Discipline - or, if you prefer the euphemism, classroom management - is essential, both in the classroom and in life. But it is not the reason we have schools. We have schools to help kids learn and teach them civil behavior. While it is a teacher's job to create a minimally-disrupted classroom atmosphere that encourages learning, such an environment is not an end in itself. It is a means to achieving academic goals.
Many education policy types may scarcely have heard of Ron Clark, a Disney Teacher of the Year who wrote The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator's Rules for Discovering the Successful Students in Every Child. But for practitioners, he's ubiquitous; his book spent weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, was heralded on Oprah, and has catapulted its author way up the professional development ladder, such as it is.
Clark's book provides 55 (well, actually, 80+ if you break down one of his rules into its 26 components) rigid guideposts for students that, he believes, are the answer to transforming the raw material of children into the finished product of well-mannered, purposeful and presentable adults. For Clark, discipline is the end. Ah, the beauty of simplicity.
But I wonder if anyone is actually reading with a critical eye what this Disney teacher of the year has written? I suspect not, because if they did, there surely would have been questions raised, as he made the rounds of TV talk shows, about his zero-tolerance approach to classroom management. Maybe the public actually believes that setting down a myriad of inflexible rules for small children to follow is the long-sought, fool-proof means to control unruly classrooms. That would be regrettable.
Consider Clark's Rule #9: "Always say thank you when I give you something. If you do not say it within three seconds after receiving the item, I will take it back. There is no excuse for not showing appreciation."
Who could deny that it's a fine thing to teach children to be appreciative of things given to them? But the example Clark uses of how he ENFORCED this rule is truly appalling. One of his 5th grade students "won a set of books for having the highest score on a social studies test. The little girl was so excited that she was jumping up and down [for more than three seconds]. Others in the class quickly pointed out that she forgot to say thank you, and I had to take the books away from her."
Imagine taking back books that a child had earned just because she didn't say thank you within the "appropriate" (though arbitrary) three seconds. Is it less appreciative to show excitement for five seconds and then to show gratitude? What lesson does Clark hope this student and her classmates will learn?
This example illustrates the problem with much of the book: Clark sees rules as "all or nothing." This is right, that is wrong. Nothing is gray. He evidently fails to grasp the basic idea that teachers must be on-the-spot decision-makers, and that good teachers are good decision-makers. They are called upon in the course of a busy day to make hundreds of decisions, ranging from minute to major. Many require the skill of judgment, how best to interpret a rule given a specific set of circumstances. Isn't that the basis of our justice system? To reduce classroom discipline to an "always do this" mentality is absurd.
The problem with zero-tolerance policies - in a classroom or schoolwide - is that they do not allow the punishment to fit the crime. While teachers should surely encourage and reward good behavior, they must be able to make a distinction between a student who is so overjoyed with having performed well on a test and one who is downright ungrateful. Students need to understand that good manners are important, that violence is bad, and that treating people with respect is essential, but they also need to learn that there is no one-size-fits-all fix to every problem.
The book is a bestseller, yet I contend that people who are buying are likely not actually reading it. Surely they're not reflecting deeply on what it would mean to implement Clark's 55 rules so inflexibly in a classroom. In August, I spoke to an education group that had decided to distribute 400 copies of the book to all new teachers because a parent suggested this might be a good idea. When I later asked if anyone on staff had actually read the book before giving it their seal of approval, the head of the group said no, the book was being accepted and disseminated because the idea sounded so wonderful. Of course, the real danger in accepting the book's premise without actually reading it is that new teachers will be given the impression that this authoritarian style of discipline is the ideal. In fact, classroom management is a much more nuanced practice that requires a teacher's constant attention and judgment.
Clark is writing a sequel that has already garnered a multi-million dollar advance. Pray that he spares us from further lectures on simplistic behaviorism. A better proposition to guide teachers and students might be called the Essential 1:"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The "Golden Rule" found in so many cultures is what Mr. Clark needs to consider. And by the way, Mr. Clark, when you received your latest teaching paycheck, did you call the payroll office - within 3 seconds - to thank them?
Dennis Denenberg, a thirty year veteran educator, is co-author of 50 American Heroes Every Kid Should Meet, www.heroes4us.com.
