From the New York Times come this article on student discipline.
"In a far-reaching experiment with disciplinary measures reminiscent of old-style Catholic schools or military academies, the Cheektowaga district this year began essentially grounding middle school students whose grade in any class falls below 65, or who show what educators describe as a lack of effort.
Such students — more than a quarter of the 580 at the school as of last week — are excluded from all aspects of extracurricular life, including athletic contests, academic clubs, dances and plays, unless they demonstrate improvement on weekly progress reports filled out by their teachers."
I was struck by Chris Lehmann's comment over at Practical Theory..."Maybe it works. Maybe if we create a detailed enough system of extrinsic motivators and punishments, we can drag kids kicking and screaming to a scholasticism that is missing in many schools. Maybe we have tipped the scales so far toward overindulging the whims and desires of youth culture, that a little law and order — or a lot of it in the case of Cheektowaga Central Middle School – is what’s in order."
Maybe. As a someone who spent some time in law enforcement and Marine Corps, I am all for, "a little law and order."
Doug Johnson over at Blue Skunk Blog adds this...
Awesome!
But one thing about rules. The more more rules you make, the ways students will figure out ways around them forcing you make even more rules. Here is my post from last summer on this very issue.
“We often rely on rules when they are not, in fact, the most efficient or effective solution to getting the results we desire.” Understanding that flaw, according to Dov Seidman, “is vital to thriving in a world of HOW.”
Have you ever participated in the creation or revision of a school sites rules? Do you ever ask yourself when students are going to finally follow the rules that your school has set up? We all do. Seems like whenever we get a good set of rules, the students just figure a way around them. Then it is back to the drawing board with new revisions or brand new rules.
“Despite the best intentions, people create rules variously and often in reaction to behaviors deemed unacceptable to the larger goals of the group. That is why we often find ourselves revising the rules when new conditions reveal their loopholes.”
In other words, schools have to constantly revise their rules in response to new conditions or behaviors. Most schools today have created rules in response to cell phones, iPods, or “Heelyz” skate shoes. All rules created based in response to new behavior from students.
Students act, we respond. Not very efficient or systematic way of regulating student behavior because it always places teachers and administrators in a defensive position reacting to an ever changing set of student behaviors.
Consider the rule of the Teachers’ Lounge. How many of us have seen a scenario similar to this? “A manager puts up a sign in your company lunchroom that says, ‘Please Clean the Microwave after You Use It’; then another, ‘Do Not Put Your Feet on the Tables’; then a third, ‘Don’t Eat Other People’s Food.’ All these rules, and the myriad more little lunchroom dos and don’ts that your manager madly prints out and posts, attempt to codify a single value; respect. Rather and declare a common value, such as, ‘Respect Our Common Spaces,’ most rules makers spend their time chasing human ingenuity, which races along generally complying with the rules while blithely creating new behaviors that exist outside of them.”
Teachers and administrators are locked in a race to catch up with changes in student behavior. Teachers and administrators create rules based on what former students have done. Current students will do new things that teachers and administrators will seek to regulate. Thus to cycle or defensive reaction continues.
There is a further impact to rules. According to Seidman, “An excess of rules breeds and environment where we are less conscious about what is right. We become dependent on the rule book to govern our behavior.” Should we do this or that becomes is it forbidden or required. We leave behind the common sense of values (right vs. wrong or could vs. should) and replace it with rules that require us or forbid us to act.
Instead of always seeking to control the behavior of our students or our teachers and administrators by writing rules for every behavior possible, we should give them values to live up to. “Constitutions are powerful documents because they are filled with the values and principles of the people they govern.”
“The key to long-term sustained success does not lie in breaking all the rules; it lies in transcending the rules and harnessing the power of values.”
Does your school have a set of values that students and employees are expected to live up to. Or, are you locked in the defensive reaction cycle of continually creating new rules to govern behaviors. Are you seeking to inspire or control?
For some excellent thoughts on this subject I suggest you check out Dov’s post “Breaking the Ruler” over at his blog Howblogazine.com
Educational Paradigms posts Ten Ways to Encourage Good Student Behavior.Suggested Reading:
Practical Theory
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