Assignment Three

What is your emerging model of classroom management?
Prepare a written description of your beliefs about classroom management. Include reference to the nature of human beings and how they develop, students’ capacity for self direction, how children and young people react to different situations and treatments , they degree of control or coercion that should be used by a teacher, the degree of choice students are permitted and the role of the teacher. Provide a description of the principles on which you have based your module.

The affairs of the heart are directly connected to the brain and it's the heart's natural intelligence that must be unfolded for the brain to operate with greater efficiency.
Joseph Chilton Pearce, Evolution's End
http://thewellspring.com/TWO/32intellectual_love.html

It is of importance to establish a rhythmical structure and clear sequencing in the life of the school. This will reflect significantly on the behaviour of the students in each class. Rhythm contributes to the wellbeing of students.
A physics example that strikes me most to explain the harmonizing effect of structure is the following: when we sprinkle lead particles on a flat glass plate and strike a violin bow vertically along one edge of the glass plate, the particles will form into a beautiful pattern. This kind of “fine-tuning” should happen for the teacher and the students in each lesson. Even with my year 12 students, I begin and end the lesson in such a way that we gather together in a focused circle and concentrate through speaking a verse. This creates an enormous strength which carries the mood of the lesson and is a classroom management tool that I use consistently. This kind of focused circle happens also at the beginning of the day for all students with the guardian of the class. It is embedded into the whole school and weaves through as a habitus (Durkheim), a strengthening structure for each day.
Another aspect contributing to good classroom management is the inner attitude of the teacher. My belief lies in creating a genuine love for learning, based on my understanding of the various phases of human development.( Piaget and Steiner philosophy) The work lies in: when to learn, what to learn and how to learn. The aim is that the student becomes a clear, independent and creative thinker and a sensitive and well-centered adult. I experience that the Steiner Curriculum is designed to be highly responsive to the various phases of development. The needs of the students are more important to cater for than the demands of the government or economic forces.
An example for being aware of the physical and emotional development within the learning task can be given for year 9. This is a phase where the students are strongly experiencing polarities- happy-sad, passive-aggressive. The curriculum allows the student to explore the polarities in a healthy way -in Art with black and white charcoal work, in English with study of Comedy and Tragedy, in Geography polarities of climate and economy, in my subject Eurythmy, exploring the different emotions through poetry and music, working intensively with the major and minor moods. The curriculum should be the connecting point with the human being to him/herself, to others, to the natural world and the cultural heritage. It connects the past, the present and the future, so that the human being can stand in the centre of the curriculum in the Steiner schools.
As a teacher, I have to be deeply immersed in my subject and my area of expertise. My enthusiasm for my subject will spark over to the students. If I apply the right tools to deliver my subject, with the accelerated learning skills for example, then I set the mood for a happy learning environment and will achieve good outcomes.

There are always one or two students in each class who are very self motivated and talented. They stand out of the crowd and they solve task- oriented problems in no time. They contribute lots of new ideas and creativity to the lessons.
A few years ago I had a student who was very distracted and unconstructive. He did not think very highly of Steiner schools and had such rude manners that it got to a point that it was not possible to teach him any more. He also treated his parents with very little respect. We had no other choice than to take him out of school after all sort disciplinary measures did not help. He also got thrown out of his parents’ house for a while. After one year he came back begging to be accepted again. We put very strict guidelines on him. If he did not keep within those confinements, he was to be expelled immediately. The miracle happened that this young man became interested and engaged in every single lesson. I could hardly recognize him anymore. He made suggestions, often very good ones, and started to move and talk in a respectful way. After he finished year 12, he passionately took part in study groups about the Steiner philosophy. It seems that this young man really needed to be “woken up.” In this particular case, the authoritarian style was the only right way to make him realize what he was doing to himself and to his environment.
The teacher has to take a leading role. If he leads by example then he includes all the factors that are necessary to motivate the students to learn. He will have embraced the culture of the school “habitus” (Durkheim/Bourdiev) in his planning of the lesson. It is vital to bring the students into social interaction, and the appropriate Zone of Proximal Development, so that they can achieve, through working with each other, the highest outcome possible ( Vygotsky).
The teacher needs to be the leader in managing and facilitating the constructed knowledge which includes the integration of the five reference points from Glasser. When they are intrinsically motivated, students are able to learn through the teacher’s understanding of Gardner’s multiple intelligences. Constant encouragement and the affirmation of the student’s effort and achievement are vital. The inclusion of all gifts from every individual student makes it possible to heighten the ultimate knowledge, skills and values of the group.


Primarily, what I like to see in students is transformation and development. For life is all about changes. We continually change and never stay still in our growing inside or outside of our self. The more we contribute actively to our transformation in life the more we become harmonized human beings of the head, heart and hand. Mahatma Gandhi describes it so clearly in the following quote:

"Carefully watch your THOUGHTS, for they become your WORDS. Manage and watch your WORDS, for they will become your ACTIONS. Consider and judge your ACTIONS, for they have become your HABITS. Acknowledge and watch your HABITS, for they shall become your VALUES. Understand and embrace your VALUES, for they become YOUR DESTINY."--Mahatma Gandhi

Assignment Two
2.1 Gardner and others have emphasized the different learning styles of students. How would you use the theory of one Psychologist to effectively engage a particular preferred learning style?

I strongly believe that Howard Gardner’s theories’ regarding multiple intelligences is for my teaching the most valid one. It is of great help to assimilate this knowledge into strategies for helping children to learn. It is ideal for my subject to teach each student to their orientation towards their viewpoint of the world. Gardner points out that if a student tends to express strongly one or the other intelligence he/she should be encouraged to develop these abilities. Also, all assessments of abilities should measure the different forms of intelligences besides the linguistic and mathematical intelligences. Another point I would like to emphasize is that we are of international diversity in the classrooms these days and the people of different nationalities even within one country have different intelligences and learning modalities.

My subject almost demands of me to include different intelligences. In the course of many years of teaching Eurythmy I have been fascinated with all the different learning methods and seeing when a student really understands what the task is and in which way it needs to be presented before the “penny drops”.
Eurythmy is a subject which embraces through movement many of the intelligences Gardner identified. So for example, if in secondary school one learns about the curve of Cassini, it is a great experience to make it visible in three dimensional space. For that we need to have a clear picture and an imagination in our thinking of the curve. Now we will explore how we can make it visible and how we make the three stages of the curve flow from one to the next. We can create it in the space by using an even number of people. Once we have figured out how to walk it without bumping into each other, we can then superimpose a second Cassini curve in a 90 degree angle to it. So we have one curve in the direction North / South and the other in the direction East/ West. It is a great experience for the students to be able to move -with 20 people- a form which is normally abstract and see the development from the oval shaped form at the beginning, then changing into a figure of eight and at the end into the circles. The mathematical formula turns into a social activity, which needs absolute concentration from everybody to move in the correct way and make a harmonious form out of it. One also could continue to create it so that the newly found circles start to begin again and end up in another two circles. And afterwards one could take it even further to discuss in groups what this form has to do with us and if there is something in us that does the same. Maybe one could briefly enter the content of Biology to discover that every cell in us is created out of one into two. So it might end up to be a picture of growth as a whole.

For some students the Cassini curve in the math’s lesson makes no sense at all, so in doing it through movement, it creates a living picture and sparks enough interest to encourage students to look for other abstract forms they could imagine to move with a group. The mathematical intelligence is experienced through the visual/spatial intelligence and if one accompanies the movement with music we also nurture the musical/rhythmical intelligence. To do the form harmoniously and correctly, one needs the bodily/ kinesthetic intelligence. To be able to understand how to move the form correctly, one creates groups who discuss how to move it or one draws it on the blackboard or puts marks on the floor where to go or not to go.
The task described above shows a social, democratic and goal- centered aspect. It links together with Dreikurs’ theory about the ‘Preventive Strategy’ in all eight points. It develops in young people a deeper understanding in education for their learning.






Part two
You were provided with a one page overview indicating the relative control level of teachers in the classroom. Do you agree with this overview? Does it provide a means to manage the diversity in your classroom? Is it implying that you should use different methods of management with different students?

The provided page gives a good overview of the different discipline models. The theory by Skinner and Lee Canter shows a simple solution to a complex problem. It puts the teacher into an authoritarian position with a hierarchical structure. The management discipline theory gives instruction and as much information as possible to the students which does not leave a harmonious balance between learning and teaching. I would use this theory rarely. In case of an extreme situation, or an emergency, I may need to be absolutely authoritarian for a short time, as a strictly temporary measure.
My aim is to have a fantastic relationship with the students and to engage them in the subject. It is important for me to establish a leader role with the students and form a relationship with them. I aim to bring a wealth of understanding about how to empower students and establish connecting habits. Choice Theory and Reality Therapy bring a good framework for meeting the needs of pupils. The five needs of Reality Therapy are essential to consider.

Of great importance is what is happening in the classroom environment. It will effect as much of the cognitive as the affective domain. Positive feedback from students in a friendly classroom environment shows how important it is to establish positive teacher-student interaction.
For example if the students give feedback like this:
This teacher talks with me.
I do additional work and enjoy the class.
I know what has to be done
I know what has to be done in this class.
I cooperate with other students when doing assignment work.
I get to use the equipment as much as other students.

http://www.channelviewpublications.net/erie/014/0003/erie0140003.pdf


A positive environment creates an atmosphere conducive to empowering the student to learn faster, more effectively and lets him/her have more fun. The core elements and tools one can use to enhance this are described by Bobbi DePorter through “Accelerated Learning”.

http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/accelerated/deporter.htm



The increasingly difficult part of teaching concerns the students with different behavioral problems. The pain module, shown by Carl Rogers, gives a clear insight into the challenge. It is of absolute importance to face problematic matters and to help relieve those students of the emotional pain in order to nurture positive further development, meaning and direction in their present lives.
The most important task for the teacher is to build up a consistent plan developed out of the different views, for example from Bloom, Gardner, Glasser and Dreikurs and then tailor it to the needs of the class and the environment of the school. The strength of education lies in the flexibility of taking different approaches and merging them with the needs and personalities of each student.
Education is an awakening process of what is already in the learner, rather then impressing concepts and facts onto the mind from outside. This is a path that needs guidance and practice. An experienced teacher will take the time to build up a relationship (Dreikurs) with the student, to develop mutual respect to be able to guide the student along the path to becoming a free thinking human being.