Rules and Procedures for Positive Classroom Environment

Before discussing how rules and procedures can promote or hinder a positive

classroom environment, it is important to understand first about the nature of expectations

and disciplines in the classroom. When students enter the school, most of them expect to

meet friends, to have fun socializing in school activities, and to enjoy school times chatting

and playing. Whereas when teachers enter their classrooms, they expect students to be ready

for their lessons, aware of their tasks and responsibilities, and always deliver their

assignments on time. Managing students’ behavior and attitudes towards rules and procedures

would require teachers to understand that their expectations are the opposite of what students

expect.

When most view discipline as constraining a child, Dewey (1910) argues that

discipline in fact is a result of freeing a child’s mind and enabling them to achieve their

learning goals. Discipline is not a drill, but “discipline is positive and constructive” (1910, p.

63). Teachers should be careful in imposing formal discipline because it might impede

students in producing real thoughts. It’s a constant and continuous process of reflective

thoughts resulting in behaviors and actions as expected by society. The way we approach

discipline and managing students' behaviors and attitudes towards rules and procedures

should be in the terms of teachers engaging students in positive, constructive and reflective

thoughts.

How rules and procedures can promote or hinder a positive classroom environment?

In Fine et.al’s (1993) work supported by Davis and Partland’s (2012), the school’s

rules and procedures can hinder a positive classroom environment when students value that

such rules and procedures are unfair, ineffective or irrelevant to their current situation.

Particularly when the teachers themselves fail to perform as the role models for their students

(Sharma, et.al., 2015). For example, when the school has a rule of not smoking in the school
building, and some teachers still light their cigarettes during recess in schools. The school

usually punishes the student who got caught smoking, but not to the teachers. This condition

can lead to students’ negative behavior towards the schools and the community.

On the other hand, rules and procedures can promote a positive classroom

environment when students feel that they are not being punished or judged. Students can feel

the good intention from the rules and procedures and they are motivated to follow the rules

because they can see the benefit for them in the future. The benefit itself is not in terms of

rewards that they will receive, but they will achieve to discipline minds.

A positive classroom environment will be achieved when they are involved in the

process of constructing them. Davis and McPartland (2012) described the efforts that a

teacher can do at the beginning of semester to discuss with students how they might

contribute to the making of rules and procedures. The students’ engagements in the process

would create a sense of belonging and eventually getting their buy-in. As a result, they would

be most likely to follow the rules and do all procedures as expected. Allowing students to

have their voices heard, make choices and feel the ownership of the classroom, would benefit

both teachers and students in the long run (Sharma, et.al., 2015).

Why are types of rules and procedures encouraged and discouraged?

There are several types of rules and procedures that are discouraged. The first type is

the one with negative words or phrases. Rules are the representation of authority, let it be the

teachers or the school. So, when they are worded in negative sentences, they represent

negative responses from the teacher that trigger negative behavior from students. Rules

should be written in positive sentences so that students would project behaviors and attitudes

expected by the rules because they feel their teachers project positive responses to them.

(Mrachko et.al., 2017). Second is with regards to rewards and punishments that are

considered the external motivation for students to obey the rules. When the motivation is
external, students will be likely to disregard the rules once the rewards and punishments are

taken away. The third discouraged type of rules and procedures are those that do not embrace

diversity and equal opportunity for all students. Rules and procedures should be inclusive and

abided by all school stakeholders.

The encouraged rules and procedures are written with sentences that project expected

behavior and attitude from students. For example, instead of saying “Don’t hit your friend”, it

should be rephrased by, “Respect your friend and play together.” It's also encouraged to have

rules and procedures that are agreed by students, teachers, and parents as well. This is to

make sure that parents are aware of what is expected from their children and how they can

support developing those behaviors and attitudes at home. Involving parents in creating rules

and procedures is also one practice to show how teachers and parents can collaborate and

accept diversity in the classroom.

How can a teacher assess whether or not he/she has created a positive classroom

environment by implementing rules and procedures?

Macsuga-Gage et.al (2012) proposed several ways for teachers to assess whether they

have created a positive classroom environment by implementing rules and procedures. The

first one would be as simple as checking the attendance list everyday. When a student feels

that their classroom is a safe and fun place to study, they will be motivated to attend and

commit to their assignments. Second, the teacher should be able to assess their present level

of performance related to classroom management themselves. Defining a learning goal and

planning actions would be the focus at this stage. Then, it’s the time for teachers to

implement and track the progress. The last step would be the reflective action, by answering

the following two questions: “How has the practice changed?” and “What impacts that

students gain?”
In conclusion, as Dewey (1910) said, a disciplined mind is formed by accumulation of

reflective thoughts, so the way rules and procedures are exerted within the school

environment should provide the chance for students to have their voice, choice and

ownership.

References:

Davis, M. H., & McPartland, J. M. (2012). High school reform and student engagement. In

Handbook of Research On Student Engagement (pp. 515-539). Springer, Boston, MA.

Dewey, J. (1910). How We Think. D.C. Heath

Fine, M., Valenzuela, A., & Bowditch, C. (1993). Getting rid of troublemakers: High school

disciplinary procedures and the production of dropouts. Social Problems, 40 , 493–509

Goodman, J. F. (2006). School discipline in moral disarray. Journal of Moral Education,

35(2), 213-230. Retrieved September 22, 2021 from:

https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1149&context=gse_pubs

Macsuga-Gage, A. S., Simonsen, B., & Briere, D. E. (2012). Effective Teaching Practices:

Effective Teaching Practices that Promote a Positive Classroom Environment. Beyond

Behavior, 22(1), 14–22. doi:10.1177/107429561202200104

Mrachko, A. A., Kostewicz, D. E., & Martin, W. P. (2017). Increasing positive and

decreasing negative teacher responses to student behavior through training and

feedback. Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, 17(3), 250. Retrieved September

22, 2021 from: https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2017-36578-005.pdf

Sharma, U., Roodenburg, J., & Rayner, S. (2015). A Guide to Promoting a Positive

Classroom Environment. doi:10.1163/9789463003438