Should kids form rules?

 

The debate between whether to involve students in creation of classroom rules is on a subtle level the debate between what kind of classroom management model would a teacher want to have? For teachers are a part of the classroom and hence their comfort zone also matters.

 As adults, teachers would not like for all rules to be decided by their superiors to run their lives. They would want to have a say. When we have a say, we feel being attended to and empowered. One can say then that one needs to extend the same courtesy to students, especially grade 5 onwards, who are young adults. Else we have the classic situation of “… the paradox of doing to students what teachers hated having done to themselves…” (Mc Ewan, 1997)

 Involving the students creates a democratic environment in the class and students also feel cared for their outlook to be involved in the final decisions. We can say that when students know they matter, they would take greater ownership of the systems and procedures. “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” (Kratochwill, DeRoos, & Blair, n.d.)

 Involving students in rule creation is a great way of having a space where beautiful relationships can sprout and be nurtured.

On the other hand, we have large classes, large syllabi and lately in schools in India, a huge pressure for having ‘school routine disruptive’ extra-curricular activities. “Every time we decide to involve students in the decision-making or discovery process in the classroom, it takes considerably longer”, (Alber, 2017). Time and energy are not infinite and teachers do get exhausted. If one has opened the doors to democracy in the class, then to sustain it one needs a lot of both. Not everyone or not every time it can be done.

Tired teachers can slip back into an authoritarian mode. “Authoritarian discipline, by its very nature, works in direct opposition, (Alber, 2017). This can defeat the purpose.

 “The truth is, you and your students have distinctly different responsibilities”, (Linsin, 2014) and to confuse them may lead to a situation where students feel that everything is negotiable.

Now, “…the ultimate goal of teaching is not enforcing rules and routines but teaching effectively...”, (Alber, 2017). So, how much should students be involved in setting up rules for the class is something that should be based on how much is the process helping to teach effectively. The extent should be decided by the teacher.

Personally I would lay the space open, keeping a firm hold on the final outcome. I would tell my students that the final decision is mine, not because I control the class, for I am responsible for all of them and accountable too. I would keep the choice of how far to let them participate in the rule making with me. This way they have the understanding that they would be looked at as young adults and included in decisions if they hold the freedom with responsibility.

So how far would a teacher like me go to include them into decision making would depend on the nature of the group that I face. It could vary from group to group with no rule about it. The objective would be clearly ‘what helps in teaching effectively?’

 

References:

1.      Alber, R. (2017). Rules and routines in the classroom. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/rules-routines-school-year-start-classroom-management

2.      Kratochwill,T.R., DeRoos, R., & Blair, S. (n.d.). Classroom management: Teachers modules. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/education/k12/classroom-mgmt.aspx

3.      Linsin, M. (2014, September 20). Why You Shouldn't Let Your Students Decide The Class Rules. Retrieved from https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2014/08/02/why-you-shouldnt-let-your-students-decide-the-class-rules/.

4.      McEwan, B. (1997). Contradiction, Paradox, and Irony: The World of Classroom Management. In R.E. Butchart & B. McEwan (eds) Classroom Discipline in American Schools