As a new school year dawns in the international schools system and Northern Hemisphere schools, many teachers start to muse on questions and ideas about establishing class rules, essential agreements or other forms of agreement with students.

There are buzzwords everywhere and an abundance of resources to help create ‘guidelines for cooperation and responsibility’. One approach is to see the year’s beginning as an important and potentially powerful collaboration opportunity.

• What might need to be made visible in the process?
• How might teachers and students be positioned so that this becomes a valuable, equitable process that has an impact on the class culture?

What becomes possible if administrators, teachers and students explore ideas of responsibility from the perspective of ‘an ability to respond’?

What becomes possible if we see this establishment of cooperative commitments to classroom well-being and effectiveness as a scaffolding opportunity to support teachers and students to become co-researchers exploring the connection between choice and consequence?

This way of working invites teachers and students to become co-researchers, keen observers and questioners of where power is held and what options or opportunities are there to respond or act in relation to this power.

Deconstructing responsibility from different power positions in a school system.

Taking the notion of “responsibility” and understanding it from the perspective of ‘ having the ability to respond’ means positioning oneself, as teacher, in a particular way in the learning community. It means having to reflect on and make visible the sites of power, choice and accountability in the negotiating of a classroom code of ethics for the coming year. The elements of power, choice and accountability will influence who is actually responsible for particular somethings; and will need to be premised on practices of fairness. In bringing these ideas forward we are inviting all members of a learning community to work towards an environment that is equitable, flexible, and collaborative and based in practices of resilience and thoughtfulness.

Re-“viewing” responsibility means becoming aware of sites of power and turning the gaze away from a ‘failure to comply’ and towards constructing thoughtful, trust-based relationships with give and take and an appreciation and valuing of the least powerful voice in the learning community.

It is about knowing where you are positioned in a context and what connections to power that positioning has; as well as an awareness of how safe teachers and students are to respond within that context.

Students and teachers who are invited to engage with genuine and visible opportunities for the crafting of ethical practices to support their shared community, have the opportunity to become active and agentful community members response-able to make informed and thoughtful decisions.

This way of working is about community building rather than control or micromanagement. It is about supporting the development of learners becoming ethically informed and active co-constructors of communities that are fair and inclusive.

It may become possible to think about engaging with response-ability and accountability instead of ‘rules’ for the classroom if students could begin asking questions like…

“Am I able to respond in a way that feels safe?”

• What has been made visible or accessible to me that gives me the chance or ability to respond?
• What are the expectations I am trying to manage?
• Who is accountable for the different parts of this expectation?
• What are the things or actions I can actually make choices about?
• What are the things I have no choice in?
• What do I understand about the choices I have?
• What do I understand about the things I have no choice in?
• Who can I talk to if I think I am being asked to make a choice in something I actually have no say in?
• If I have no choice in a decision or requirement, how much responsibility do I actually have?

What happens if teachers have the chance to ask themselves about the location of responsibility and accountability in establishing an ethical classroom? What might this make possible for all involved? What might it bring into view about the practices and hopes teachers bring with them to their role? What if we began asking questions like…

“Do my students have a way of responding in a way that they would identify as safe?”

• What have I made visible or accessible to students that gives them the chance or ability to respond?
• Are all the expectations visible and fair?
• How have I made it possible and safe for the less powerful in this relationship to have the ability to respond?
• What decisions are being made and why? Who is being held as accountable or responsible?
• Who do these decisions serve?
• Is the location of responsibility fair?
• What do relationships of trust make possible for the least powerful in this community?
• How are practices of fairness connected to the vision and hopes I have for the learners in my care?
• Who is accountable for the different parts of the expectation?
• Why are they responsible for this? What choices or ability to respond do they have? Has this been negotiated or just imposed? Are they aware of this? Is it fair?

Cultures of collaboration don’t just happen in classrooms, it takes committed work on the part of a teacher and students and these practices have to be supported by a whole school approach. So what would happen if principals, deputies and heads of departments took up the invitation to reflect on their perceptions of where responsibility and accountability were located? What might taking up this invitation result in in a school culture? What might it bring into view about the practices and hopes leaders and administrators bring with them to their role?

“Am I working thoughtfully to co-construct trust relationships?”

• What have I made visible or accessible to others that give them the chance or ability to respond?
• How have I made it possible and safe for the less powerful in this relationship to have the ability to respond?
• What decisions am I making and why?
• Who do these decisions serve and impact on?
• Whose voice do these decisions disappear?
• Are all the expectations visible and fair?
• Do I reflect on, name and own that with greater power comes greater responsibility?
• What do relationships of trust make possible for the least powerful in this learning community?
• How are practices of fairness connected to the vision and hopes I have for the communities connected to my role?
• Who is accountable for the different parts of the expectation?
• Why are they responsible for this? Do they understand that this is their responsibility? Am I open to the varying ways that make it possible for others to have the ability to respond?
• How do my choices and decisions play themselves out in the experiences and feelings of others in this community?

 

How the ideas of ‘responsibility and ability to respond’ might influence or change a classroom culture.

 

Scenario Example: Essential agreements

In most primary classes I know teachers engage with the idea of an essential agreement. They engage with practices that are often informed by the best intentions for their learning community.

Essential agreements with ‘responsibility’ at the center.

The students are asked to collaborate and create essential agreements that make the class work well. The students will often give the ‘right answer’ and then be held accountable against these agreements for the rest of the year.

What remains hidden in these agreements is that the ‘idea of right answers’ can be subtly guided by the teacher’s questions; can be influenced by what ideas are reified in conversations or documentation. Hidden agendas for ‘right behaviors ‘ creep in and hide the power relationships in the context of the class and school system. The focus becomes about behavior and accountability. Students know the rules, but not the power relationships; they have some choices, but without an awareness that responsibility for the choices falls in their lap, never knowing that there is an ethical need to scrutinize the bigger systems of power their choice is embedded in.

Essential agreements with ‘ability to respond’ at the center.

The students are asked to collaborate and create essential agreements that help develop communities of practice where relationships of trust and hope inform the interactions.

Before the process begins, the teacher reflects on what actions and choices are non-negotiable; she/he reflects and identifies the positions and relationships of power and choice in the class and school systems. During this reflection the teacher develops an awareness of his/her own agendas and can choose to position him/herself as open-minded in the class discussions to follow. The teacher can make this positioning visible to the students or be alert and take responsibility for ensuring the agendas do not influencing the process. The teacher can value the voice and ideas of the less powerful participants when exploring ideas and hopes that inform essential agreements.

During the process of establishing an essential agreement, students examine the power/choice relationships and balances. The teacher can carefully identify what actions and areas they don’t have a choice in because of bigger systems and rules. When power relationships are made visible and the gaze scrutinizes these sites of power, students become more informed participants in the process.

When students engage with the developing of an essential agreement by exploring what it is they can respond to and what constitutes a real choice, there is a shift from control and management towards a commitment to practices that are inclusive, fair and ethical. Students have more connection to the decisions, more ownership of the outcomes, a greater ability to respond, and they can be responsible for those changes they see themselves as being able to influence. In this setting responsibility is about change and collaboration, it is not about management and control. This builds relationships of trust and reduces the need for micromanagement or punitive consequences. The idea behind the essential agreement is no longer about rule making or control; it has become about ethical community building. It builds a foundation for examining and naming practices that support trust and practices of fairness. The focus is now on “What can I respond to and how will I respond to it? It is about connecting all in the learning community with practices that they value.