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Module Three |
Reading Three: Structure |
Praxis Two
The following activities are suggested for implementation by those who have
access to a classroom or who are initiating democratic practice in the classroom.
Consequences
Once the rules are considered and established for the classroom, the teacher
attends to the sanctions. All of us are motivated by outcomes, by rewards as
well as a wish not be be punished or negatively impacted by actions. Youngsters
often have difficulty seeing around situations to visualize the likely outcome
of actions, misdeeds, failure to complete a job. Some of this is due to cognitive
development, some is a lack of life experience. [Children who have Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome, or who were "crack" babies are especially delayed in this
area and may not be able to learn cause-effect]. Rules without consequences
have little value. This insight was well described by a teacher in a staff development
meeting:
The other day there were cars flying by going 75 and 80 miles per hour on the expressway. The drivers seemed intent on driving and oblivious to the signs posting 55 as the speed limit. Suddenly, the highway was congested and I found myself needing to move into the fast lane due to all the cars slowing around me. As I set my blinker to make the lane change, I saw a Highway Patrol car moving up in the lane. It was clear what had slowed traffic. Having gotten a ticket for speeding earlier that year, I was obeying the speeding law. Others around me had been less concerned.
I thought about what would be happening if officers just gave a nod to those who broke the law, or a stern look, maybe stopping them and yelling for a few minutes. At that moment I began to realize the importance of consequences being established for every law and those consequences being well understood and consistently carried out.
If it is illegal to park, but there is no sanction, then the rule is pointless. If congress passes a law mandating education to children four years old, but includes no sanction - neither money to fund the program nor penalties for failing to begin the program, then few children will ever see a classroom. I determined at that moment to try to carry that principle of rules and consequences into my classroom and share it with my students.
It is important for the teacher to assist students as they reason through the possible consequences of actions. There are a number of factors that contribute to the slow development of students recognizing or cognitively thinking about the results of actions. Even those patterns which have become second nature are often unreasoned. Many things we feel anxious about are left over responses or consequences of actions which affected us deeply, but thoughts which we did not consciously produce.
In the earliest form of moral reasoning (pre-moral) it is getting caught which constitutes doing the wrong thing. The action itself has little meaning if it does not cause adult disapproval. Helping youngsters to recognize and understand the importance of actions, of seeing options, recognizing potential outcomes is a long process. Assisting the student to move from "how does this impact me", to "who will be affected by this act" is a long term goal, something that will take patience, insight, and many years of experience. Actively seeing options and making informed choices is a life long goal. It is also a vital part of having and maintaining good mental health and developing meaningful long term relationships with friends and family.
Since it is difficult for students to see the ramifications or to attribute moral meaning to most deeds, it is important for the teacher to point out consequences, both good and bad and verbalize about them. The consequences need to be logical or natural. It is important to show the connection between an action or rule and the consequence that follows. Even with those consequences which are established, it is helpful for the teacher to provide cues and prompts about the impending consequences of acts. When a consequence naturally occurs or is a logical extension of behaviors, it does no harm for the teacher to be sympathetic about the predicament of the student. Certainly demeanor which projects "I told you so" or "You asked for it" detracts from the opportunity the student has of learning to cope with choices and outcomes. It also produces the feeling of punishment.
It is important to deliberate about the role of teacher, as an executive in a democratic setting. Experience has often cast the teacher as the enforcer and cast a sense of rule by hickory stick - enemy of childhood. In the democratic setting, the role of teacher as guardian seems much more apt and more reasonable. There is a legitimacy in the construct that is both natural and comforting. It is a role we can respect and appreciate for ourselves, something we can feel is a worthy and hono rable model for students, a position well suited to passing on the torch of knowledge, keeper of the keys of freedom.