I believe that mutual respect is at the centre of classroom behaviour and management strategies. It is important for the students to see the subject matter as interesting and relevant to them, as this will, I suspect, help prevent many classroom problems that stem from boredom. A sense of humour is an important part of the classroom and I believe that it goes a long way towards a teacher appearing human to the students. Whilst it is very important for a teacher to be reasonable and approachable it is equally important for that teacher to set clear finite expectations and boundaries. It is necessary for rules to be known and agreed upon from the start, the same applies to whatever punishments are metered out. They should be known and fitting to the ‘crime’ they are for, as well as immediate whenever possible. By setting such firm rules from the start I believe that it will be possible to quell those behaviours that are unacceptable before they are established, it also allows those rules to be relaxed later when mutual expectations and respect are firmly in place. Through setting a positive example of what is acceptable I believe that the students will live up to that example. The school discipline and behaviour policies should be linked to ‘own your own behaviour’ ideas when implemented in the classroom for maximum impact. Finally it is important to remember that everyone is an individual and they need to be treated as such, what works for one will not necessarily work for a whole class.
mike horsley | (144.132.157.235) | Wednesday, 26 June 2002 5:50:24 PM
really enjoyed your philos Alison, a really strong statement about respect fairness and knowing where we are all coming from, sadly trouble sometimes comes even if we did our best to prevent it - your statement is very passionate about the individual nature of this part of teachers work!