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alt="image"/> “I can’t let one kid derail the whole class; he is out of here. The rest of us want to learn.”

      

“The classroom is like a bell curve; not all students can be challenged, and some may have to be left behind.”

      Teachers with this relationship-building paradigm are often quick to dismiss students because of needs they might not know how to address (for example, the needs of exceptional or students you find challenging), so the needs of 100 percent of students rarely get met in these classrooms (Noguera, 2003; Valenzuela, 1999).

      As a way of managing, negative controllers may overzealously assert their authority in an effort to ensure they control their classrooms. They might speak in a demeaning, sarcastic, or angry tone to compensate for irrelevant lessons or a lack of strategies to build relationships or support students’ academic needs. Rather than preparing relevant lessons, meeting students, and clearly communicating, negative controllers often expect students to “just know what to do.” This mindset may come across like one of the following.

      

Using aggressive, sarcastic statements or body language (such as rolling eyes or a shaking head)

      

“What, are you deaf today?”

      

“I don’t get it, Anthony. You seemed smart yesterday.”

      

“How many times do I have to tell you?”

      

“Really? You don’t get it?” (said under the teacher’s breath)

      

Disciplining students too quickly, unfairly, or inconsistently

      

“I’m tired of you being constantly off topic. Just get out if you don’t want to learn.”

      

“I can’t deal with you and your attitude today. Go to the dean for the remainder of the period.”

      

“I’m sick of you talking constantly; go sit in the hallway.”

      

Not recognizing students who need to be challenged

      

“I’m not sure why Damian didn’t show growth on his assessments. He got As on all the work I provided for him. Guess it was just a bad testing day for him.”

      

“I know certain students aren’t being challenged, but I can’t get to all thirty of my students in one day. I’m sure they will find something new in this lesson.”

      What is the possible outcome of this disempowering mindset in the classroom? If students don’t feel like their teachers care for them, it is unlikely they will learn. Students often misinterpret sarcasm as statements of truth. Aggressive tones and negative body language can impact their psyche and willingness to engage. If all students are not invited to engage in discussion and experimentation at high levels in the classroom, deep learning will never happen. While negative controllers often think they have high-functioning, quiet classrooms, students often perceive these environments as mean and judgmental where high-quality learning (and instruction) is lacking.

       “It Is My Job to Teach; It Is the Students’ Job to Learn”

      A negative controller may see his or her role as solely teacher of academic content and subject matter (rather than of students). In order to teach students, teachers must have a relationship with them. Negative controllers may forget to humanize their students in a quest to teach content. These teachers often believe if they have spent the time lesson planning and preparing for the day’s learning, it is up to students to learn the content, when in fact, as teachers, our responsibility doesn’t end with teaching—it includes being accountable for student growth and learning (Kafele, 2013).

      Statements by negative controllers might sound like the following.

      

“I prepare my lessons every day. It is up to the students to decide whether or not they want to learn the material. I have no control over that.”

      

“I work hard. I should be able to expect the same from the students. So many of them are so lazy or unmotivated.”

      

“I don’t understand why José is failing American history. When I was in school, I loved this topic.”

      Because negative controllers believe they are in school to teach, they tend to lose patience with poor student behaviors or lack of engagement. This frequently results in inconsistent discipline practices because these teachers don’t realize they haven’t set clear expectations or given precise directions to students to ensure success (Duncan-Andrade, 2007; Yang, 2009). If a task isn’t completed properly, one student’s consequence may be a simple reminder, while another student receives more severe consequences (often because of past behaviors or the way the teacher feels about the student). This is often due to lack of teacher training.

      What is the possible outcome of this disempowering mindset in the classroom? Teachers have many jobs—teaching content and building relationships are just two of them. But one cannot sacrifice one for the other. Both are necessary to keep a highly engaged, fair, and consist environment for learning. When one is lacking, inconsistent classroom management practices further exacerbate poor relationships with students. In a negative controller’s classroom, students may initially stay on task out of fear, but eventually some students may attempt to get back at the teacher through overt or covert classroom disruptions.

      In addition, students have a keen sense of social justice. When students feel they or their peers are being treated unfairly, it often shifts their focus to the classroom injustices, distracting them from academic engagement and perpetuating behaviors likely unconducive to an academically challenging environment where all students thrive (Picower, 2012).

       “I Have So Much Curriculum to Get Through; I Don’t Have Time to Ensure Everyone Is With Me All the Time”

      The amount of curriculum and content teachers must cover can overwhelm any teacher but especially those with negative controller tendencies. Because of their need to be successful, relationships often get overlooked, content is moved through quickly, and as time passes, more students are left struggling because of their unmet needs.

      Statements from a negative controller might sound like the following.

      

“It doesn’t matter what we do, we have tried everything, and no one is successful with Clive.”

      

“Marquis has a hard life, but so do all the other kids. Being a kid these days is hard. He just needs to bear down and get his work done, or he is going to fail at this game

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