Camden’s Blog

From the beginning, schools were expected to operate as socializing agents for community and to make children into responsible, productive members of society.  The words may change, the methods may change, but for the most part teachers still often cite this as one of the goals of their teaching.  Lipton and Oakes lay out a historical map of the different methods and purpose of discipline, and management but in truth, much of what is practiced today in school is a conglomeration of many theories, ideas and methods.  In my opinion, just as we teach what we know, we discipline/manage what we know unless we make a conscious effort to really transform our classrooms into socially just communities of inquiry.  If the students are authentically engaged, they learn to “manage” themselves with little thought given to it. They are too busy learning about their lives and each other rather wasting time on “bad choices”.  One has simply got to provide respect and understanding in order to inspire it in their students.                          Now that sounds simple but there is very-difficult-to-manage foundation that must be laid first. Lipton and Oakes discuss briefly effective teaching, “with it” teachers, and teachers who make lessons interesting  – these three qualities go a long way to laying this foundation.  These were qualities of teachers I had in my own childhood and I do try to incorporate in my teaching.  It was no surprise to me that the 1970’s were listed as the time these ideas came into play since I was a child of the 70’s.  Moving on to contemporary theories of classroom management, Lipton and Oakes discuss other qualities that are important to laying this foundation – Caring, Respect and Democracy.  And again, these ideas are not new but in an educational setting that is more diverse and unequal than ever, they are more needed than ever and must be present in classroom management for it to be successful.  Without a teacher’s sponsorship and commitment to these additional three qualities in their teaching, the students will have little of these qualities in their behavior and learning.   The power of relationships is crucial for establishing the key component – that of trust.  So if one’s students do not think their teacher cares about them, respects them, or provides room for their voice, they will never trust their teacher enough to allow them in.  A community cannot form or gel from a group of lone wolves or outsiders.  So I am back to the statement – we manage how we know to manage – and Mauro Bautista in this chapter eloquently asks “How would I want an adult at a school setting to treat my own son?”  Yes, I do care for my students as I would care for my sons.  I respect my students as I respect my sons.  And I listen to my students as I listen to my sons.  I celebrate my students for their authentic self as I celebrate my beautiful sons.  It’s amazing how golden that rule really is isn’t it? 

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