Essentially, classroom management is a social agreement entered into by the students, teachers, and families of the learning community. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all plan, but there certainly are particular approaches that can help learning communities move toward creating a holistic, culturally-relevant management plan that works in their context. The first aspect to consider is a practice of critical reflection, both as an individual, and as a group of engaged collaborators:
Aspect 1: Critical Reflection
- Collectively define:
- Discipline
- Management
- Inclusive teaching practice
- Behavior support
- Examine personal biases and assumptions that are the normal inclination of all people. Once we are aware of our own, we can learn how to work around them.
- Examine the roles of teachers in a historically and inherently inequitable schooling system
- In your classroom, consider:
- Reparations instead of punishments
- Preventative instead of reactive approaches
- Collaborative instead of Us against Them
- Strength-based instead of Diagnostic/Pathologizing language