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We sat in the thick of a heated discussion. Faced off in our groups of four, we discussed what approaches our schools would take in response to a student repeatedly refusing to comply with a teacher’s request to do their work. “We can’t expect the same level of behavior for all students. We need to be culturally responsive. Why push the issue? The kid isn’t really hurting anyone by not working.”  

I sat back, mouth a gape. Did I just hear what I think I heard?  And if I did, what does this mean for education? What does it mean for classroom culture? What does it mean for the future of our country? And no, that final question is not an exaggeration!

Not. Hurting. Anyone…?

I begged to differ. Students refusing to do their work hurts a lot of people First, and foremost, the student is hurting him or herself! 

Even more importantly, a student who is off-task is hurting the classroom culture. This impacts others’ learning.  I liken this to the sociological experiments done with graffiti in New York. People were far more likely to commit crimes against social norms (littering) if one social norm was already broken (graffiti present). One off-task student is setting the stage for more poor behavior choices from others. It is simply not a good norm to allow in your classroom. It is not a behavior I am willing to ignore. 

I then stepped back to think about what my discussion mate’s use of the words, “culturally responsive” in regard to our classrooms. Does being culturally responsive fall along racial lines? Ethnic lines? Religious beliefs? How about socio-economic divisions? Trauma histories? Does being culturally responsive apply to only how we deliver content, or we going to apply it to what behavior expectations we hold for students as well? 

As educators, we have no problem with the concept of holding high academic standards for our students. We are told constantly that we must believe every child can succeed in learning the knowledge we deem imperative to being successful in our culture; basic math, writing to communicate, appreciation of the arts, etc. When faced with students who struggle, we know it is up to us to find the key to help them unlock their learning. Our belief in our students’ ability to learn hugely impacts outcomes—check out the Pygmalion Effect. We don’t move the target, we change how we are aiming for it. Adjusting my aim may involve being culturally responsive. Are there ways I can use their cultural experiences to connect my students more deeply to the learning?

And yet, when it comes to behavior, some educators have no problem shifting their expectations. Recall my discussion mate’s words, “We can’t expect all students to behave.” Why it is we are willing to collectively agree on the content standards our students should attain to be successful in our society, but struggle with agreeing to behaviors students will need to be successful in our society? 

We should not be shifting our expectations of behaviors. We should be getting immense amounts of training to guide our work as we aim toward high behavior expectations for all students. If the state truly wants to end the preschool-to-prison pipeline, it needs to fund and provide the training of teachers to do so. Don’t just throw new discipline policies at schools, put up a Menu of Best Practices and Strategies for us to read over, throw in the words “cultural responsiveness” and expect us to sort it out! 

Otherwise, we are left with discussion mates who believe somehow not addressing the behaviors is somewhere in the best practices and that they are being culturally responsive by doing so.  

By the way, that discussion was among policy-making administrators. Yes, this thinking can affect our nation.