A Heart-Centered ClassroomDuring the year, I have been reading Beyond Control: Heart-Centered Classroom Climate and Discipline. This book is written by an experienced Christian teacher who wanted to share some of the mistakes and successes that he has made, the wisdom he has gained over the years. Today, I’d like to share some thoughts from this book, focussing on one of the sections titled Cultivating Community: Clearing Weeds and Planting Seeds. Behaviour management is a big topic with a lot of different aspects. A zero-tolerance approach to behaviour management might be something that you have heard of already. It many ways, it sounds good. We want students to feel safe. We want parents to know that we do not accept the unacceptable behaviours. However, there is more to the story. To step into an analogy, when we are gardening and only clear out the weeds, we are left with dirt. This is rarely the end-goal for a gardener. Instead, we clear out the weeds so that we can plant new seeds, or help existing plants to flourish. Taking on this analogy from gardening with behaviour management, we don’t just need to ‘clear the weeds’ of put-downs, name-calling or other inappropriate behaviours. We also need to ‘plant seeds’ of respect, cooperation, kindness, responsibility and so on. Then, we need to cultivate these attitudes and behaviours so that they flourish.
At Northern, we do this cultivation in a variety of ways, both with the classroom and as a whole school approach. In the classroom, we might do this formally with our class devotions and by using the Bounce Back program (our social and emotional program). As a school, we might see this happening with our Praise God Awards as we celebrating students’ different milestones they reach, or providing opportunities for students to participate in programs outside of their class with others. Informally, there are also conversations with students around the classroom, outside in the playground, or after school. Over time, the positive behaviours and attitudes that are cultivated will overgrow the weeds. As teachers, and indeed for parents as well, one of the biggest differences that we can make is in the example that we set, especially the words that we use when talking about ourselves or others. We want students to be respectful of others, so we need to do the same. At Northern, we want students to feel safe, to cultivate a positive, supportive community, and for each student to not only receive kindness but to share it with others.
Mr Samuel Whittle — Pastoral Care Coordinator
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