PHILOSOPHY:
The type of classroom I plan to teach in the future is one that includes positive relationships, an equal community, and a space for compassion. Classroom management is crucial to have for a variety of reasons. A positive learning environment, prevention of misbehavior, and clear expectations are some of the many reasons I find most important. With making relationships, community, and compassion my top three priorities in my future classroom I believe I will have success in my classroom management. When classroom management is achieved, I will be able to teach in an efficient way in which students will receive the most enriching education possible.
Relationships are one of the most important things I will make sure exist in a strong and positive light in my future classroom. The relationships between teachers and their students directly relate to management in a classroom and academic achievement. Author H. Richard Milner IV supports this idea with research as, ““Teacher-student relationships were outlined in the research literature as one of the most essential elements of classroom cultures that promote student learning,” (18) and “teacher-student disconnections have been cited as a major reason for many conflicts that surface in the classroom,” (18). Evidently, relationship building plays a large role in managing a classroom effectively. In order to create these relationships I plan on incorporating the principled practice of social and emotional learning (SEL) skills is something that will help my students and I achieve these. SEL skills aid to a variety of important practices students should learn and use inside and outside of school. For example, learning SEL skills teach students self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. In specific to relationship skills, author Roger Weissberg believes these are vital for students to be taught as they, “help students establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships, and to act in accordance with social norms. These skills involve communicating clearly, listening actively, cooperating, resisting inappropriate social pressure, negotiating conflict constructively, and seeking help when it is needed,” (Weissberg 2016). With that being said, teaching students SEL skills, with a focus on the skill of relationship building, will help me manage my future classroom in a positive and effective manner.
A community that is equal is another aspect that will make my future classroom managed properly. In order to create a fair environment, I plan to utilize effective disciplinary practices. Restorative practices, instead of punitive practices, is a principled practice I will make use of. Developing a community to manage conflict and tensions by repairing harm and restoring relationships are some of the many things restorative practices do to create fair disciplines. The program of restorative practices focuses on accountability, community safety, and competency development in order to reduce racial and ethnic disparities and reverse the negative academic effects of zero tolerance school discipline policies. On the other hand, punitive school discipline systems have the opposite effect. According to author H. Richard Milner IV, ““They discourage offending students from wanting to be members of the school community in good standing. Exclusion from the classroom disrupts academic progress, fuels negative attitudes about the school on the part of the student, and promotes a feeling of alienation between the offending student and the school community,” (Milner 42). Therefore, punitive practices do not resolve classroom management issues and create long term harm to both classrooms and its students. Since restorative practices result in fair expectations and disciplines for misbehavior, this is a concept that will help me create a classroom community that is managed equally.
Compassion is another concept I want to make apparent in my classroom between teachers and students. The use of affective statements and questions are principled practices I will use to manage my classroom when situations arise. Affective statements involve expressing your feelings in an authentic way, separating the deed from the doer, setting boundaries, providing feedback, and teaching empathy with both positive or negative responses. Author Bob Costello supported that affective statements help manage a classroom with compassion because they, “help you build a relationship based on students’ new image of you as someone who cares and has feelings, rather than as a distant authority figure,” (Costello, 13). Therefore, the use of affective statements can help myself and students exhibit compassion when addressing issues that need to be managed. Affective questions involve asking open ended questions to help elicit emotion, allowing individuals space to explore issues in a non-threatening way, exploring positive behavior changes, responding to harm and its impacts, and addressing the past, present, and future in relation to the issue. Costello also supported affective questions being used to manage classrooms with compassion because they, “help to elicit what a student is thinking and feeling and therefore many of their responses will be affective statements,” (Costello, 19). Evidently, the use of affective questions can help me and students use compassion and recognition of their feelings to solve problems between classmates. Overall, using effective statements and questions will help create a compassionate atmosphere which will ultimately create a well managed classroom.
My ideas of establishing relationships, community, and compassion in my future classroom will not only help with management, but also with diverse learners. The creation of positive relationships will help diverse learners because they will know that the classroom and people in it are a part of a safe place where they can confide in others and speak their mind about anything. An equal community will support diverse learners in my classroom because they will know no matter what they are treated in ways that are fair and equal to their classmates. The incorporation of compassion in my classroom will help diverse learners because they will know themself and classmates are in a safe space to express their feelings and solve problems in effective ways. Each of these ideas, relationships, community, and compassion all have different aspects to them that will support diverse learners and in general help my classroom be managed positively and effectively.
REFERENCES:
Costello, Bob. The Restorative Practices Handbook for Teachers, Disciplinarians, and Administrators.
International Institute for Restorative Practices, 2009.
Milner, H. Richard. “These Kids Are Out of Control” Why We Must Reimagine
“Classroom Management” for Equity. Corwin, 2019.
Weissberg, Roger. Why Social and Emotional Learning Is Essential for Students. Edutopia, 2016.