Cultivating a Culture of Respect & Unity

Posted: February 14, 2018

By Rossana Villaflor, Middle School Art Teacher

Too often students are not actively involved in fostering or enforcing the rules and values that keep a school’s culture positive. For the most part, they are given the same set of rules to follow since kindergarten and take a passive role in following them.

It’s no secret that students who have developed mutual respect and supportive relationships with each other learn best together. When students are encouraged to gain a better understanding of themselves and others, they inevitably develop respect for one another and promote a healthier learning environment. This means less bickering, less bullying, and less physical altercations. Once respect is established in the classroom, there is more room to enjoy the learning process and definitely more room for creativity and fun to take place.

In the Overcoming Obstacles activity “Let’s Make A Deal,” from the “Getting Started” Module in the middle school curriculum, my students discussed what is important to them and how their values can impact the culture of our classroom, and ultimately our school community. We infused this activity into our collaborative mosaic art lesson. Using foam fragments and irregular cutout papers, and cutout hands by each student, the class constructed an arrangement of the pieces that formed a giant peace sign.

Each cutout hand contains the student’s name and one or two rules that the student values most in the classroom. As each student contributed their uniquely designed cutout hand onto the mosaic, he or she gave the class a brief explanation of why they chose that particular rule and then shared a specific example of how they will personally bring that rule to action in the art room.

One of the students in my fifth-grade class, Paul, wrote “Listen to each other” on his cutout paper hand. He told the class that he doesn’t like it when he is talking and people are not listening to him. He also added that he would put this rule into action by making sure he waits until the person is finished talking before he raises his hand to respond or ask a question.

I thought this was brave of Paul to share this statement since he has behaved in a very reserved manner and is easily irritated by loud sounds or noises. It was really good to hear him assert how he would like to be treated, and to also pledge to treat others in the same way.

When we finished our giant mosaic, we displayed it in front of the school building for a whole month. When other students viewed the artwork, many were asking if they, too, could create one for their own classroom. My third-grade class decided to create a huge heart mosaic of their most valued class rules. After the month was over, we moved the peace mosaic back into our art room where it will always be visible and will serve as a colorful and vibrant reminder of our pact and the mutual respect we developed with each other.

It all comes down to this: respect is a non-negotiable rule. When respect is cultivated, trust begins to build, and when there is mutual trust, students and teachers may open the doors to a more enjoyable educational experience. Students need to be able to trust that the teacher will do everything in their power to support their educational needs and keep them safe. At the same time, teachers need to be able to trust that students will cooperate and follow the school’s rules to ensure everyone’s safety and well-being.

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