Why I Don't Have Classroom Rules (Fall 2021)
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Why I Don’t Have Classroom Rules
When I started teaching, I was incredibly traditional in terms of classroom management and discipline. In those early years, a clear code of conduct was reassuring. For infraction X, there was always consequence Y. It gave me a simple if inflexible rubric through which to discover my position in the class and develop a degree of comfort and ease as captain of the ship. As a new teacher, I was thankful for the clarity and certainty this approach offered—and I am sure other new educators feel the same.
However, while I was clearing my credential, working with mentor teachers to reflect on my practice, and finding out how real students differed from theoretical ones, I also spent long hours after school with the speech and debate team reading philosophy and theory and talking about innovative alternatives for national defense, natural resource allocation, and, of course, education.
That led me to some uncomfortable conclusions. Although I encouraged my students to think critically and challenged myself to develop new methods of instruction, the actual conduct of the class seemed at odds with all that. I wanted my students to do more than just follow rules handed down to them. I wanted them to understand why those rules exist, and be willing to interrogate ones that didn’t seem valuable, meaningful, or useful.
For many students, the ideas of classroom rules feels oppressive and unfair. However, if classroom rules are built on collective classroom values and if the students are included in the rule making process, they will most likely respect and follow them. I usually keep my rules simple for my kindergarten students and give the students time at the beginning of the school year to reflect on the rules and to discuss consequences and rewards.
I love how you involve students in the rule-making process. The process helps students feel connected to the classroom, and it also helps them be accountable for their actions. Since they chose meaningful rules, they are more likely to stay on task as it seems that the teacher is working with them and not against them.
This is such an important reminder Rayan, that when working with students it is important to keep in mind their level of understanding. Hence, why simple rules or expectations for kindergarteners makes so much sense. I also love how you incorporate your students in the rule-making process. This is something I hope to utilize when I become a teacher.
Teachers are the biggest thieves! We have our personal experiences and mentors, as well as videos that tell us what kind of procedures and policies to set in stone for our classroom, in order to run a successful class. But are we implementing these strategies and methods of others because it has been a repeated act amongst teachers, or is it because we know that this works?
GETTING STARTED
So I gradually abolished formal management protocols. Away went the rules about bathroom policies, eating in the classroom, and what defines appropriate behavior in a traditional classroom. Instead, I theorized about the broad, underlying principles that would define the field within which we could have a productive learning community.
To be honest, I was terrified. I was worried that if I started to dismantle my power, the class would devolve into chaos.
But I also knew my students: They were thoughtful and reflective, kind and observant, willing to take intellectual risks when they felt supported and safe.
So we started with first principles—it’s wise to start with a simple framework—identifying core premises from which we could build a classroom community. These depend on the teacher’s values, the school culture, and the needs of the students. In my case, I derived them from ideas of agency and social equity, and let the students extrapolate from there.
I believe building classroom community allows students to feel safe and secure in the classroom which in return will help students focus their energy on learning. I noticed over the many years of teaching Kindergarten that fostering a sense of belonging by simply greeting each student at the door of the classroom plays a significant improvements in academic, engaged time as well as in reductions in disruptive behaviors during morning meeting and throughout the day.
Next, we proceeded to norm that behavior. I simply took the time to comment on how particular contributions, habits, and behaviors were either in concert with or contrary to the core principles, with the idea that students would begin to mirror that level of depth and awareness. I made sure to offer opportunities, usually at the end of class, to reflect not just on what learning took place, but on what community standards were missing, newly established, or reaffirmed. For example, without a school-wide policy about bathroom usage during class, and after I expressed my own disinterest in regulating bodily functions, we started a conversation about how to solve the problem, deriving community standards from it. Students recognized that that if they weren’t in the room, they couldn’t be engaged or prepared, and staying in the bathroom wasn’t really respectful if other students needed to go as well. One student suggested that it was impossible to take intellectual risks if you were in the bathroom all the time.
Often in school, students are told what to do or how to think; therefore, allowing students to take ownership of their environment shows them you value their thoughts. In addition, creating expectations with students is an empowering activity to help build the community and culture of the classroom, allowing them to feel valued. As they contribute to the classroom expectations, they are more likely to follow them. They will also be able to use their critical thinking skills to develop ideas to share with the class. It is beneficial to have student investment to promote a positive and safe learning environment.
I so appreciate the direction this idea takes people. Its not a rule or a expectation it is, instead, a “lifestyle” choice. The phrase community standards inherently implies that it is something created with the full knowledge and consent of all people involved. In fact, it takes it a step further within the text where all people who participate in the standards has agency over what the standards are, what they mean, and how important they are both individually and communally. Through that, students not only feel like they have some sort control over themselves, their bodies, minds, and behaviors as well as the space they inhabit, they feel as if they are an active participant in the community that they are building.
The same approach applies to homework, often considered a non-negotiable in high school classrooms. In my class, it’s a chance to demonstrate student agency and experiment with what we’ve learned in class. If a student fails to do it, the absence is its own punishment—I don’t need to double down with teacher-driven shame. If a student tells me they haven’t done their homework, my response is, “That’s fine, you’re all right, but why not?” From there, I can respond in a more personalized way and unearth how to best help.
I think it lets the student know the teacher cares, but what about responsibility and initiative? Are those still addressed? I understand other circumstances might hinder the ability to complete an assignment, but sometimes students can learn to grow. Just thinking about other ways we can still encourage timeliness, responsibility, time-management, etc. I’m not sure that the absence is punishment enough of it’s own.. or just curious how it could be in every circumstance.
I agree with you that turning in assignments in a timely manner is definitely a good opportunity for students to learn about time-management and responsibility. With that said, interestingly, my daughter’s school actually takes the approach that homework is not mandatory. However, the consequence of not doing the homework will be that the student will not be adequately prepared for what they call Demonstration of Learning (DOL) activities, as the HW prepares students on what to expect on the DOL, whether it’s a presentation, a quiz, etc., and the DOL is graded. I think it’s very interesting that my daughter is actually MORE motivated to complete her homework because she is intrinsically motivated to complete it in order to be ready for the DOL activity.
I don’t think that there ever needs to be teacher shame for not completing work. But I think the negative effects of waiting till the failing grade comes out could be far more devastating then having rules and consequences that push a student into completing work. The problem seems more with the teachers approach and not the rules themselves.
Wow – I’ve never thought about homework as student agency. That’s a huge paradigm shift for my thought process and teaching style.
This is actually a discovery I made during my own academic career. I used to DREAD having to do homework in the 5th grade so I just stopped doing it. Everything was perfectly fine until it was the end of the quarter and I had F’s! This created a shameful feeling of my own, rather than from my teacher, which helped me to take ownership for my own actions. I also learned that it is not fun to have to do a quarter’s worth of homework in a short period of time. These tough times helped me learn “the hard way” and also helped promote learning through homework rather than just trying to get stuff turned in.
I agree with you Alana. I wasn’t always the best student either growing up. I struggled in school. However, I admire the teachers who would reach out to offer their resources and time to help me after school hours. This showed me that they cared and wanted the best for me. I think sometimes we could be quick to punish instead of first taking a second to think about how students might feel. Sometimes talking to them with the intention of helping them with anything they’re struggling with shows the student you want them to succeed and will do anything in your power to do so.
METACOGNITION AND STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
The big insight here is that using this model, every class starts to operate at two levels simultaneously. In the foreground, class proceeds as usual, with the teacher and students engaging in productive work. In the background, there is a kind of running metacognitive discussion that is always evaluating behavior based on these underlying principles. Sometimes, this underlying dynamic breaks through to the surface, and we dedicate valuable class time to equally worthwhile conversations about, for example, the difference between a compliant student and a respectful one, or about how teacher-student relationships ought to be reciprocal.
I have four of our foundational classroom principles posted on the walls:
- Be respectful to yourself because it sets the context for being able to participate in a community; to others because it is hard to be a student and everyone’s struggles merit your respect; and to the teacher because although it is a position of authority, the teacher should also be vulnerable and learning.
- Be engaged, because merely being present in the classroom does not necessarily qualify as participation, and a truly pluralistic community requires all voices.
- Be prepared, because informed conversation requires prepared members, and preparation transcends just the work that is assigned—and is closer to deep thought, sincere skepticism, and a general willingness to interrogate assumptions.
- Be courageous, because learning requires acknowledging that there are things we don’t know, skills we lack, and ways in which we might still be foolish—which is a scary prospect for everyone in the class, teacher included.
Respect consider allow students and educators do their best. It is no doubt that when children are able to treat each other respectfully, they respond to direction and instruction in a positive way. As result, they are more likely to succeed in academics. Therefore, the school need to take on the responsibility of teaching these principles through character education programs, apply intervene when needed and implement programs that foster mutual respect in beginning grades.
I agree with you that having students directly involved in the creation of classroom expectations leaves less room for confusion. When students are a direct part of the process, they comprehend everything better. Students won’t just be listening to you explain the expectations, they will be direct participants, brainstorming, discussing, and refining!
I agree with you and Uyen because when teachers take the time to help students understand their expectations, then students will have a clear idea.
When teaching, teachers need to consider everything around the classroom. Teachers should always be prepared and use their resources.
This is such a unique principle. What I like about it is that it addresses sel. It is okay if we don’t understand everything and we don’t have to pretend that we do. I also like that it mentions the teacher, because the teacher needs to model that as well. For example, if you don’t know the answer then teachers need to admit that. This is a really valuable aspect especially in High School when students get nervous about being wrong, failure, asking questions etc.
I agree, this is an essential classroom principle that more teachers should emphasize in their classrooms. Students are in school to learn, we cannot expect them to know everything. We must help encourage students to ask questions. A teacher of mine always told me “a good student isn’t someone who’s quiet, it’s someone who asks questions.” From that moment on, I grew confidence to ask questions every singe time and in return I felt like I was learning more than ever. This is a principle I would emphasize in my classroom.
What a great point Megan! Teacher vulnerability is just was important as creating a space for students to be vulnerable. When my teachers didn’t know the answers and would say, “What an excellent question. Would it be okay if I could research on it a bit more and get back to you?” When teachers admit that they don’t know everything, but are willing to find an answer, it makes me feel like my teacher genuinely cares.
I’m happy to see I’m not the only one who enjoys this principle as well! An idea that always resonated with me was to celebrate failures and encourage persistence in learning to foster a growth mindset for students. I believe it’s a principle that should be introduced to children even before entering classrooms.
I completely agree with you Megan. I also love this principle. Being courageous was something I lacked. I never really asked questions whenever I was struggling because I didn’t want to sound dumb. But having courageous teachers that are open to acknowledge when they make a mistake is admirable. They shows they are vulnerable. This can help those students who are struggling to speak up because their teacher has set that example and an open and comfortable environment to do so.
Of course, these are only my principles. A case can be made for any number of others, provided they focus on the conditions for learning, rather than on controlling the minutiae of student behavior.
The reason I find this strategy better than rules is because it teaches students to become active participants in the formation of a community. Rules alone tend to condition the students to become dogmatic followers, while broader imperatives guide them to be critical and reflective participants.
The author’s idea of letting principles (versus rules) be his guiding method for classroom behavior resonates with me. I agree with the concept that principles give students the opportunity to think critically about their behavior/actions. For example, when a student considers the class principal of “Be engaged because a community is made up of all voices,” a student has a chance to apply critical thinking to the action of not taking frequent/long trips to the restroom. For instance, a student might respond to the question: “I probably do I not want to constantly be leaving class to go to the bathroom or linger in there because I will miss out on having my voice heard on a particular subject/issue, and I not get to hear an idea my class comes up with and I will miss out.” The student has the opportunity to think critically about his behavior by evaluating whether a particular action adheres or goes against a class principle. Further, when a student has an opportunity to make decisions in this way, intrinsic motivation will play a much bigger role.
The key to creating a genuine community in the classroom is to create guidelines with your community and enforce them when they are not met. In other words, our goal is to teach our students to be aware of the impact their choices may have on the community. The student begins to ponder if the choices they make regarding their learning affect themselves, the teacher, or their classmates—if it does, it is, hopefully, avoided. Our classroom will not be “what I say, goes.” Instead, we will all work together to create a community we are all proud of—one that keeps us respectful, accountable, and engaged in our learning of lessons and each other.
Creating a classroom without rules does require a lot of effort and trust in students. We must learn what students respect, value, and appreciate to create meaningful principles and guidelines for positive behavior. Nobody wants to be told what to do/not to do, and this creates a narrative that students are to be passive and obedient in the classroom. As this idea is consistently reinforced, we can see why students are mentally checked out because they are not viewed as human, but as kids up to no good.
A concession, though: This approach is expensive in terms of time. It requires space and resources and lots of student-teacher conversations. When a student violates the underlying principles or acts in a way that is either self-destructive or hurtful to others, time must be taken to unpack the behavior in a way that respects the community and its principles and doesn’t alienate the individual. That’s a very sophisticated conversation for a high school student to have.
And an admission, too: When I first opted for this method, I didn’t really think it would work. I imagined it as an interesting experiment. But it did work. Not just with my high-performing debate kids or my AP English classes, but with all of them. My students who were burned out and checked out. Those who coasted by with Cs. Freshmen and seniors. Even my English language development students, many of whom have been in the country for less than six months, bought in to the method and grew. They all wanted to feel that their contributions mattered to the community. And if this alternative approach can at least prepare them for a more open, more pluralistic society, then I will take the time and energy it requires from me. That would be a worthy return on investment.
This is an alternate way of running your class, you must be really careful the amount of power we give students. I see this method working more towards older grades as students are more aware of consequences. Students know if they skip out on homework and class work they will end up with a failing grade and may have to retake the school year. If a younger student lets say kindergartener is given the same option they are still in the learning process and consequences and outcomes still don’t make as much sense to them. They will gladly skip out on homework and classwork and not think twice about the consequences and education loss it can bring to them.
I appreciate this teachers’ approach because he decided to freshen things up in a way that gave his students autonomy. He brings excellent points about time being an investment, which in the long run produced a great outcome. While this may not always be the case, we got to devote time to trying new things even if they take time to implement. I know it seems like a daunting task, but what if some good comes out of it?
This is commendable any and all effort put for the good of others comes from honest intent and should be nurtured. This can and does set a good example to others on how good work ethic and an honest attempt to benefit others looks like as well as how rewarding it can be mutually.
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I can understand why the writer found setting no rules better than setting rules; although his strategy was not void of setting foundational premises. Its really not setting rules, but not setting specific rules- the usual 3-5 that we are used to. This strategy forces all members of the community to anlyse their every actions and words to see if they are inline with community standards instead of having a list f “Dos and Don’ts” that they may barely pay attention to unless it warrants some infarction. The metacognition is always present in the background and being respectful, being an active learner and the other premises always before them. It is a brilliant idea if you ask me!
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