I made a frightening step today. I let the students have control over my class. I’m not talking about letting a few of them call on other students or give presentations or work in groups. I sat down, in a circle with them, and explained that I’m not going to control the class anymore.
I’m excellent at getting the students to sit quietly. I challenge the ones who dare to disobey. I ignore students who make comments that are nonsensical. I give the “teacher” look. But after seven years of teaching, I’m tried of making students obey me. My classroom isn’t a correctional facility. I want them to learn because they know on the inside that what we do in my classroom is for each of them, is something they desire and can use.
After reading Alfie Kohn’s Beyond Discipline: from Compliance to Community over the winter break, I decided it was time to try his theory out. He’s a constructivist, and so am I (in theory, not always in practice, regrettably). Why not stop trying to manipulate students with looks, tone of voice, and calculated gestures? Why not try to treat them honestly, with dignity and respect?
So I told my students I had read Kohn’s book. They know a lot about what I read because as a high school ESOL teacher, I want to share my enthusiasm about what I read with them. I brought the book and told them about it. I also told them I wanted them to run the discussion.
I tried it with each of two classes who met for 90 minutes. It’s almost the middle of the year, so I had an idea of what to expect. I guessed the first class would embrace the idea immediately and get to work on how we could communicate effectively by sitting in a circle instead of rows. My first question was if they liked the circle. It only took us a few seconds to establish that they preferred the circle to rows, “You can see everyone this way,” one said. “I can hear people better.” The next issue was how to talk. Some students wanted me to do the disciplining of others who might misbehave. I refused, explaining that I’m not going to continue to mete out punishments and rewards any longer. They then agreed that we would speak without raising our hands until there were too many people who wanted to talk, and then we’d have to call on people by looking for who had their hand raised first. We also figured out what to do if a person has their head on a desk during class. At first some of the students thought it was the problem of the student, but I pointed out that as part of a community—which they agree to try and create—we might worry about that student. We agreed that the student should let us know they’re having a bad day if that’s the posture they want to take.
Finally we got to some of the curricular work. We have been discussing themes. I had an activity where students picked out words which weren’t really themes in a list. They described why some of the words weren’t themes in pairs and then to the larger group. This was the best discussion I think I’ve ever had. Yes, one student tried to test the limits by saying that shoes really are a theme in literature because he wants to take his shoes with him to Heaven, but the other students finally agreed that it was time to move on. I didn’t cut off the conversation; they agreed that they wouldn’t all come to consensus, that it was ok, that it was time to continue. At the end of class I asked the students if they liked the dynamic; they said they loved it.
The next group was a bit more reluctant. Some of the more energetic young men joked during the discussion. One suggested “backhanding” students who talk out of turn. But instead of my having to bring the discussion around again, other students called on the young men and explained that it wasn’t fair of them to joke and not take the situation seriously. At first they were angry about being criticized, and I suggested gentle ways we could agree to offer criticism, and the student most vocal in her criticism rephrased it in a way that pointed out the behavior she didn’t like without accusing the young men of being bad people. There are a few students in that class who have what appear to be extreme emotional issues. One student has told us that he feels “rage” when people pick on him. That young man has seen many atrocities of civil war in Sierra Leone, where he grew up. Another young man mentioned getting hit with a whip at home for misbehaving at school; I can only imagine what kinds of violence he has endured. And there are other students with challenging issues. But, like I told the students today, I have the faith in them to believe that we can all treat each other with dignity and respect in our classroom community.
I have one more group of students to try this with. I’m confident they’re going to like it and will do well. I’m looking forward to hearing the students formulate ideas and really listen to each other. They are learning to negotiate in honest and earnest ways. And, like I’ve said to them, if they learn how to care about each other and negotiate well, that will be the most important part of what I will teach them all year.
Written Thursday, Jan. 4, 2007
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