Respect in the Classroom

August 26, 2008

Recently I was conducting my three-hour “Building Good Citizens for Texas” Teachers & Staff Development class in a small school district in east Texas. Usually I begin by asking the staff to discuss why Character Education is needed in schools today. Over the past several years I have received substantially the same few answers – “kids are not being taught values (some say basic courtesy,) any more”, “ kids are meaner to each other today”, “parents are not involved in the child’s life”, and other responses along those lines.

In this most recent experience, however, when I asked that basic question, “What particular value do you see is most needed in your students?”, three people, almost in unison, responded, “Respect”. What a clear indication of what needed to be done in this district!

Many positive strategies are in place in those schools, teachers were generally positive, and quite involved in our activities that day, but it was apparent that they were not reaching the students in the matter of respect.

I am reminded of the Hal Urban article I recently discussed in this forum. A comment from Dr. Urban was highlighted in that column – “What we accept, we teach!” As we continued to discuss causes for the lack of respect in this east Texas district, it became apparent that students were just not being required to strive for the high standards teachers were expecting of them.

Perhaps we are guilty of a similar “blindness” with some of our students. We all acknowledge that at least some of our students come from pretty tough home situations. It can be easy to excuse a child for a disruption if we know they are struggling even to get to school, let alone be attentive, obedient, and positive about the school experience.

But the “real world” for which we are supposed to be training these children really pays little or no attention to your “tough situation at home”.

High expectations are a critical piece of encouraging respect with our students. Harry Wong, the very successful teacher, author and presenter on Classroom Management, quoted a six-year old student who told him, “My teacher thought I was smarter than I was, so I was! How is that for expectations met? Can’t we correlate high expectations by the teacher to higher academic achievement? Worth a try, don’t you think?

Character education is all about having high and consistent expectations that our students will do what is right. We have a serious obligation to help each and every student to, first of all, aHhH know what the right choice is, and then make that right choice a habit. We must expect that all students, as well as the property within our responsibility, are treated with respect. That expectation of respect must become a habit. And a critical piece of forming that habit in the students is our modeling of respect by treating each one of our students with respect. Yes, even when correcting or imposing consequences, we must do so with respect.

School has begun for most of you. How about making RESPECT the theme for your room and for your campus? It WILL make a difference.

HAVE A HAPPY AND SUCCESSFUL YEAR!

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