Classroom Culture and Control
By Jaimee Taborda
As February draws to an end, I reflect on how the first few weeks of the new semester have gone in my Art Intro classes. I think about the time that my students and I spent working together to build a classroom community and how different this is from the way I used to start each semester.
I believe that students cannot do their best work if they do not feel free to be who they are in the art room. Creating this safe space isn’t something that just happens, but requires intentional work.
In education circles, I have often been told that the key to success is “good classroom management”. In my first several years of teaching, this looked like having clearly defined rules with predetermined consequences. I would introduce my rules and then explain that if you break a rule once, you will get a verbal warning, second offense, a call home, etc. I always found it challenging to actually follow through on my plans, but I thought this is what I needed to do in order to be a good teacher. My students needed to know that I was in charge because I was afraid that they wouldn’t be successful without my control.
Over the past few years, my thinking has shifted thanks in large part to the book, Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School by Carla Shalaby. This book pushed my thinking regarding classroom management. Shalaby encourages educators to consider the WHY behind the behavior of students. She posits that the troublemakers in our classrooms are like the canary in a mine.
"The troublemakers are the caged canaries, children who are more sensitive than their peers to the toxic environment of the classroom that limits their freedom, clips their wings, and mutes their voices."
I began to wonder what would happen in my classroom if I didn’t exert my control. I questioned what causes some students to be more sensitive and to feel voiceless. What parts of my classroom expectations were toxic to these students? What steps could I take to create a space that honors freedom? What does freedom even look like in schools? After reading Shalaby’s book, I was left with more questions than answers.
I knew I needed to make some changes in order to “practice freedom” in my classroom like Shalaby insists is necessary for ALL children to flourish. This transition hasn’t always been easy. I remember speaking with my friend Lizzie Fortin last year as I tried to create a space where students had more ownership in the classroom and I released more control. I shared the struggles I was having and my fear of being seen as not a good teacher. She asked me, “What would happen if other teachers thought I wasn’t doing a good job?” I realized that I was focusing too much on what the adults in my building think about my teaching instead of what was best for the students.
My outlook on handling challenging students shifted towards curiosity versus discipline or punishment. I ask myself:
- Why is this student refusing to do the work?
- Why is this student wearing a hood in class?
- Why is this student always on their phone?
- Which activities tend to cause the most challenging behaviors?
- Which students do I seem to have the most difficulty with? What patterns exist?
These questions have guided my work to cocreate freedom and community within my classroom. My mindset has shifted and I feel more comfortable with sharing responsibility with students and not needing to always be “in control.” Moving beyond pre-prescribed rules, the students and I collaborate to develop our own social contract that functions as a guide to what is expected in our space. My hope is that students in my classroom will feel empowered to be their authentic selves without fear of discrimination or ridicule and that this feeling will permeate their lives beyond the four walls of the classroom.
Resources:
Welcome to Art Intro Presentation
Troublemakers Discussion Guide from Valeria Brown, #ClearTheAir
Checking Yourself for Bias in the Classroom from Teaching Tolerance
- JT