David Greene: Building a Culture of Respect
David Greene taught high school social studies for 38 years in New York. He has authored a new book, Doing the Right Thing; A Teacher Speaks, which shares valuable lessons for teachers and policymakers alike. Here is an excerpt, on the subject of building respect and rapport with students.
Let's start with kids. For them, respect is as important as motivation, often more so. I am not talking about their respect for teachers. They respect those who respect them. Don't get me wrong. They want structure and authority. But they need to know that their teachers understand their "code of the street", wherever that street is, as much as teachers need to reinforce the code of the school. As Elijah Anderson wrote in Code of the Street (1999), "Respect becomes critical....Much of the code has to do with achieving and holding respect. And children learn its rules early." That respect is from their peers, who they have to live with outside of your class and the school. "The street serves as a mediating influence under which children may have to reconsider and rearrange their personal orientations....Adolescents everywhere are insecure and trying to establish their identities....In poor, inner-city neighborhoods, verbal prowess is important for establishing identity...the need for being in physical control of at least one portion of one's environment becomes internalized."
In the streets and in schools, Anderson asserts that, "even small children test one another, pushing and shoving...ready to hit other children over matters not to their liking." Why? To maintain respect. "By the fourth grade, enough children have opted for the code of the street that it begins to