement

of various socially constructed requirements, that serve as prerequisites for choice; (2) a conscious

awareness of the choices that are available to be made; and (3) the intellectual ability and personal

dispositions that allow an individual to consciously choose between options. Developing students who are

truly at liberty to choose themselves and their lives requires an education that supports and balances all

three qualities necessary for free choice. The following classroom management plan is designed to

support students as they develop each of these qualities.

Supporting student liberty through classroom management

Several basic assumptions underlie my approach to classroom management. Firstly, and most

importantly, I believe human behavior, while not always conscious, is always purposeful. As such,

students’ behavior in the classroom, like all human behavior, should be understood as an effort to satisfy

their basic needs. Theorists conceptualize these needs using a variety of largely similar terms and

categorizations (Glasser, Kagen, Gossen, as described in Charles, 2011), each offering a nominally

unique take on the basic hierarchy first laid out by Abraham Maslow in “A Theory of Human Motivation”

(Maslow, 1943). There, Maslow argued that humans must meet their physiological needs, their needs for

safety and security, and their needs for belonging, love, and affection before they are able to focus on

satisfying their higher-order needs for esteem and self-actualization.

As Maslow describes, fulfillment of higher-order needs is dependent on prior fulfillment of more

basic needs: Self-actualization, in many ways synonymous with liberty, cannot take place until students’

esteem needs are met. The meeting of esteem needs (appreciation, respect, accomplishment, etc.), which

is essential for a well managed classroom and a positive learning environment, will not be achieved

unless students feel safe and until they feel connected to and validated by members of their community.

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Therefore, in order to create a well-managed classroom that supports self-actualization and maximizes

liberty, teachers must first take steps to satisfy the safety and communal needs of their students.

To this end, my classroom management plan emphasizes the creation and nourishment of

authentic student-student and student-teacher relationships. This is the foundation of my entire approach

to teaching, and it is an absolutely essential component of my classroom management strategy. By taking

steps to ensure that students belong to a community where they are known, appreciated, supported, and

loved, the vast majority of misbehavior becomes purposeless, and thus disappears.

Because I see a safe and inclusive community as the foundation of all else that takes place in my

classroom, a great deal of time is devoted to its creation during the beginning of the year. The first two

units of the year which, depending on the particular student population I am working with, may require up

to a month to complete, focus primarily on the creation of interpersonal relationships, an inclusive,

supportive community, and a social contract. While academic content may be included when appropriate

during these units, it is employed not as an end in itself but only as a means of facilitating the growth and

development of community. An outline of activities included in these first two units is provided below:

Classroom Management: Unit 1: Establishing our learning environment:

Unit one focuses specifically on carving out generous amounts of time for students to get to know

one another, for me to get to know my students, and for students to get to know me (Covey, Daley,

Glasser, as described in Charles, 2011). During this unit we strive to become familiar with one another’s

backgrounds, goals, interests, struggles, fears, anxieties, hopes, and dreams. We focus on building trust.

Through my actions and interactions with students during this unit, I consciously work to show students

that I will strive to be an encourager, mentor, role model, and friend, not a judge or an enforcer (Marshal,

Glasser, as described in Charles, 2011). I work to show students that while our roles as teacher and

students require us to assume different responsibilities, I believe we are all social equals and will strive to

treat them as such (Ginott, as described in Charles, 2011).

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The year begins with the presentation of one non-negotiable ground-rule that I expect everyone to

follow during unit one and two. It is listed on the top of the syllabus and reads: “During unit one

and two, all interactions in our classroom should be aimed at helping each other feel safe, happy,

and comfortable. Over the next several weeks, I expect everyone to constantly ask themselves

whether their words and actions serve to help others feel safer, happier, and more comfortable. I

will be holding you to this standard. I expect you to hold me accountable for it as well”.

The syllabus then provides a brief description of unit one and two. Students immediately see that

our focus during the first month will be on building our community. By explicitly including

community development on our syllabus, I immediately make clear to students that it is at least as

important as the “academic” elements of our class; through review of the syllabus and subsequent

discussion, students come to understand that community building is an essential part of the class,

not something to hurry through before our class actually begins. Students are directly and clearly

told that they will take the lead in choosing and creating their community. By presenting an

overview of unit one and unit two in this way, students understand that each of the following

activities, even if they sometimes seem casual and non-academic, are in fact purposeful and

designed to help us achieve our common goal.

The syllabus introduction ends with my assurance that this class will be academically

rigorous. I assure students that we will meet and exceed all academic requirements,

and that the course will challenge them academically and intellectually. I explain that

a strong community foundation and the creation of shared goals and agreements will

best facilitate these academic objectives; I explain that time spent on community

building will result in much more efficient and meaningful learning throughout the

rest of the year. We then briefly discuss the type of activities that will be included in

unit one (listed below):

Time for social interaction in our classroom. Each day, unstructured time will be set aside

simply to hang out, chat with each other, tell jokes, play games, etc. (during these times, I

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have the opportunity to interact with students at their level AND through observing their

interactions with one another I am able to get a sense of the natural social dynamic within

the class. Decisions about activities, particularly pair and group work, will be informed

by these observations).

Semi-structured small-group and whole-class discussions aimed at getting to know one

another and building relationships. Sometimes, these will be loosely organized around

relevant class content, but our primary goals during these activities will be social.

Periodically, we’ll plan celebrations and other fun social activities: we might go outside

and play ultimate Frisbee when the weather is nice, throw a party to celebrate one of our

accomplishments, create and then give a gift to our school or to another classroom, etc.

A great deal of our focus during this first unit will be on self-reflection. We’ll think about

and write about our hopes, dreams, fears, and concerns; our goals for this week, month,

year, for three years and five years down the road; we’ll reflect on previous school years,

on things we did well and on things we hope to change this year, on things about school

that made our lives better and things that detracted from our enjoyment (Ellis, 2001;

Marshal, Ford, Gossen, as described in Charles, 2011). There will be many opportunities

to share and discuss our reflections, but nobody will be forced or pressured to do so.

Also, the teacher will participate in all these activities; expectations during unit one will

be the same for the teacher and students.

I’ll meet one-on-one with students as much as possible, using same side chat (Kagen, as

described by Charles, 2011) and walk and talk (Daley, as described by Charles, 2011)

strategies to build relationships and support students with their individual needs.

Classroom meetings will be a consistent part of our weekly schedule (Ellis, 2001;

Glasser, Kagen, Marshal, as described in Charles, 2011). These will be a time to share

concerns and celebrations about our class. We will discuss which things are working well

for students, which things seem particularly challenging, whether or not the class seems

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meaningful, worthwhile, or a waste of time. Students will be strongly encouraged to

brainstorm positive solutions to any concerns and problems they bring up during class

meetings.

Classroom Management: Unit 2: Building our Social Contract

Effective social contracts accurately reflect and uphold a group’s commonly held set of values

and beliefs; they are designed and customized by societies to meet unique sets of needs and aspirations. It

is a mistake to understand such contracts as representing the beginning of a society. A more accurate

understanding is one that views a social contract as an agreement amongst a group of people meant to

nurture and perpetuate those positive core values and beliefs that are already shared within a community.

Viewed in this way, social contracts become intrinsically generated guideposts for behavior rather than

extrinsically imposed rules.

As such, the work of creating a social contract should not proceed until students know one

another, until students have identified and reflected on their own values, beliefs, and aspirations, and until

they have become familiar with those held by their classmates. Too often, teachers who choose to rely on

social contracts begin creating them during the very first class. In doing so, they lead students in the

development of a contract that does not accurately reflect the true needs of the community it serves.

These hastily constructed contracts then require a great deal of revision once students actually begin to

know one another, develop a classroom personality, and clarify their own classroom culture. If significant

revision does not occur at this point, the “social contract” will simply become a set of extrinsically

derived rules that control rather than guide behavior. As such, it is essential that building of a classroom’s

social contract does not begin until unit two: a classroom’s social contract must be built upon the

foundation of intrapersonal and interpersonal understanding nurtured during unit one.

Unit two will include the following activities:

Self reflection continues to be a central component of our class, but the focus of our reflection

begins to shift toward one that directly supports the creation of a social contract. This portion

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of our class begins to be more writing intensive as both students and teacher respond in their

writing journals to the following questions (small group and/or whole class discussion

generally follows each journal entry):

What do you want to get out of this class? How do your class objectives get you closer to

achieving your personal goals?

Envision and list your classes from last year. Imagine yourself in the hall, about to set

foot in each class. How did you feel (nervous, a sense of dread, excited, happy, curious,

etc.)? Now, envision yourself walking into this class every day for the next nine months.

How do you want to feel when you walk through our door every day?

What do you hope this class will look like and sound like?

Describe your idea or definition of a quality education. What does “quality education”

mean to you?

Describe your ideal (History, English, ELL, etc.) classroom in one page. What should it

look like, sound like, feel like. What types of things would you learn about in such a

class? What types of activities would you engage in? Now try to describe your vision in

one paragraph. Now, try to describe it in one sentence. Now, describe it in one word.

Following the page/paragraph/sentence/word assignment, students get in their three to four person

groups. They analyze individual work and jointly create a paragraph-length group-description of

their ideal classroom. Small groups then present their paragraphs to the entire class.

Copies are made of each group’s paragraph. Small groups take these copies back to

their work space. They then analyze each group’s paragraph and work to create a

version that best represents everyone’s shared vision for the class.

Each group turns this final paragraph in to the teacher. The teacher takes these

paragraphs home, analyzes them, and creates one version that synthesizes the key

ideas from each group.

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The next day of class begins with silent reading and annotation - each student is

given a copy of the synthesized description of their ideal classroom, which they are

asked to annotate. After students have had time to complete their work, the teacher

displays the paragraph on the overhead projector or document camera. The floor is

then opened for discussion. Using their annotations, students propose changes to the

paragraph and vote on them if necessary.

After all suggestions have been considered, a final paragraph length description of

our ideal classroom is adopted, signed by the teacher and all students, and posted on

the wall. Draft versions from small group work are kept in a binder for reference if

changes to the description are suggested later in the year.

Next, students journal about (1) Things they can personally do to make our vision possible and (2)

things they, personally, might be likely to do that would stand in the way of our vision.

Students share their reflections in small groups and then report them to the entire class.

Supportive and non-supportive actions are listed on the board. Small groups then work to

create, from the list on the board, five or fewer classroom agreements or rules that

encapsulate all ideas listed. These lists are presented and turned in. The teacher then uses

them to create one representative list of classroom agreements/rules.

As was done with the paragraph-length description of our classroom, the synthesized list of

classroom agreements is handed out, annotated, suggestions for revision are offered, the list

of agreements or rules is adopted, and it is signed by the teacher and all students. It is then

hung on the wall underneath the description of our ideal class.

Next, students reflect on the following: Which class agreements/rules might I have had trouble

honoring in years past? This year, which agreements may still be difficult for me to honor and

why?

Next, theories on the relationship between needs, choices, and behavior are introduced and

discussed. The class explores theories posed by Maslow, Glasser, Kagen, Gossen, etc. Through

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readings, discussion, and reflection, students come to understand that “misbehavior” is simply an

inappropriate strategy employed for the purpose of meeting a legitimate need (Kagen, as described

by Charles, 2011). We begin to discuss the possibility that other options for meeting those same

needs are likely to exist.

The teacher explains the following: All of us, including me, will fail to live up to our classroom

agreements from time to time throughout the year. When this happens, we’ll reflect in writing on

our actions, the basic needs they were designed to meet, and alternative choices we could have

made in order to meet those needs. We will create a written plan that helps us make a better choice

next time that same need arises (Coloroso, 1989). Part of your job is to help me know when I am

not honoring our classroom agreements; part of my job is to help you know when you are not

honoring them.

The teacher then explains the following: Up to this point, we have freely created our classroom

vision and agreements, but there is one requirement that we are mandated by state law to meet.

Our state constitution guarantees each of you the right to a quality education (Seganti, as described

by Charles, 2011). We are all responsible for upholding this right, and I am contractually and

legally obligated to ensure that nobody ever takes that right away from any of you. Our classroom

agreements do a great job of defining what a quality education is, but now we have to figure out

what to do if someone consistently chooses not to honor them – if someone consistently threatens

your right to a quality education or one of your classmate’s right to a quality education.

Students journal about the following: Imagine that you have chosen not to honor one or more of

our classroom agreements, and that reflecting on your choices and writing a plan has not helped

you get back on track. In that case, what could the teacher do to (1) help you get back on track and

(2) protect the rights of your classmates? In other words, what steps or consequences should

follow from consistent failure to honor our agreements? What steps should the teacher take to

improve your situation? What things might the teacher do that would make your situation worse?

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Group and whole class work proceeds as usual to develop a list of steps/consequences designed to

get individuals back on track when they stray from classroom agreements. During this process, the

teacher strongly encourages students to design steps that meet the following standards: (1)

steps/consequences serve to preserve and protect classmates’ right to learn (2) when possible, the

steps/consequences allow the individual to choose between several different courses of action

(Marshal, as described by Charles, 2011), and (3) they aim at helping the individual get back to

honoring our agreements – their goal is reformation and empowerment, not punishment.

Classroom consequences for failure to honor our agreements are adopted and signed

by the teacher and students. They are posted on the wall below our classroom

description and our classroom agreements. By creating a visual hierarchy that

includes a description of our ideal classroom, the agreements that make this vision

possible, and the consequences for failing to honor these agreements, students are

clearly able to see and understand the connection between consequences, rules, and a

meaningful, enjoyable life.

Throughout the Course of the Year: Maintaining and Improving Our Learning Environment

Any social contract, whether it is applicable at the international, national, state, or classroom

level, must be adaptable and responsive to the changing values, beliefs, and needs of the community it

serves. As such, throughout the year our class will continue to reflect on, discuss, and revise when

necessary, our social contract:

On a weekly or semi-weekly basis, students will journal about and share responses to the

following questions: How is this class working for you? Is it meeting your needs? What, in

particular, is working well? What is frustrating or ineffective? What could you do to improve

things? What could your teacher do? What could your classmates do?

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Weekly or bi-weekly small-group and whole-class meetings will take place to discuss student

celebrations and concerns. During these meetings, changes to our social contract can be

proposed, and if necessary, the process for adopting changes can be initiated.

While the amount of time spent on casual, unstructured conversation will decline after unit one,

it will continue to represent an important part of our class throughout the year.

In addition to assigned journal topics, students are consistently encouraged to journal about

issues not directly related to the classroom. The teacher makes it clear that he is available after

school, or at lunch on certain days, to discuss and help students with anything they may need.

Concluding thoughts

This model of classroom management, if carried out as described above, would almost

certainly result in an environment that is highly conducive to learning, one that would allow students to

acquire the prerequisite skills and meet the societal requirements that serve as prerequisites for free

choice. The model also encourages students to consistently make themselves aware of choices that are

available to them – it creates an environment where choice, and not coercion, determines action. Finally,

this model supports students in developing the intellectual and social skills necessary to make free

choices, and it provides them with ample opportunity to experience self determination through active

decision making. If employed correctly, this classroom management model directly supports development

of the three qualities most essential for free choice, and thus liberty.

Despite its strengths, the success of this classroom management model can be jeopardized in

two ways. Firstly, the model takes a great deal of time to create and apply. Given our ever increasing list

of curriculum requirements and state standards, teachers may find it difficult to trust the process because

they may perceive it as a model that effectively shortens the “academic” year by a month or more. If seen

in these terms, this classroom management model will either be dismissed offhand or hurried through to

such an extent that its meaningfulness and effectiveness are lost.

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I offer two responses to this concern. Firstly, time spent building community and generating

a social contract, if used correctly, will be more than made up for by students’ increased efficiency,

intrinsic motivation, and engagement in the learning process over the course of the year. Certainly,

teachers who adopt this approach will find they have covered less material than their colleagues during

the first half or two-thirds of the school year because their colleagues will have had a head start – they

will have introduced Shakespear, or the French revolution, or multiplication of fractions during the first

week, while teachers using this management approach were still playing games and having casual

conversations with their students. But their head start will not hold: empowered, engaged, and self-

motivated students learn faster and deeper than their peers, which means that by April or May, classrooms

using this management approach will likely catch up to and surpass the progress of classes which employ

a more traditional approach to classroom management.

Secondly, while the first month or more of this classroom management approach may seem

“academic light” on the surface, it actually requires students to engage in a great deal of high-level

writing and discourse. It certainly requires a great deal more writing, analysis, and revision than average

high school classes, and it could be viewed in some ways as an intensive writing, analysis, and debate

program. In addition to increased buy-in, empowerment, and intrinsic motivation, student progress

throughout the remainder of the year will also benefit from the intense writing, revision, and collaborative

work they engaged in during the first two units.

The second threat to the success of this classroom management model comes from a lack of

student engagement. It is crucial that teachers using this approach help students understand and appreciate

the value and importance of creating their own social contract. In fact, students must begin to come to this

understanding before they are asked to take on the project – they must be “hooked” before work begins.

Teachers, in other words, must sell this idea to students from the very beginning.

There is one significant hurdle that will likely make this a somewhat difficult sale to make:

By the time students reach high school, several teachers from past classes will have already told them that

they would be responsible for coming up with their own classroom rules. More likely than not, though,

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these teachers then proceeded to coerce students into creating a list of agreements the teacher had already

decided on – students were led to believe they possessed power and choice when they in fact had neither.

It is very important, then, to build a great deal of trust during unit one, trust that can be drawn on when

convincing students that, this time, they will authentically have the opportunity to assume ownership of

their classroom. If teachers can convince their students that building community is crucial to their

education and enjoyment, and if teachers commit to and trust the community building process, the above

classroom management plan will serve to increase student learning and support the ultimate goal of

education: liberty.

References

Charles, C.M. (2011). Building classroom discipline.

Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Coloroso, B. (Writer). (1989).

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Winning at parenting without beating your kids [VHS].

Ellis, A.K. (2001). Teaching, learning, & assessment together: the reflective classroom. Larchmont, NY:

Eye on Education.

Maslow, A.H. (1943). A theory of human motivation.

Psychological Review, (50), 370-396.

Tolstoy, L. (1875). On popular education.