I was talking to a coworker about my classes a few weeks ago and when I mentioned how much reading I was doing he replied, “You actually do the reading?? I did as little reading as possible in school.” My thought was, yes, because I am not paying tuition and book fees just for a certain letter on a piece of paper, I’m paying for the knowledge. As I think back at my peers during my time as a student in all ages, the consensus seemed to be aligned with my coworkers, that the goal was the grades, not the knowledge. I think about halfway through my undergrad, I became less concerned with the grades and even in a few instances sacrificed a better grade for a better learning experience. For example, I took classes that were intimidating to me because I knew that, even if I only squeaked by with barely a passing grade, the knowledge I gained would be worth it. I also started writing my papers less to please the professor and more to better my understanding of the content. Once I started doing these things, my learning experience was greatly heightened and I got much more out of my learning experience. I’m not sure how to translate that to the my students but it’s something I definitely want to communicate with them and something that will influence how I grade because I will be more concerned with engagement and growth than with thinking how I the teacher want them to think.

“But the apparent contradiction dissolves once we recognize the very specific, and rather peculiar, meaning Dreikurs gives to democracy. In a pivotal sentence, he declares: “It is autocratic to force, but democratic to induce compliance” (Dreikurs et al. 1982, p. 67; emphasis added). And later: “Children should be stimulated to want to conform” (pp. 85–86). Given this perspective, it makes sense that discussion sessions would be used strategically by teachers to “induce compliance.” Dreikurs is decidedly not talking about offering students a genuine opportunity to participate in decision making,” (Kohn, pg 64).

This is anything thing I have been chewing on: the idea of a democratic classroom and how often in our society we are told we are participating in a democracy but in actuality we are in more of an autocracy and therefore the meaning of democracy becomes lost. I am reminded of a really good episode in the Scene On Radio podcast series about democracy in the schools and how a democratic classroom can actually teach students how to participate in a real democracy, but how rare but needed this sort of classroom is. Definitely highly recommend giving it a listen. (Seasons 2 and 4 are particularly great if you have the time). https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scene-on-radio/id1036276968?i=1000474466799 My question for you all is; how does grading/learning tie in with ideas of a democratic/autocratic or compliance in the classroom, and in what ways can we build honesty and transparency into our classroom management and structure as teachers? Also is a true democracy even realistic in a classroom, especially for younger students?

It seemed that I successfully extinguished the possibility of continuous conflicts. However, the situation was always the opposite, even worse. The conflicts still existed in a seemingly silent but more severe way. Moreover, not only the students who brought up the conflicts but also other students exposed to such negative, inharmonious classroom environments were affected by unsolved problems and ignorance from their teacher. And if I kept neglecting those conflicts and unwilling to handle them with my students together truly, situations always became hard to control. 

Positively confronting and coping with conflicts is necessary. Besides, the benefits are manifold. As mentioned on page 76 as well, “the bottom line is that ‘teachers should expect and welcome children’s excuses and arguments about rules’ (Edwards 1986, p. 169) because that is how children become thinkers—by making up their minds about whether something makes sense and figuring out how to convince others.” I have never thought about this perspective of cultivating students’ thinking ability by allowing or encouraging them to formulate their ideas to justify their behaviors or opinions. Therefore, everything is just like a coin having two sides, even conflicts. How to appropriately deal with it is a pressing issue. 

The business of exerting control over children is clearly a very exhausting process. It must be maintained nearly constantly, and students are clearly always pushing on boundaries that are being established by coercion or reward. It’s no wonder these teachers always talk about how overwhelmed they are. The control that many of these teachers maintain is clearly a fragile one. And yet I can’t help but notice that the teachers that don’t frequently write referrals about defiance/disrespect also seem to be the teachers that have the most egalitarian classrooms, with students frequently participating in productive whole-class or small-group discussions. I wonder if so much energy being spent on trying to maintain “control” over children is preventing energy being spent on the actual teaching part?

Reflecting on these referral forms I spend so much of my time dealing with at work, I’m really wondering what the point is. More often than not, it seems like it is a way for teachers to complain to Admin about particular students challenging them on this or that expectation. But the Administrators are generally too busy (and inundated with so many such incidents) that they rarely attempt to find out what the actual issue is and merely assign a lunch detention and call it done. It seems to me that this is a horribly inefficient and unjust process. In Chapter 7 of From Discipline to Culturally Responsive Engagement (2013), Pinto says incident “reports should also be a basis for reflection on [the teacher’s] part. […] Use these patterns as an opportunity to identify changes that can be made to teaching or classroom organization as a preventative measure. At least at Alder Creek, I don’t believe this happens very often, if at all. It seems like the teachers that write the most referrals are also the least likely to believe that the problem might not be entirely the students, but instead may be the result of their own teaching practices. Perhaps this extreme response to being challenged is ultimately the result of the teacher knowing that their methods ARE worth challenging, but they are so set in their ways that they choose to send the problem up the chain of command instead of considering that the solution might rest more in how they manage their own relationship with their students and the classroom culture they have built.

“Moreover, conflict sometimes takes forms that are patently destructive and must be stopped, if only to ensure the safety of the participants and those around them. But disagreement, however challenging it may be to the teacher and his prepared lesson plan, can be seen as an opportunity for learning- a teachable moment” pg. 24

Sometimes I think about that day, a day where I get challenged by a student and this chapter got me somehow ready for it. Teaching should be an experience where we all learn from each other. There isn’t an only way for doing things, as a future teacher I keep an open mind for inducing critical thinking from my students. 

Another quote that it is connected to Alfie Kohn’s theory when it comes to punishment and rewards when he refers to them as ways of manipulating behavior that consequently destroy the potential for real learning. It is on pg. 62 “Even when children are successfully rewarded or threatened into compliance, they will likely feel no commitment to what they are doing, no deep understanding of the act and its rationale, no sense of themselves as the kind of people who would want to act this way in the future” This model of compliance as I state before doesn’t invite the student to think out of the box, their main focus is being rewarded or being punished if they don’t comply. Instead we must provide an engaging curriculum and a caring learning environment where the students can act on their natural desire to find out.