Re: Framing student behavior

[Guest guest]

-

You explained this so well, and I agree with you completely. What happens in

this type of situation is that the teacher's usual classroom habits or ways of

organizing the classroom may end up " framing " certain students as weird or

different, though this would not be purposeful on the part of the teacher. Once

it is pointed out, though, a respectful adult will change the routines to

minimize negative attention to " different " behaviors and promote an atmosphere

of

cooperation in the classroom. I used to teach deaf children who were

mainstreamed for part of the day. When the deaf students joined some classes,

certain

teachers were able to find ways to encourage the hearing students to welcome

and cooperate with the deaf students for the benefit of all. Various changes in

the way the classroom was run made it more comfortable for all students. Other

teachers simply kept to their old routines and let the deaf students'

differences " stand out " in ways that made the hearing students resent the

intrusion

of these kids. WIth all the emphasis these days on " multi-culturism " in the

schools, surely there are techniques available to teachers for promoting

cooperation and positive feedback loops among students. Isn't teaching good

citizenship one of the most important goals of education? Teachers have an

opportunity

to try to set their classrooms up as models of civil behavior. in VA

Anyway, I feel that your situation is similar to mine in that it's

setting up your son as " different " and pointing him out in a way that

is making classmates " question " why he is different, etc. Now if in

this situation no one was questioning it or bothering your son about

it, I'd say there was no problem. But since classmates are

commenting, I think the school needs to change the arrangement and

follow through in a way for ALL kids with similar accommodations in

the school.

[Guest guest]

Hi in VA,

I agree with you 100%!!

WIth all the emphasis these days on " multi-culturism " in the

schools, surely there are techniques available to teachers for

promoting cooperation and positive feedback loops among students.

Isn't teaching good citizenship one of the most important goals of

education? Teachers have an opportunity to try to set their

classrooms up as models of civil behavior.