What is the possible outcome of this disempowering mindset in the classroom? While teachers meet curriculum map timelines, it is often at the expense of relationships with students and learning. While students’ test scores might be slightly higher than those of their peers with unintended enabling tendencies, their achievement tends to be represented in the lower levels of educational psychologist Benjamin S. Bloom’s (1956) taxonomy (knowledge and comprehension) (Pope, 2001). Many students do not feel challenged in a negative controller’s classroom.
“Students Should Respect Me Just Because I Am the Teacher”
Many teachers enter the classroom believing they should be granted authority by the nature of their position. On the other hand, many students expect teachers to earn their authority through their words and actions (Obidah & Teel, 2001). Much conflict can arise over authority issues between a teacher who expects to receive respect and students who will only give respect if the teacher earns it. Consistency, predictability, and follow-through are the best ways to earn students’ respect. Negative controllers often overlook the necessity of these qualities and make decisions based on their own needs instead of their students’.
Because negative controllers feel students should respect them, a common attribute of these teachers is to threaten students to get them back on task or when a student gets upset. This attribute often comes from a lack of training on how to handle different types of interactions with students or an inability to build effective relationships with them. These negative controllers might sound like the following.
What is the possible outcome of this disempowering mindset in the classroom? Unfortunately, the teacher’s inability to communicate high expectations, respond positively to student needs, and build relationships demonstrates for students that adults in a position of authority are often untrustworthy, and may rob the students of opportunities and access—in school and in society.
The need to control the classroom motivates negative controllers, as their name indicates, often with negative tendencies. These teachers aim to control the student behaviors, volume in the classroom, and content taught. Negative controllers often fear that if they do not remain in control of the classroom, student behaviors will quickly get out of hand and students will not master academic content. Their counterproductive interactions with students often create roadblocks in building strong relationships (Duncan-Andrade, 2007) instrumental for all students and their learning, but especially those growing up in communities with high levels of poverty (Nieto, 2002; Picower, 2012; Valenzuela, 1999).
Conclusion
This chapter discussed the relationship-building paradigms of unintended enablers and negative controllers. You may have recognized certain attributes or behaviors in yourself as you read. Remember, this is not a time for blame or remorse; this type of reflection is an opportunity to learn, grow, and build on your training as an educator. Much of what we do in the classroom is done based on what we think is best for students. Until we learn new ways to shift our thinking and behaviors, our teaching and relationships with students are unlikely to change. Take note of the things you want to work on with your students. The next chapter reviews the more powerful and impactful relationship-building paradigm of No-Nonsense Nurturers.
Reflection Activities
The reflection activities on pages 32–33 are designed to help you reflect on your current professional practice and support your journey to becoming a No-Nonsense Nurturer. You may choose to complete them individually or in teams.
Identify Your Attributes
It is likely you have some attributes of an unintended enabler, a negative controller, or maybe both; most of us do. Take ten minutes to jot down some attributes you would like to work on to avoid your students misinterpreting your intentions. Then take an additional five minutes to note the attributes you want to ensure you keep as a teacher.
Record Your Teaching
Teachers walk into the classrooms every day ready to do their best for each of their students. While teaching a lesson, record yourself for ten to twenty minutes. Review the lesson, taking notes and writing down direct quotes of when you see unintended enabler or negative controller tendencies. Then, go back and rewrite your script.
CHAPTER 2
Effective Classroom Management: No-Nonsense Nurturers
Now that you have investigated the relationship-building paradigms of unintended enablers and negative controllers, let’s take a closer look at how No-Nonsense Nurturers build relationships with their students. The stark difference between ineffective relationship-building paradigms and those of No-Nonsense Nurturers is the relationships these highly effective teachers build with students, the positive tone they set in their classroom, and the high expectations they believe each student can achieve. These elements encompass the words, actions, and strategies they employ in their classrooms—with every student, every day.
I was blessed in my first year of teaching. I started my career in Princeton City Schools in Southwest Ohio, and like many districts, the human resources department assigned me a mentor, Patricia Hooks Gray. Ms. Gray was a No-Nonsense Nurturer. Of course at the time, the term didn’t exist, but she was an amazing educator and support for me to better my practice. Ms. Gray modeled for and coached me on how to best support my students. She noticed my assets as well as the areas that I needed to improve as a teacher. She consistently used my assets to support my opportunities for growth. For example, I was great at building relationships with my students, but I would sometimes get lazy with lesson planning and begin “shooting from the hip.”
Ms. Gray pointed out to me that my relationship with students was the reason they wanted to learn from me and with me; however, she also helped me self-assess the days I was well-planned verses those where I was shooting from the hip. Through simple assessments, she quickly helped me realize that my students weren’t getting as much from the lessons on the days I was not well planned. She also held me accountable to the fact that because my relationships with students were so strong, I owed them my best every day. Otherwise, I would be taking advantage of the respect I had earned and my positional power as a teacher.
Ms. Gray was a No-Nonsense Nurturer to me. She was my mentor, and I was her student. But she also modeled how to be a great teacher. When I would observe her teaching, students moved through her classroom procedures flawlessly and engaged in deep