“Orderliness and Calm in SA School – A personal experience”

“Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.” 

― Plato

During my WIL practice experience I observed that  schools uses orderliness as a strategy to maintain both school, discipline and disruptive behaviour and all this is done to help students meet rigorous course standards in academic ,career or technical classrooms. The teachers and the principal tried by all means to establish and maintain a learning environment that supports and motivates students to do their personal best.  In Phambanisa Primary, School and classroom management is so much more than a set of appropriate rules and consequences. During my WIl practice I Saw that there are a skill set of strategies that the principal and the teachers use to create focused and productive classrooms that help students achieve higher levels of performance.

Calm and orderliness in my WIL practice was fundamental as they maintain order and smooth running of the school. Productive Management and learner’s behaviour ensured a smooth day to day running of the school. The school knew that smooth day-to-day operation of the school or classroom does not happen by accident. The teachers and principal work in teams to develop written classroom motivation and management plans. These plans were communicated in writing to parents and students, explained orally and posted in classrooms permanently. The teachers were so effective and they always revisited their plans several times to evaluate the learners on how their plans are working and make adjustments if necessary for them and learners to be more productive and focused.I observed that in order to make pupils calm in the classroom, you need to set Classroom policies, rules and procedures. The teachers at the school knew that assuming that learners can guess what they as teachers expect from them does not promote effective classroom practices. Communicating and channel to learners  expectations for daily operating procedures orally and in writing  by posting them permanently in the classroom and also by sending copies to parents, sends a clear message to all parties about the business of learning.

The teachers in that school were very fantastic and savvy because they engaged learners in the development of these expectations and use the process as a teaching and learning experience. Expectations were stated positively and clearly. (Policies are a statement of school-wide expectations; rules are few and never changing; and procedures are uniquely the teacher’s preferences about what constitutes business as usual in the classroom.) The teachers ensured that they did set rules that each learner will be able to understand and show a positive behaviour towards the learners.They had good methods to solve conflicts promptly and to maintain discipline, they dealt with severe behaviour in a good way as they considered common decency and the fact that safety must be addressed — publicly and privately. They had clearly defined policies that included including stakeholders (parents, students and teachers) in the development of policies. The school knew the importance of discipline, orderliness and calm in their school.

“Where did we ever get the crazy idea that in order to make children do better, first we have to make them feel worse? Think of the last time you felt humiliated or treated unfairly. Did you feel like cooperating or doing better?”

― Jane Nelsen