I suppose I could moan about the trouble I face each day with my students, all of whom are classified by our school system as "at-risk." I could talk about the many real troubles that these poor children have faced that are truly beyond their control.
While many of these students are having or have had drug and alcohol problems, had problems at school and had run-ins with the law, they also have come from disconnected, single-parent homes or even group homes and have parents who are no better off than they are. Additionally, many come from low-income homes. However, I do not join the rest of the world of education in believing that "low-income" is an academic obstacle in itself. I'll explain that more in later posts.
"They are at risk of becoming blights on society..."
In short, my students have had a rough life, but their problem is that they have thus far chosen to make their lives even rougher by behaving like, well, like you'd expect some one called "at-risk" might behave. What are they "at-risk" for? They are at risk of not graduating, of flunking or dropping out of the school system entirely, which puts them at risk of having a terrible life. They are at risk of becoming blights on society; they are at risk of becoming inmates.
To get to the place where one is at-risk in this way, one must first put on the role of at-risk person. That is to say, these students behave like flunk-outs, drop-outs and prisoners. I find myself close to literally biting my tongue during their sour complaints that school is "like a prison." I want to say, "First of all, this is not prison, but keep acting the way I've seen you act and you'll soon be able to make a first-hand comparison." I don’t say this, though.
The way we have dealt with these student's terrible choices is too help them to confront those choices and help them to make better ones. It is actually an attempt at implementation of "Choice Theory" and "Reality Therapy." A theory and therapeutic method developed by Dr. William Glasser. Basically, when a behavioral problem arises in or outside of the classroom we take the kid aside and have them answer the following questions: 1) What do you want or need? 2) What are you doing in order to get what you want? 3) How well is it working? 4) What else could you do to get what you want? I've been told that members of our team have seen this work.
"Students report...that things will get better if I let them do as they see fit."
I have yet to see a meeting with a student where this framework has been helpful. Most of the time, students report (if it's my class we're talking about) that what they want is for me ignore their terrible behavior and that things will get better if I let them do as they see fit. I have not seen much of a response to this assertion in the leadership of this program, so, thinking I was setting a good example for them, I've said I'll try to be a bit more tolerant of disruptive behavior. Now I feel as if that response has only emboldened them. As of now, a little over a month into the program, behaviors have gotten worse each week and lesson plans suffer immensely.
One thing in particular disturbs me about this: I do not have the experience to know if I should expect things to get better. What about you? Have you heard of Choice Theory and Reality Therapy? Have you seen it implemented in the classroom with any success? I have something to say about it, but I wanted to let you weigh-in first. For more information on Choice Theory and Reality Therapy visit www.choicetheory.com.
