Coaches' Corner: Keeping the Social Contract Alive
Dear Coach Scott,
Last year, our school community was psyched about
the Social Contract we created. We especially liked the idea that students would
buy into following our guidelines because they helped create them, and we
especially liked how the Contract would become the authority, not us. We
celebrated its creation, posted it in every room and on the walls in many
hallways, and talked a lot initially among ourselves about how important it
would be to follow it and teach our students to follow it. Then, before anyone
realized it, it seemed to fall off everyone's radar. By November, the posted
signs were wilting, peeling off the walls, and looking pretty raggedy. We
teachers found ourselves back in our old behavior management "habits." I
personally found myself in several power struggles each day, exactly the type of
thing 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?
-Ruby in
Rochester
Coach Scott Says,
First, acknowledge your success.
You were able to get input from students and come to consensus on a set of
school-wide guidelines, no small achievement. Next year, focus on keeping your
Social Contract alive.
Build into this year's calendar some group
reminders about the Social Contract.
Try some of these ideas:
Social
Contract check-in during advisory
Run community-building meetings during
advisory in early October and early November (and each month that follows) that
include discussions about the status of the Social Contract. Possible questions:
How well is the Contract being followed by teachers? By students? Which
guidelines are working? Which ones are being ignored? How well are teachers
keeping the rules front and center for students? How much student thinking is
being done about following the Contract? When weaknesses are brought up,
possible solutions can be brainstormed by students and staff. You may tryout
some of the best of these ideas.
School-wide Social Contract
Day
In the middle of October and again in November, designate a
school-wide Social Contract Day to be honored by all teachers and students. On
Social Contract Day, teachers intentionally use reinforcing language that
invokes the Social Contract when they see students demonstrating behaviors that
follow the Contract. The success is recognized aloud to the group: "We are
following our guideline for respect right now because we are carrying on a
'blurt-free' whole-group conversation. Keep it up!" Teachers may challenge
themselves to use this type of positive recognition at least twice in each class
period. Students write down specific behaviors they'll exhibit during Social
Contract Day to support each of the agreements in the Social Contract, and these
are displayed.
Sample student statements:
- I will include others by inviting someone new to sit with me at lunch today.
- I will respect everyone and everything by listening to other students’ opinions without judging them.
- I will learn as much as I can today by saving my socializing for “down time.”
At 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?
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 a weekly
letter home to parents written by the students. Possible prompts:
- What are three common examples of school behaviors that are in line 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?
- Which is most difficult? Explain.
- Assess how well you are living according to our Social Contract. Support your answer with examples.
- Assess how well the class is living according to our Social Contract. Provide detailed examples.
All-school celebration
In January, hold an all-school meeting that
celebrates the Social Contract. Have students make and unveil banners that
remind the audience of the Contract’s agreements. Let them create and act out
short vignettes that dramatize realistic, everyday school behaviors that support
it. Play Sing a Song, and have students make up songs that include lyrics tied
to the rules. Alternatively, Heads or Tails works well. Before playing either
game, ask for students to volunteer examples of behaviors during the game that
support the Social Contract, and have them explain their thinking. After
playing, have students pair up and hold a thirty-second conversation about how
well they and the group did following the Contract during play. Allow a few
groups to share their thoughts with the whole group. To close, set up a
microphone so students can acknowledge each other based on things they see their
classmates doing to live by the rules. (See Games for
instructions to the activities mentioned above.)
Gain strength each
year
Finally, remember that growth is incremental. It takes time to
develop the teacher habit of invoking the Social Contract on a regular,
consistent basis. It takes years to change the culture of a school! If your
Contract remains “alive” next year for a few months longer than it did this
year, but then begins to fade, resuscitate it, and redouble your commitment to
it in year three!
Scott Tyink is an Origins Developmental Designs consultant.
Published April 2011
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