Q. Last year, our school community was psyched about the Social Contract we created. We liked the idea that students would buy into following our guidelines because they helped create them, and we especially liked how the Contract would be the authority, not us. We celebrated its creation, posted it in every room and in the halls, and talked about how important it would be to follow it and teach everyone to follow it.
Before anyone realized it, it seemed to fall off everyone's radar. By November, the posters were sagging and peeling off the walls. Consciously or unconsciously, teachers reverted to our old behavior management habits. I found myself in several power struggles each day, exactly what I had hoped to avoid with the support of the Social Contract. How can we do a better job of keeping our Contract alive next year?
A. First, acknowledge your success. You were able to get input from students and come to consensus on a set of school-wide guidelines, which is no small achievement. Plan to focus on keeping your Social Contract alive next year (see below).
Remember that growth is incremental. It takes time for teachers to develop the habit of relying on the Social Contract, invoking it regularly and consistently, and it takes years to change the culture of a school. If implementation of your Contract begins to slip next year, alert your colleagues, then resuscitate it (see below). And redouble your commitment to the Contract in year three!
Build into this year's calendar some reminders about the Social Contract.
Try some of these ideas:
MONTHLY, STARTING IN EARLY OCTOBER
Social Contract check-in during advisory
Have community-building meetings during advisory, and Include discussions about the value of the Social Contract.
Questions that can stimulate discussion:
How well is the Contract being followed by students? By teachers?
Which guidelines are working? Are any ignored?
How well do teachers hold students accountable to the rules?
Do students take the Contract seriously? Do they try to follow it?
When weaknesses in implementation are identified, solutions can be brainstormed by students and staff. You might want to try one or more of them.
MID-OCTOBER AND MID-NOVEMBER
School-wide Social Contract Day
Plan a school-wide Social Contract Day. On this day, teachers make a special effort to use reinforcing language that invokes the Social Contract when they see students following the Contract. In class, such success is recognized aloud to the group: "We are following our guideline for respect right now by having a 'blurt-free' conversation. Keep it up!" Teachers may challenge themselves to use this type of positive recognition at least twice in each class period. Students can write down specific behaviors they will use during Social Contract Day to support each of the agreements in the Social Contract. For a few days afterward, their written resolutions may be displayed.
Sample student statements:
- I will include others by inviting someone new to sit with me at lunch.
- I will respect everyone by listening to others’ opinions without judging them.
- I will learn as much as I can by saving my socializing for “down time.”
Near the end of each class period, teachers can lead a reflection session with students. Possible reflection questions:
- What have you done so far today to follow the Social Contract? Be specific.
- What have you seen others do today that honors the Social Contract? Explain.
- What specific things will you do next period (or tomorrow) that fit the Social Contract?
WEEKLY OR MONTHLY
Written Social Contract reflection
Teachers can assign a short weekly or monthly writing assignment in which students reflect on one of more of the Social Contract principles. One school does this each Friday as part of the students' weekly letter home to parents.
Possible prompts:
- What are three common examples of school behaviors that line up with our Social Contract? Describe the behavior and explain how the behavior supports the Contract.
- Which of the Social Contract’s guidelines is easiest for you to follow? Explain.
- Which is most difficult? Explain.
- Assess how well you abide by our Social Contract. Support your answer with examples.
- Assess how well the class abides by our Social Contract. Provide detailed examples.
JANUARY
All-school celebration
Hold an all-school meeting that spotlights the Social Contract.
Some ideas:
- Students make and unveil posters or banners that remind everyone of the Contract’s agreements (afterward, these can be displayed in school, perhaps on a rotating basis to keep them fresh to viewers).
- Students create and act out short vignettes that dramatize realistic school behaviors that support the Contract (never allow them to act out unwanted behavior).
- Play Sing a Song, and have students make up songs with lyrics that support the rules (Heads or Tails works well, too). Before playing either game, have students give examples of behaviors during the game that would support the Social Contract, and have them explain their thinking. After playing, students pair up for a thirty-second conversation about how well they and the group followed the Contract during the game. Allow a few groups to share their thoughts with the whole group.
- To close, students can acknowledge each other for actions they take to live by the rules.
An effective Social Contract is well worth on-going investment to keep it alive and strong!
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About Scott Tyink
For 14 years, I taught adolescents in grades 5 through 8. I co-organized, directed, and taught in La Crosse, Wisconsin's first multiage middle-level charter school, where I developed curriculum that integrated arts and technology to inspire and challenge students. For more than ten years, I've helped to design and facilitate Developmental Designs workshops, consulted in middle schools, and coached teachers. I hold an Ed. D. from Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, California, where my focus of study was on altruism and altruists. Contact me at Origins@OriginsOnline.org.
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