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"A most exciting resource book which includes ideas, techniques, and strategies that have proved successful in building a climate of caring." --Frank Wippel, Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Diocese of Kalamazoo, Michigan "An excellent addition to that small list of books which successfully bridge the gap between theory and practice." --William Purkey, Alliance for Invitational Education, University of North Carolina |
One way our classroom teachers arrange their minds is to see classrooms as labs -- labs in responsibility and labs in cooperation. By lab we mean the typical laboratory definition, as in science lab.
Science labs are purposefully set up so children have experiences that invite them to learn through the process of mistakes, adjustments, and rediscovery. I remember working with a partner in eighth-grade science class using batteries, wires and bulbs. We were trying to get the bulb to light up. We would touch certain wires to the bulb and battery and then observe. Nothing. We'd try other wires. Still nothing. Finally, after several tries, we stumbled onto the right combination. The bulb went on. We wrote that down in our workbooks and proceeded to the next step.
The lab was set up so that we learned from our mistakes. Mistakes weren't viewed as bad. They were simply seen as one of the steps in the process of learning.
One way to look at the classroom is to see it as a lab in responsibility. As a teacher it's possible for you to see the classroom as a series of responsibility-practicing situations. If you arrange your mind to perceive the classroom that way, then you create situations where children practice responsibility. You help them process and learn from their mistakes, and you create more situations for children to practice.
You can choose to see classrooms as labs where children learn lessons in responsibility or you can choose to see classrooms as places where mistakes in responsibility are not supposed to happen. Either way, your behavior follows your perception.
