Summer Diary #4:
Creating a World
Where Good Discipline Thrives
This morning the Olympic Committee announced that Beijing, China would host
the 2008 Olympics. As I was listening to the radio, the local talk show
hosts berated the committee for choosing Beijing because of China's long
history of oppression against its people. In their opinions, giving China
the bid is akin to the world sanctioning their human rights violations.
China should be punished until they clean up their act.
When hometown boy, Bob Costas, came on the air to be interviewed, he made
the point that many believe awarding the games to China will lead to reform
in that country. Because the world's eyes will be turned toward China, they
will want to appear in the best possible light.
Which approach is the right one? I still have not decided; I am certainly
no student of foreign policy. However, this did get me thinking about the
way we approach inappropriate acts in our society and in our schools.
The right kind of discipline
Over the past two years the debate over discipline has raged at Turner.
During our first year as a magnet school we had a principal who was rather
lax, saying, "Kids will be kids, and they're city kids at that."
As the discipline committee met to address their concerns, punitive measure
after punitive measure was suggested. We initiated an in-house suspension
and pushed for more out of school suspensions. In the end, it did not work.
The school's climate was unpleasant and prison-like.
This past year was better. Our new principal expected us to document our
efforts thoroughly before requesting suspensions. Parents were called more
frequently and pulled in for conferences. Still, there were hallway problems
and an unclear and inconsistent system of discipline. One child might be
suspended for something where another child might not be. Suspensions were
rescinded. Chaos ruled in some rooms.
The cry rang out, "Zero Tolerance!" Some teachers blamed every
problem on the administration while the administration blamed teachers.
And as the blame volleyed back and forth, it never occurred to either party
to stop and think about what was really going on.
A new discipline committee is being formed with the task of designing a
school-wide discipline policy. Many still believe the answer to all of our
problems is to be punitive, that punishment will somehow make students
behave appropriately. A dear friend of mine wants immediate suspensions
with little regard for the child and altering our actions to meet their
varied needs.
If we don't change their behavior, what's the point?
My concern is that those students who have been suspended are usually
suspended time and time again. Suspension has little-no-effect on their
behavior. If suspensions and other punitive measures (exclusion from dances
and other activities) do not change the child's behavior, what is the purpose
of continuing to suspend them? All that is accomplished is the teacher gets
a "break" from the child, and the child misses out on even more
of his or her education. Who are the suspensions really for?
Saying all of that, I do not believe in "rewards" for good behavior.
Students should be expected to exhibit good behavior simply because that
is the way we act at Turner Middle School. Most rewards are little more
than bribery. They can be very effective initially, but as time goes on
the ongoing question from children becomes, "What do I get if...?"
I believe we are sending the wrong message to our children if we ply them
with candy and game days just to get them to do what they are supposed to
be doing in school. With bribes, students never internalize the behaviors
we want them to have. Positive behavior becomes an option rather than a
part of us.
A consistent schoolwide climate
What is the answer? Beyond helping teachers and other staff members develop
good classroom management skills to become proactive rather than reactive,
staffs need to work on developing a positive school climate. If school becomes
a place where there is a lot going on, where people have positive attitudes,
and where there are engaging alternatives to mischief, students will willfully
cast off their own negative attitudes and behaviors because they seem so
out of place in the world the staff creates for them.
When things are really happening in my classroom -- we have a challenging
project or students are highly engaged -- poor behavior does not even exist.
When I am tired, cranky, or have not done my best job in planning, more
problems arise.
We have to figure out how to make Turner Middle School a place where students
want to be. School is more than sitting in classrooms and learning.
It is a community, and like any community you can enjoy being a part of
it or assist in destroying it.
I do not know that our staff is ready to consider this option. Perhaps it
is necessary to let them develop the kind of punitive structure in order
to convince them it is not effective. Maybe they need to see that students
can be forced to follow the letter of the law but not the spirit. Unfortunately,
the spirit of the law is what we are pushing for. If students do not learn
to regulate themselves, what kind of adults will they be?
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