January 1, 2026

Who Gets to Decide? - Part 2

Intellectually vibrant classrooms are distinguished by teachers who do a lot more asking than telling. Their motto when confronting challenges or planning lessons is "Bring the kids in on it!" Regular class meetings offer a significant role for students to reflect on "how we want our class to be" (rather than focusing on specific rules). This second of a two-part episode digs deeply into strategies for supporting student autonomy and then explores some of the structural and psychological reasons why some teachers are reluctant to move in this direction. It's tough to give up control, but that's when the learning really starts.

RESOURCES:

Daphne Blunt Bugental et al., “Who’s the Boss?", Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 72 (1997): 1297-1309

Child Development Project, Ways We Want Our Class to Be: Class Meetings That Build Commitment to Kindness and Learning (Developmental Studies Center, 1996) [https://tinyurl.com/4zkptxec]

 

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ART: Abi Kohn