Last September, I began my first unit at the Sunrise Elementary School with activities that helped me and my 7th graders get to know one another better. The unit ended four weeks later with the signing of a class constitution that featured rules of conduct for both teacher and students.In the process, children gained practice in creating the kind of culture in which they wished to live.
In one of the lessons I designed, each student selected character traits that he or she wanted to be known for—considerate, patient, loving, peaceful, hard-working, and so on. Together, we decided on certain consequences if we did not live up to our self-defined ideals. This exercise, together with the drafting of the constitution, resulted in two of the most effective management tools I have ever used in the classroom. Because a major function of public education is to preserve the democratic culture that we enjoy, our schools should provide students with practice in all the skills needed for full participation in a democratic society. At the same time, however, schools should address values and human relationships: Democracy is not only about skills; it's also—and perhaps to an even greater extent—about such values as civic spirit, compassion, and justice. Programs and initiatives to improve our schools come and go with monotonous regularity, but very few enhance the relationships in the school community over the long term. In my efforts to establish a positive, democratic classroom, I was guided by sociologist John McKnight's (1994) definitions of community and culture. He sees culture as "a set of learnings about how we as a people can persevere or survive in this place." In contrast, he says, modern institutions are not about that question. They are new machines redefining us not as people in a place, but as individuals in a system.
Community, says McKnight, is the social space in which citizens in association do the work of problem-solving, celebration, consolation, and creation.... The best community—it will be imperfect—is one in which ... each of us finds relationships where our gifts are recognized and magnified.
Inviting my students to participate in the creation of such a living, breathing community and culture has powerfully influenced their learning. It also helps me meet my greatest challenge each September: securing what I call my students' attentive trust. As teachers, we can do this in two ways: first, by treating our students in ways that earn their respect, and second, by teaching them things that they recognize as useful and relevant.
Crafting a Constitution
Writing a class constitution is relatively easy; what is more difficult is preparing the students for the solemn privileges of self-government (Brodhagen 1995). This requires lessons in critical thinking, self-evaluation, community interdependence, and goal setting. (As world events demonstrate, many problems can arise when a democratic system is instituted before its members have practiced or celebrated the skills and values of the democratic way of life.)
As Eisner (1994) wisely notes, ingenuity and playfulness are important tools to help us shape the world in which we live. So I began this first unit of the year by asking my students to imagine a perfect society that would accommodate and nurture their dreams. In order to do this, the children first had to identify their own talents, skills, hopes, dreams, and ambitions.
Through a series of guided interviews with different adults and one another, I helped them think about their talents and learning styles (Gardner 1991). They wrote autobiographies that went far beyond mere vital statistics, being rich inventories of each child's unique gifts and perspectives.
My students worked in groups of four to design a society that accommodated each member's needs and wishes. Each group subsequently made a class presentation, and the proposals were discussed in a parliamentary fashion with the students facing one another across the room. Not only did each group put forward many interesting solutions to some of the problems we face as a society (for example, the minimum wage, taxation, and the tension between the need for environmental protection and our high standard of living), but the ensuing discussions evoked a level of passionate debate and earnest questioning that was gratifying. The atmosphere in the room was electric, and for several days the children continued their discussions out on the playground. The next step was to ask my students to consider the role of schooling in the fulfillment of their dreams. They discussed among themselves the question "What is the function of school?" which quickly expanded to include "What is the purpose of education?" To gain more information and insight, they interviewed their parents. Following the discussions the next day, each student composed a belief statement about the function of school. Students had time to confer with their peers and make changes in their statements before I asked them to complete the following: Because the function of school is to ____________, five things I can do to make sure the school functions properly are ____________.
The children responded to this lesson in a thoughtful, positive way, suggesting school functions such as "to get a good job," "to prepare us for being adults," and "to help us understand things better." They thus reinforced my belief that all students honestly wish to do well in school once they recognize the importance of education in the real world.
Playing by the Rules
In the next series of lessons, each of us, myself included, wrote down five rules for students and five for teachers that would help create the kind of school needed to achieve each of our goals. The students then worked together in groups of four, first sorting their lists so that they could discuss them and narrow them down to 10 workable rules. I prepared my own suggestions as a group of one.
Next, each group posted its rules on separate cards. As a class, we eliminated any duplicates and together divided the remaining rules into five categories. Based on this information, I proposed the final lists of rules, which we discussed, revised, and voted upon. Finally, based on these collectively written rules, I drafted a constitution. I presented it to the class for discussion and, again, after making revisions, the class voted upon it and accepted it. I wrote out the document on a large piece of poster board, had all the students sign it, and signed it myself. I then posted it in a prominent location in the classroom. The preamble read:
Given that the function of school is to prepare students for life outside of school as members of a healthy, prosperous community and as fulfilled individuals, in order to ensure that we extract maximum benefit from our time in school, we have decided to govern ourselves according to the following rules.
- [[[[[ **** LIST ITEM IGNORED **** ]]]]]
- Keep your work and your work areas tidy.
- Teachers should teach new, useful things, allowing the students to have fun sometimes, and the students should let one another work and play without distractions.
- Teachers should give clear instructions and enough time to do the work, and students should follow the instructions when they are given.
- a verbal reminder of what the rules stated,
- a written reminder,
- a class meeting to discuss the situation, and, if all these failed,
- a meeting with parents or the principal. (The purpose of this meeting was to help the student write a plan for more successfully contributing to the creation of the kind of school he or she wants.)
All too often, problems arise in our schools when students feel they have no legitimate forum or process for their concerns and complaints. Also, by making the teacher an equal before the law, our constitution fostered mutual respect. More than ever before, I sensed that the students and I were working as a team.
Because the constitution served as an impartial referee in disputes, minor problems between students rarely if ever escalated into full-blown conflicts. To ensure that we had the skills and knowledge needed to confront one another in a respectful, yet assertive way, we completed several related lessons. Student productivity flourished under these peaceful, cooperative learning conditions.
I'm Someone Who Is ...
I adapted the character trait strategy, described earlier, from an activity in Steven Covey's book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1989). I presented a list and had my students pick three words that they hoped people would use to describe (see fig. 1). We followed with discussions, role-plays, surveys, and other activities designed to better understand the meaning of these words and their applicability to our lives. Each of us then created a small poster displaying these three words (mine were patient, respectful, and helpful). We affixed these posters to the tops of our desks beneath sheets of clear adhesive plastic. Whenever students were engaged in inappropriate behaviors, particularly those which, if unaddressed, would degrade the spirit of community we were endeavoring to build, I simply asked them to explain how their actions were helping them become the kind of people they had described. On more than one occasion, students asked me if the way I reacted to a certain child or situation was consistent with the three qualities that I had posted on my desk.
Figure 1. I'm Someone Who Is . . .
In British Columbia / Preamble to a More Perfect Classroom - table
| altruistic | affectionate | careful | compassionate |
| considerate | affectionate | courteous | dependable |
| determined | dedicated | diligent | empathetic |
| enthusiastic | faithful | fair | forgiving |
| friendly | generous | a good sport | hardworking |
| helpful | honest | honorable | inspiring |
| kind | loving | loyal | merciful |
| noble | peaceful | peace-making | problem-solving |
| patient | respectful | responsible | resourceful |
| supportive | self-controlled | sympathetic | teachable |
| a team player | thoughtful | tolerant | trustworthy |
Watering the Grassroots
Although these two strategies helped to create a positive classroom culture, we must keep in mind that even the best strategy, poorly applied, can inoculate students against the very values we are trying to instill. It is the attitudes behind our programs and plans that will affect our students most powerfully; how we treat them will endure much longer than what we teach. No program or method can make up for a lack of empathy, trust, and mutual respect among members of the school community.
As institutions, schools can be places in which our relationships become so compartmentalized and streamlined in the name of efficiency that we lose sight of one another as people. This is particularly unfortunate given the decay of our young people's motivation and spirit—the greatest threat to the prosperity and security of our communities today. Children learn the most durable lessons by imitating the people with whom they have formed strong emotional bonds—parents, grandparents, siblings, and, sometimes, teachers. And, like all of us, children learn far more from what they live than from what they are told. The mandated curriculum shapes their minds, but it is their cultural experiences in the classroom, working through friendship, self-esteem, motivation, and team spirit—in short, their relationships—that will have the greatest influence on the way they conduct themselves as citizens.
