Student-Centered Classroom Management
Essential for No Child Left Behind
 In
the corporate world, two distinct categories of
managers' leadership styles were defined in the
1960s as the X-Y Theories of Douglas McGregor at the
MIT Sloan School of Management. Theory X defined
autocratic managers, whose directive, even
dictatorial styles were based on the belief that
workers are lazy by nature, and need to have the
manager watch them closely and crack the whip to
make them work. Theory Y defined a more democratic,
inclusive style, which was more respectful of
employees, and assumed that under the right
conditions, workers are self-motivated, enjoy their
work for its own sake, and intrinsically desire to
do a good job.
These theories are now considered somewhat outdated
in the world of business, and newer thinking
suggests that many managers are a composite of X and
Y, with each theory really encompassing an entire
continuum of styles. In looking at the classroom
management styles of teachers, I believe that
teachers, too, operate at various points along the
X/Y continuums. In visiting hundreds of classrooms
in the past ten years, I have become convinced that
those that more closely align with the Y continuum
create better learning conditions for higher student
achievement.
A typical scenario
Consider this scenario in an experienced teacher's
classroom: It is the first period of the day in a
9th grade English class. The students are subdued
(research suggests that adolescent brains do not
fully "wake up" until mid-morning). As the class
shuffles to their seats, one student shouts out,
"Dude! Stop jabbing me in the butt with that
pencil!"
 There
is an outbreak of giggles, and the teacher slams
down her books, shouting, "Sam! To the office! Take
this and get out of here!" She shoves a paper slip
at the student, who loudly tries to explain that his
friend, walking behind him with objects protruding
from his backpack had unknowingly been bumping him.
The teacher is incensed at the interruption as class
is just beginning, and berates Sam all the way to
the door, where he finally stomps off down the hall.
She turns to the giggling class demanding, "And
who's next?" The giggles die down, and as the
teacher begins her lesson on Romeo and Juliet, she
simply cannot get the class to engage in the
discussion.
As the class ends and the students file out, she
remarks, "I hate teaching ninth graders. It's like
pulling teeth."
An alternative scenario
Imagine that in the room next door, an identical
incident occurs. It is the first period of the day
in a 9th grade English class with an
equally-experienced English teacher. The students
are subdued, their brains not fully awake. As the
class shuffles to their seats, one student shouts
out, "Dude! Stop jabbing me in the butt with that
pencil!"
There is an outbreak of giggles, and the teacher
shakes her head trying to hide a smile. She
wordlessly motions to the student, Sam, to come up
to her, and as he approaches with his loud
explanations she whispers, "Sh! Sh! Sam, I can hear
you!" He immediately drops his voice to mirror hers,
and she lets him go on for a few more seconds as she
looks past him to the class, shaking her head at
those that obviously want to participate in the
fracas.
Then she wordlessly puts up her hand and whispers,
"How about you sit down now?"
"Oh," is Sam's response, and he makes his way to his
seat.
The teacher says, "Who can tell me what part of
Romeo and Juliet involved something a little like
what just happened here?" Instead of dissolving into
chaos, the class is fully engaged, still giggling,
with about half the hands waving. The teacher
capitalizes on the unexpected opportunity to engage
her class of normally half-awake teenage brains.
The first teacher is an obviously extreme example of
Theory X. X-style teachers kill engagement. Their
own style triggers a fight-or-flight response in
their students. The daily, ordinary silly behaviors
of children and adolescents are either escalated
into needless confrontation when a student feels put
on the spot in front of peers (fight), while other
students shut down and withdraw out of fear of
embarrassment (flight).
I suspect that many Theory X teachers operate out of
fear themselves. They fear losing control of their
classrooms. Are you more like the X-style teacher,
or the Y-style teacher?
The chemistry of Y-style
 Let
me tell you more about the Y-style teacher. At the
front of her room is a poster reading, "Class Rules.
Rule #1: Respect." No other rules are listed. Later
in the period, when she hears a student whisper,
"What a moron," after another student's response,
she stops the class.
"I just heard something that violates all of our
class rules."
"We only have one rule," objects a student in the
front row.
"One rule is all we need. We talked about this at
length on the first day of class, and we talked
about it again after Thanksgiving break. Allison, I
think you owe the class something."
Allison squirms in her seat and tries to object. The
teacher simply shakes her head and waits. The
silence becomes uncomfortable as everyone looks from
the teacher to Allison, and the teacher continues to
wait. Finally, Allison blurts out, "Mark, I admire
the way you always take a shot at trying to answer
the questions."
Mark didn't actually hear Allison's putdown, but he
beams at the compliment. The teacher resumes her
line of questioning about Romeo and Juliet.
This teacher did not build this relationship with
her class in a day. She began the first day of
class, explaining her expectations and enlisting the
students' thinking about the concept of respect. She
asked the students what they expected from her, and
from each other. She had them role play situations
involving putdowns, with compliments being the
required restitution. She allowed no phony
compliments, either. Although some of her colleagues
consider this kind of time, taken in the beginning
of the semester for establishing classroom climate,
a waste of instructional minutes, this teacher knows
that she more than save this time in the long run -
time many of her colleagues will be wasting on
needless student behavior problems.
Safety supports engagement
 Students
in this teacher's classroom feel safe - with the
teacher, and with each other. Engagement is high,
and research has shown that engaged students learn
and achieve at higher levels.
It is never too late to move along the continuum
toward Y-style classroom management. What will be
your next step to move further toward Y-style, or to
maintain your Y-style management if you are already
there?
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