And what about discipline?

As you may already know, I stopped teaching a few years ago to join the Optania team and create technology tools that truly meet the practical needs of schools. Since then, I have been writing about teaching, education, and everything else that I have always been passionate about in my former profession to realize something: once a teacher, always a teacher.

I have been writing blogs for the last year and a half, but I've never dared to raise the delicate subject of classroom discipline. Maybe I did not know how to approach it well, maybe I was afraid to make judgments about methods used in classrooms, maybe I was afraid to express myself badly ... Several reasons have prevented me from talking about it. Today, I’m daring.

I say that it’s a delicate subject, yet discipline is part of the reality of teachers who, on a daily basis, are confronted with students testing the boundaries of adults. Teachers must teach the social boundaries to respect, in addition to skills and knowledge. However, I still think that talking about discipline today can be a difficult subject to raise, because each of us has his or her own idea about the best methods to manage a group. But is there really only one good way to do it, or could each person discover his or her own method? For each teacher his own classroom management system?

Over the years, every teacher develops methods to manage their classroom. I don’t think that my methods are better than others. However, I want to talk about them today as I believe that they were well linked to my pedagogy and my personality. It is very important that the person doing the discipline is comfortable with his or her own methods. Depending on the case, the student will inevitably feel your lack of confidence in your method or your hesitation... The methods used are also a reflection of your personality and should be harmonious with where you are comfortable to go in terms of disciplinary management. It is important not to impose one that imprisons us in a personality that is not ours, because "you can’t stop true colors from shinning through". If you feel sequestered by your discipline and sometimes deviate from it, the students in your classroom will not know where they stand.

In my classroom, I regularly used (not to say always) project-based pedagogy and I built a climate of socio-constructivism to work with my students. It would have been contradictory to my pedagogy to introduce a regime of terror in my classroom and to ban any sound during work periods. My students needed to talk to each other in order to develop the different aspects that we had to work on for the different projects that we were doing.

Right from the beginning of the year, I would explain to my students the importance of respect. Ha! Respect ... it can be a bit fuzzy, but being myself a role model of what I needed from my students and setting certain routines, I could help them better understand what I meant by respect. Respect for other students, respect for other groups around the classroom, respect for other teachers, self-respect, respect for me.

I have always been rather lenient about silence, sitting, chewing gum, highlighter colors, and so on. I preferred to work on other aspects of the personality of my students. I encouraged them to speak, to express their opinion, to work in teams, to get out of their comfort zone, to confront the ideas of others. I have always been convinced that my classroom management should not be used to castrate the temperament of my students, but rather to allow them to be aggravated while considering others. And so to express themselves and assert themselves, as they will be inclined to do so in adulthood!

The choice of setting up desks in islands, onion rows, or otherwise was determined by what assignment we did and nothing else. The need for silence, talking with peers and debating was also decided upon what we were doing in class. Finally, the way my students worked and the set up was always chosen based on what we were going to do: make a team project, write an essay for the regional newspaper, do a test, and so on.

I do not think that my way of managing my classroom was the best. However, I know that it fitted me perfectly and that my students felt comfortable in my interactions with them, because I never hid behind my mask of discipline. By being myself, I hope that I have allowed them to discover themselves and to learn to work with the strengths and weaknesses of others!

Each teacher has his or her unique personality. Each teacher has a unique discipline method. No one should be placed in a box, but rather seek to create unique management methods that are unique to their character, while, of course, respecting students' rights and freedoms, as well as their responsibilities and duties.