lassroom Rules: Should we have Students create it? To what extent?

 

Classroom Rules: Should we have Students create it? To what extent?

Author: Santosh Kumar Biswa, Sr. Teacher, Damphu CS, Tsirang, Bhutan

 

An excellent teacher always aims to transform his students not only academically, but also to bring wholesome development in creating better people in the society in which they are going to lead their lives (Nguyen, 2019). I believe that the transformation of students takes place right from their classroom based on the way they learn, behave, and learn to accept the challenges that they confront. Their betterment begins based on the type of classroom rules they adopt. McEwan (1997) opens the eyes of all teachers through his, “The World of Classroom Management” in which he directs all about how rules should be set in the classroom. According to him, teachers need to teach his/her students to be responsible for their own actions and the rules are to be designed based on the observation made on their behaviors. He further added that they are to be followed by the students all the time and the teacher is responsible for enforcing the rules through proper monitoring. It is understood that it should be the teacher’s role to create the classrooms, not the students themselves.

On the contrary, some may oppose by saying that students behave well if they make their own classroom rules because it provides them feel ownership Linsin (2021). I totally oppose both views because classroom rules function well if the teacher helps create the rules for the class in which both the students and the teacher are involved through negotiations and discussions for better enforcement based on the observation that the teacher had made. The teacher during the negotiation can be observant and decide based on what he has in his mind because he would be facilitating the conversation (Hsu, 2018). Such a way of designing the classroom enables the class to have transparency in the classroom management system (Waite, 2020). The student-teacher relationship plays a vital role in the success of the class and if the teacher and students create the rules jointly it builds trust between them (Resevear, 2009).

If students are given freedom in the classroom to set their rules themselves, it brings lots of disadvantages to the class than advantages. Although Linsin (2021) stated that allowing students to make their own rules would promote a welcoming atmosphere in the classroom, he contradicted this by saying that students will most likely blame or complain to the teachers for making them accountable and they may refuse than accepting their wrongdoing Linsin (2021). I take my stand that it would create a disorganized classroom later whereby the teacher would lose control over the class. On the other hand, students may design the rules that best fit their behaviors so that they can enjoy the freedom of their choice.

If teachers should involve students in the process of making the classroom, although they are freely involved in the decision-making process, the teacher has to reserve the right to make the final decision, whether or not to enforce it, and should reserve his rights even to deny is necessary (Hsu, 2018). A teacher should set some limitations before starting with the designing of the classroom rules so that they won’t cross the limit to best fit their needs. I, as a teacher, also involve my students in designing classroom rules, but I inform them in advance about the norms that they should be following so that we don’t deviate from the goals that we have for their improvement and humanization. Thus, a good classroom would always better the flow of the lesson and boost the achievement level, not only academically, but also from other prospects.  

 

Reference

Hsu, S. (2018). Making Rules alongside Students. Retrieved September 17, 2021 from https://inside.ewu.edu/managementtoolbox/making-rules-alongside-students/

McEwan, B. (1997). Contradiction, paradox, and irony: The world of classroom management. In R.E. Butchart & B. McEwan (eds) Classroom discipline in American schools (chapter 5), 66-75. Retrieved September 17, 2021 from https://www.alfiekohn.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/landau.pdf

Linsin, M. (2021).Smart classroom management: why you shouldn’t let your students decide the class rules. Retrieved September 17, 2021 from https://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2014/08/02/

Nguyen, T. L. (2019). GOOD TO GREAT “TEACHER”: Why and How We Should Build-up from Effective Instructional Techniques to Positive Classroom Rules. Retrieved September 17, 2021 from https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/good-to-great-teacher-why-and-how-we-should-build-up-from-effective-instructional-techniques-to-71acbf0d49d8

Rosevear, J.E. (2009). First month: Classroom rules that work. Instructor, 119 (1), 57.

Waite, A. (2020). Classroom Rules. Retrieved September 17, 2021 from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/classroom-rules-alane-adriano