Teaching Students Behavioral Standards

“Two Teachers and a Student Standing on One Leg”
This afternoon was the first All School Assembly. We had all SFDS students from first grade to eighth grade together in the gym. As Head of School I am responsible for setting the tone and setting behavior standards for students. Therefore, after leading a few call and response cheers, (Day School is what? Dynamite!), I told the students a fable. I believe telling stories ignites the imagination and our emotions. We remember a story and its meaning far more than a lecture on the rules or a listing of the punishments for disobedience. This is the fable I told. It is inspired from a story in the Old Testament.

In a small village a long time ago there were two teachers whose reputations had spread far and wide. Students would come from all over the world to learn from them. Students would often have to compete to get into their school, sit in their classes, and listen to the wise teachers. Both teachers were helping young boys and girls become good people. Not only were the students learning science and math and how to read and write, but also how to lead an ethical and honorable life, how to do the right thing.

One teacher had a reputation for teaching a long list of rules and regulations. If the students could just learn all the rules and always obey them, they would always be doing the right thing. While it was hard for the students to learn all 512 rules, the teacher was very skilled at disciplining them and making sure they paid attention in class. She was actually quite intimidating. And the students did learn the rules and regulations.

The other teacher had a more discussion oriented inquiry-based instructional philosophy! Students were given complex situations and asked to decide what was the right thing to do. The students would sometimes disagree with one other and become involved in heated debates. This was hard and confusing for the students, but the teacher was skilled at helping them find common ground. And the students did learn to make decisions about what was the right thing to do.

One selfish and arrogant young person refused to go to school. His parents begged and nagged him to go. So, one day just to get them to stop nagging him, he agreed to speak to each teacher to see which school he might want to attend. He approached the two teachers and asked them, "If you are so smart, tell me all I need to know to be a good person while I am standing here on one foot.” Of course, his parents were very upset that he would be so rude to these two highly respected teachers in the community.

The rules and regulations teacher was shocked by the question and became very angry. She started yelling at the kid, screaming that it would take years and years of disciplined study to learn all the rules. Didn’t he realize there were 512 rules? She couldn’t possible tell him anything while he was standing in front of her on one leg. The student just stood there, hopping on one leg and waiting for an answer. The teacher, frustration mounting, started beating him and chased him away.

Then the student approached the other teacher and again, standing on one leg, asked the same question. “Can you tell me while I am standing here all I need to know to be a good person?” The teacher might have been shocked and insulted but she did not show it. She paused and scratched her chin. She also stood on one leg along side the student. She thought for a few moments. And then thought some more. “That is a very interesting question,” she commented to the student. “I’ve never really thought about what is the most important idea I could teach you.” She was very curious.

The student was having difficulty not falling down. His one leg was getting tired, and a pain was moving up his leg. But while he was still standing the teacher did give an answer. She said it all comes down to “ . . . , and all the rest is commentary, go and learn”

At the end I did not tell the students what the teacher said. Instead, I asked them to think about what the teacher could have said. I called on two girls and two boys to come and tell me what they thought. They came up to me from the audience and whispered their ideas in my ear. I did not tell the audience what they said.

At the end of the assembly, I asked each of the students to go back to their classrooms and discuss possible answers with their teachers. The classes will then choose the answer that best represents their group and e-mail it to me. At next week's assembly I will reveal all of their answers. I will also reveal what I would have said to the student on one leg, were I the teacher confronted by an arrogant but questioning young person.

I encourage you to have a family discussion about this fable using the following two questions as prompts:

What do you think the teacher said?
What other lessons can we learn from this fable?

Please post your reponses to these questions on this blog.