The Quality School, by William Glasser

Reflections by Karen Rigdon

In the chapter entitled, Building a Friendly Workplace, Glasser states that courtesy is the core of how a lead-manager deals with the workers and that an atmosphere of courtesy should prevail in schools as well as workplaces. To stress this would eliminate the need to make numerous dont do this and dont do that rules because common sense would dictate as to whether a behavior was courteous or not.

Glasser recommends keeping the rules few and simple. They are established through discussions with the workers and students. A critical part of the discussions would be to determine what should be done if a rule is broken. Another goal is to aim for a non-punitive system that is replaced by problem solving methods.

I was drawn in by Glassers views on the teacher-pupil relationship. He encourages educators to share bits of their personal stories and struggles with their students so that they become experienced as a need-satisfying friend rather than an adversary with whom to engage in power struggles. Students also will be more likely to want to do quality work if they feel they are friends with the teacher. Students feel empowered by being allowed to help make rules, give feedback as to how learning will proceed, and are included in the evaluation process.

-- Anonymous, December 20, 1998