What does mutual respect look like?
Dec 20th, 2007 by Judy Weber
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to observe classrooms in a school involved in its third year of implementing Dr. Payne’s work. To determine the level of implementation at each long-term site, classroom observations are conducted using a model fidelity rubric. As I traveled from room to room in this building, I noticed that every teacher I observed used the adult voice to teach and discipline. Teachers used discipline as a tool for teaching students about choice and consequences, not as punishment. Some teachers admitted that it was difficult to use the adult voice continuously, but the effort translated into the best example of mutual respect I have observed in one school.
In classroom after classroom the teachers used movements as mental models to help students understand the hidden rules they bring to school, among many other things.
In one first-grade classroom a teacher used an exercise movement to teach students to count by twos, a hand movement with five fingers up to count by fives, and another with ten fingers up to count by tens. Movement, rhythm, and a catchy rap-like tune provided students with an energetic, entertaining mental model to bridge the gap between concrete and abstract learning.
In a kindergarten classroom a poster of formal and casual register was posted close to the floor by the circle area of the room. The teacher referred to it during class meetings to teach students the registers of language. Many classrooms had desks grouped together with students working in small groups throughout the building. Classrooms were seldom silent. Students were actively engaged in their tasks, and appropriate and task-related talking was the norm. If student voices became too loud, the teacher used a nonverbal signal to lower the noise level. What a wonderful day!
It is my intention to share my experiences and insights as I consult and present Dr. Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty and Understanding Learning. If you have a success story like the one I shared, or a question, please respond—and look for my reply!
-Judy Weber
About the consultant:
Judy Weber of Yorktown, Indiana has been a professional educator since 1986, teaching children in the classroom, training teachers in effective practice and supporting low performing schools as a mentor through TOPHAT, a partnership between the Indiana Department of Education, and the Mid Continent for Research and Learning (McREL). As a current board member of the Indiana Staff Development Council, Weber was instrumental in developing the Gold Star Award, an award focused on effective practice and professional development to increase student performance. Weber was awarded the Christa McAuliffe Fellowship in 1998, and is a 1999 graduate of the National Staff Development Academy. As an educational consultant for aha! Process since 2002, she has served as a presenter, a mentor to schools engaged in long term implementation of Dr. Payne’s A Framework for Understanding Poverty, and the coordinator of Dr. Ruby Payne’s trainer certification workshops.
Tim,
I am always excited to have someone respond to my blog. I wrote this blog in response to a school visit where I saw consistent evidence that the teachers understood mutual respect and directly taught students the skills needed for mutual respect to occur. I have listed several connections from my blog to mutual respect and the work of Dr. Payne. I hope you will find it helpful.
Respect in middle class is linked to a role such as teacher, principal, etc. A teacher applying Dr. Payne’s work recognizes that students may bring a different understanding of respect into the classroom. Respect can mean a person, no matter what role he or she has, must earn respect. The school I visited provided multiple examples of teachers providing direct instruction to build mutual respect.
• Teachers consistently modeled and taught the adult voice to provide students with the appropriate voice to develop healthy communication skills and the ability to problem solve.
*Problem solving only happens in the adult voice. See, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, “Voices” research by Daniel Bern.
*Students are often considered disrespectful when using the wrong tone of voice. In this example, the teachers teach the appropriate tone.
• The teachers used mental models to teach students. Mental models help move students from the concrete to the abstract. Even in kindergarten, schools often begin teaching at the abstract level. Students with no early learning experience must begin at the concrete level and move to abstract. Mental models bridge the gap between concrete and abstract, as well as accelerating learning. Teachers that acknowledge the student’s’ needs to begin learning at the concrete level and use mental models to move students to the abstract are respectful of student learning needs instead of expecting students to have skills that have not been taught.
*Exercise movement to teach students to count by twos, hand movement with five fingers up to count by fives, movement, rap song, etc.
• Posting the definition of the registers of language both casual and formal register (in the classroom) and directly teaching students the difference between the registers and giving students the opportunity to translate between casual and formal register provides students with the skills needed to be successful in school where formal register is the norm in both speaking and writing. Without this skill students often get “in trouble” for speaking in casual register which is often the norm for speech at home. Mutual respect does not expect a student to have a skill that has not been taught at school.
Respectfully,
Judy Weber
Very interesting article, but in my viewpoint, you really never addressed “What does mutual respect looks like”.
Tim Dunbar
Instructor
MCED Career College