Oakes and Lipton Ch. 7
The overriding theme of this chapter, on classroom management, is that children should be engaged in caring, respectful and democratic relationships. I couldn’t agree more. I do think that most teachers are by nature, caring people. It only follows that if one is caring, one is also respectful. The democratic part is where I think some teachers part ways with the thoughts of Oakes and Lipton. As discussed in this chapter, school discipline at the turn of the century resembled the way those who worked in factories were managed. These days, we have a hard time imagining such strict control. When I first started teaching, in the late 80’s in Birmingham, corporal punishment was alive and well, but worse than that, intimidation and public humiliation abounded. Students who misbehaved were sent down to the principal’s office for a spanking. (I was not a classroom teacher; so luckily, I had no part in this.) I had a hard time dealing with witnessing teachers humiliate and intimidate students. Had I not been so young and naïve, I hopefully would have tried to do something about this. I’ve often thought about how discouraged those students who lived in poverty were before they even stepped foot into the school, and then to have the teachers beat them down even more…I hope and pray that this no longer goes on at the school where I taught. Hopefully, those teachers have retired and some new teachers like Oakes and Lipton highlight in this chapter are now building those children up and helping them believe that they can do anything! I love that Paley’s book, You Can’t Say You Can’t Play, was discussed in this chapter. I read it and loved it! The premise is, children are simply not allowed to turn a classmate away that wants to play with them. Oakes and Lipton say that tolerating rejection is not a minor issue, and I agree! One other point…I have noticed that over the years, since I’ve become a better teacher, I’ve had fewer discipline problems. I do tend to agree that with effective teaching, classroom management becomes more of a non-issue.
By: Sandy on February 21, 2008 
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