A topical problem with Smith Elementary is the disproportionate receipt of subjective discipline referrals and subsequent punitive consequences by students of the African American background and those served by Special Education programs. This dangerous and discriminatory trend has been going on for three years already. It stems from natural shortcomings in teachers’ subjective and cultural perceptions of the relationship between educators and learners. The described issue has attracted the attention of both the government and district authorities and directed the school management to reform their approach to ensuring productive and healthy school discipline. The results of the current phase are the identified sources of the problem, the practical problem, and the established directions for work.
Judging by the mission of Smith Elementary, the goals of this organization are of altruistic and global nature. They intend to become a unique educational institution with a learning culture that will cultivate contributing global citizens. Among the values of this entity, one can find student-centered decision-making, open-mindedness, open communication, excellence as a virtue, integrity, and diversity. As one may have noted, Smith Elementary prioritizes the same values as the vast majority of other educational entities in America.
Most teachers are professionals with up to a decade of experience who adhere to the principles of equity, humanism, and inclusion. However, some of them take a punitive and reactive approach to behavioral infractions from students. The school serves a diverse population in terms of ethnicities, cultures, and languages. Most Smith Elementary students come from economically disadvantaged or disadvantaged family units. Politically, the school is accountable to the district authorities.
Leaders and management at Smith Elementary are aware of this discriminatory trend and are determined to eradicate it from teacher-student relationships. Teachers have an internal understanding of the disproportionate subjective disciplinary treatment as they are reactive actors in it, and many of them support the necessary reformation. Such a group of stakeholders as the parents of Smith Elementary Black students and those in Special Education seem to have little knowledge of the issue.
Fortunately, some supporting organizational factors present in the Smith Elementary setting that positively contribute to the change project described above. These include significant teacher expertise, assistance from district authorities, dominant culture of open-mindedness in students, and some experience of educators in proactive strategies to better classroom culture. The overall organizational mood about the need for a new equitable and non-discriminatory environment is noteworthy.
However, major structural problems exist, and these are significantly visible. These are Smith Elementary teachers’ underdeveloped knowledge and practical skills in non-reactive approaches to classroom culture creation, their ingrained reliance on ostracization-type punishments, and the non-participation of the parents of the subpopulations discussed. The second hurdle is the most difficult to overcome because it creates this “racial discipline gap where black students in particular experience more punitive discipline than any other racial group” (Hambacher, 2018, p. 102). Pupils, teachers, and parents, with the last two being problematic categories in this context, are those with which a collaboration of a reformative and innovative nature is planned.
Smith Elementary has a problem with the disciplinary treatment of Black learners and Special Education students as these two socio-ethnic groups receive disproportionately more subjective discipline referrals than others. The origins of this trend are professional habits, outdated teaching techniques, and cultural perceptions of educators. The developed solution consists of introducing theoretical models and supporting programs of cultural responsiveness, equity, and diversity into teaching practice. If not being treated, this problem of education and social, racial, and generational relationships will lead to further ostracization of the mentioned subpopulations, which keeps happening across the country, to Black students especially (Hambacher, 2018). The upcoming top-down intervention may set a precedent for developing a new academic methodology in educational management and teaching and start a wave of restructuring in other school organizations.
Reference
Hambacher, E. (2018). Resisting punitive school discipline: Perspectives and practices of exemplary urban elementary teachers. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 31(2), 102-118.