investigaciones

humourous approach and entertained the class with their
creative rule about the stapler and hole punch: “If you are
unable to restrain yourself from playing with the stapler or
the hole punch, you will be assigned a buddy to do all your
stapling and hole punching for you. You will not be
allowed to handle the stapler or the hole punch unless your
buddy is present to monitor your behaviour.” While the
class tittered in amusement, I took a deep breath hoping
this was one rule I would not have to address. Five months
later, I am happy to say that I have not had one glue, P.A.
button, stapler, or hole punch incident in this class!
One area of weakness the students had when it came to
establishing rules was the idea of rewards. Their difficultly
with the concept of rewards surprised me. I was worried
that I would have to deal with a list of unreal expectations
that I knew I would never be able to meet; instead, I was
faced with no expectation of rewards at all. Their lack of
expectation has left me questioning the concept of
behaviour management in schools. I have always viewed
classroom management as a system where I encourage the
behaviours I desire and deal with the behaviours I find
disruptive. For me, that system has two sides. For the
students, that system appears to have only one side—
punishment. In retrospect, when I look back at how I
initiated the activity, I cannot help but understand why
they did not readily embrace the idea of reward. I
emphasized developing rules and consequences, not the
idea of rules, rewards, and consequences!
When I think about my concerns in the running of my
classes, rewards are not at the top of my list, but rules and
consequences are. I need to think about rules and
consequences because I want my classes to be manageable.
I need order to be able to do my job. The students, on the
other hand, are oblivious to my priority for order until I
announce, “We are going to do an activity where you get to
set the rules and consequences for this class.” Oh, how
magnanimous I am in my generosity—I am letting them
set the standard by which they will abide for the next five
months. They know I want rules; and they know that if
they are setting the rules, they are going to have to live
with whatever it is they dream up. It is no wonder they
think “will be dealt with at the teacher’s discretion” is an
easy solution. At least with this consequence, they cannot
be blamed if anyone is unhappy with the results. Now that
I look at the situation from their point of view, I can see
When I think
about my concerns
in the running of
my classes,
rewards are not at
the top of my list,
but rules and
consequences are.
12
Teacher Research in the Backyard