1CHAPTERONEThe Cultural Foundationsof Classroom ManagementSchools continually confront the problem of determining how toinsert about 100 pounds of student brain tissue (and accompa-nyingbodies)intoa1,000squarefootclassroomandthenhowtomanageitappropriatelyovera1,000hourschoolyearbiologi-cally,ecologically,anddevelopmentally.Sinceweeducatorsattempttoenhanceourstudentsabilitytosuccessfullyconfrontlifeschallenges,youdthinkthatstudentswouldbepleasedandappreciativeofoureffortsandsowouldparticipatejoyfullyinallclassroom activities. Think again.Classroom management is generally a major concern of begin-ningteachers(andalsooftheiradministrators),andmostteachersconsideritadifficultaspectoftheirassignmentthroughouttheirindividualcareers.Ourprofessionhasconsequentlydevelopedanextensiveclassroommanagementliterature.Someproposedpro-grams focus principally on institutional values, such as maintaininga smoothly functioning, relatively quiet classroom; others focus onthedevelopmentalneedsand/orlegalrightsofstudents;butmostattempttocreateareasonablebalancebetweeninstitutionalandpersonal needs.Insum,though,theclassroommanagementliteraturetendstoviewmanagementasanelementofschooladministration.Theeducators manage the students, who do the misbehaving. The real-ity, though, is that teacher and institutional misbehavior also occurs01-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 1frequentlyinaschool,anditsthecauseofsome(ifnotmuch)disruptive student misbehavior. So why do the educators get to makeallthemanagementdecisionsiftheyrepartofthemisbehaviorproblem?Thepoliticalgoalistorunschoolsasinexpensivelyandeffi-cientlyaspossible.Theprincipalpressureonstudentsisthustoperform,nottoenjoy.Furthermore,thecurrentpoliticallypowerfulbutbiologicallynaiveobsessionwithnarrowlydefinedhigh-stakesstandards and assessment programs that purport to precisely measurean imprecise brain simply exacerbates an already difficult situation.To complicate things even more, educators must now also con-siderrecentdevelopmentsinthebiologicalsciencesthatprovideintriguingnewperspectivesofstudentandteacherbehavior,mis-behavior,andclassroommanagement.Thesedevelopmentsfocusonsuchfactorsasinnatepredisposition,therelativeinteractivestrengthsofvariousneuralsystems,normalandabnormalfluctua-tionsinhormonalandneurotransmitterlevels,andstressmecha-nisms and processes. Knowing that a biochemical imbalance at leastpartially led to the inappropriate behavior of a teacher and/or studentcertainlydoesntsolvetheimmediatemanagementproblem,butknowing why generally leads to knowing how to. New creative andcompassionate approaches to classroom management will certainlyemerge over time out of this knowledge, just as they emerged in themanagementofmentalillness,onceresearchersandcliniciansunderstood its biological substrate.Thisbookwillthusfocusonhowourprofessionmightbegintodeveloppoliciesandpracticesthat(1)incorporateabiological/ecological perspective into classroom management and (2) shift thefocus of classroom management to that of a collaborative curricularlaboratory for developing social skills. It wont suggest a handful ofmagic procedures for getting students to behave. It will rather pro-videthefunctionalbiologicalbackgroundinformationonbehaviorand suggest intriguing exploratory metaphors and activities that youwill find useful as you begin to work with colleagues and students intheobservation,discussion,andinformalinvestigationofschoolbehaviorsthatwillleadyoutoabetterunderstandingofsocialbehavioranditsmanagement.Appropriatepracticalapplicationswillcertainlyemergeoutofsuchjointexploratoryefforts.Somemay emerge quickly, others years from now, but nothing will changeif we dont begin the process.2 A BIOLOGICAL BRAIN IN A CULTURAL CLASSROOM01-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 2Weneedtocontinuallyconsiderthatclassroommanagementisntsomethingtotallyseparatefromcurriculumandinstruction.Managementissuestendtofocusonbehavior,butmostschoolbehavioriscloselyassociatedwithcurricularandinstructionalissueswhich also have no magic solutions.Compare a cook and a chef. Both can create very nutritious anddelicious food, but they differ when things go wrong in preparation.For example, a recipe-driven cook who lacks an important ingredi-ent in the recipe cant proceed without it, but a chef who understandsthechemistryofingredientsandcookingprocessescanimagina-tively substitute for the missing ingredient. Similarly, cook-teacherscansuccessfullyfollowestablishedmanagementprocedures,buttheyrelimitedintheirabilitytoimprovisewhentheproceduresdont work. Conversely, chef-teachers understand both behavior andprocedures, and so they can successfully improvise when conditionsrequireit.Thisbookisthusforchef-teachers andapprenticechef-teachers whowanttogetbeyondtherecipeorientationthathasdominated classroom management for decades.Soasyoureadon,repress(atleastslightly)ourprofessionsalmostinnatetendencytoseekimmediatepracticalapplicationsofnew developments. Useful applications generally dont immediatelyemerge from major scientific developments. The DNA code was dis-covered in 1953, but most genetic engineering has occurred duringthispastdecade.Cloningdidntemergeuntil1997,andstemcellswerediscoveredattheturnofthecentury.Furthermore,itsquiteatripfromthetightlycontrolledvariablesofcognitivesciencelaboratory research to messy classroom research, where the variablesbounce off the walls.Practical applications? What are the practical applications of aninfant?Infantsarewet,noisypets,atleast20yearsfromaclearsense of how they will turn out. What we do with infants is observethemcarefullyandnurturethem.Wetryoutsuchthingsasmusiclessons and playing with balls if we note interest and ability, but wedont make wild promises about their accomplishments (except per-haps in family letters). As childhood merges into adolescence, realinterests and abilities become clearer, and we then invest more heav-ily and decisively in potential practical applications.Similarly with the brain sciencesin reality still in their infancy(butgrowingrapidly).Itsatimetoputourenergyintogettingacquainted with this scientific infant that will change our professionalCultural Foundations of Classroom Management 301-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 3livestoobserve,explore,andnurture.Ourdiscoveriesaboutourownchildrendontgenerallysurpriseusbecauseweveprovidedthemwiththeirgenes andtheirjeans.Similarly,manydiscoveriesfromthebrainsciencesdontsurpriseuseitherbecauseweeduca-torshavebeenworkingwitharoomfullofbrainsforalongtime,andalthoughwemaynotcompletelyunderstandneuralnetworksand neurochemicals, we do know a lot about how minds and bodiesfunction. Call it folklore knowledge if you wish, but our professionalinstincts have generally served us well. They thus provide us with asense of competence in our ability to go from where we are (in ourunderstanding of classroom behavior) to where we might be (in ourunderstanding of the biology of behavior).So for now, just relax with the broad concept of classroom man-agement (as difficult as it may be to relax with such an emotionallychargedissue).Realizethatwereinthisforthelonghaul.Thinkabouthowcurrentmanagementpracticesemergedandhowyoucametoyourownbeliefsaboutbehaviormanagement.Letyourmind fluctuate between what happens within the natural world andtheclassroomenvironment.Notesimilaritiesanddifferences.Consider how you might use things you learned in one environmentto enhance life in the other. Mostly, though, realize that the base ofour professional knowledge of behavior management is now shiftingfrom folklore to scientific knowledge, from coerced student behav-iortocollaborativedecisionmakingandthattherevolutionisoccurring on our watch.Itsoccurringonourwatchbecause(assuggestedabove)somuch of what we now know about the biology of our body and brainhasoccurredduringthepastdecade,amazingasthatmightsound.Soitsalmostamatterofourprofessionflyingblindtryingtodeterminewhattodoaboutscientificandrelatedculturaldevelop-ments while theyre still occurring.I firmly believe that the collaborative exploration of what to dois much more exciting for a teacher and class than being told what todobutifyoureallypreferaprescriptivebookthatexplicitlytellsyou how to manage your classroom, this books probably not for you.Tobetterunderstandtheemerging21st-centurybiological,cultural, and institutional revolution that is the focus of this book, itmightbeusefultobeginwithabitofhistoricalperspectivefromanothereducationalrevolutionrelatedtoclassroommanagementthat occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. The adage is that4 A BIOLOGICAL BRAIN IN A CULTURAL CLASSROOM01-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 4thosewhoignorehistoryaredoomedtorepeatit.Itsaculturaldevelopment that might be instructive on how we might effectivelyproceed in guiding the next centurys revolution.DEMOCRACYAND EDUCATIONIn retrospect, it seems such an obvious idea. Why, then, did it takeso long for someone to think of it and so much longer for people toaccept and incorporate it into our schools?By the beginning of the 19th century, the U.S. Constitution hadcodified the basic principles that were to define and govern our rep-resentative democracy. But it took almost 100 years for a dominantvoicetoarguethatthepoliciesandpracticesthatschoolsusetoinstructandmanagestudentsshoulddemonstratethedemocraticprinciples that future voters must master. Were a social species liv-ing in a democratic society, and the knowledge and skills that intelli-gent citizens need to function effectively in that setting arent innate.They must be explicitly taught and continuously experienced.JohnDeweysSchoolandSociety waspublishedin1899andDemocracyandEducation in1916.Deweybuiltonthepreviousworkofothers,suchastheEuropeaneducatorsJohannPestalozziandFrederichFroebel,buthebecamethe20thcenturyspowerfulAmerican voice in the educational revolution.Rereadinghisbooks,itallseemssological.Whywouldntafledgling democratic society demand that its public schools be labo-ratoriesfordemocraticbehaviortunedtotheculturalneedsandabilities of students? Why use the 12,000 hours that K12 studentsspend in school to demonstrate the competing authoritarian societalperspective that the founders of the United States rejected in the warforindependence?Oneexplanationisthatalthoughournationsstrengthandsuccesscamefromitscreativeandentrepreneurialspirit,wealsoneededalarge,compliantworkforcethatwouldfollow orders and stay on taskbehaviors that authoritarian schoolmanagementpracticeswouldhelpdevelop.Itsaperspectivethatwould appeal to business-oriented school boards.Still,onewouldthinkthatDeweysideasforparticipatoryclassroom management would have been enthusiastically embracedandinstitutedinademocracy,andinonewaytheywere.TheProgressive Education Movement led to a wide range of enthusiasticCultural Foundations of Classroom Management 501-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 5implementationstrategies(suchastheGaryPlan,theDaltonPlan,and the Winnetka Plan) that were widely hailed. I was born in 1927,and so I went to school during the period when these new approacheshad an opportunity to become integral to the schools. Unfortunately,my schools, like most other schools at the time, didnt function ondemocraticprinciples.Farfromit.Wedidntevenexplorerepre-sentative democratic values. Its not that they were bad schools, butdemocracywassomethingwestudiedincivicsclass,wherewelearnedtowritedownhowourtotalgovernmentwasorganizedbut we didnt learn how to democratically organize our small class-room community.Bymid-century,whenIenteredtheeducationprofession,Progressive Education was in serious declineseverely buffeted by itscritics.In1938,whenhewas79,JohnDeweypublished ExperienceandEducation, asomewhatpoignanttitleforabookinwhichheanalyzedwhatwentwrongwithhisdreamtoincorporatedemocracyinto education.To simplify a complex issue, Progressive Education tried to dotoo much too quickly; it didnt effectively provide teachers with theknowledge they needed to incorporate the ideas, allowing its criticsto redefine the movement and then criticize their own definition ofit. These same factors led to problems that other 20th-century educa-tional movements experienced, such as the science, math, and socialscienceprogramsofthe1960sand1970s;ValuesClarificationPrograms; and the Free School Movement.Theinterestingthingisthatnow,atthebeginningofthe21stcentury,manyofDeweyscurricular,instructional,andmanage-mentideashavequietlybeenincorporatedintoAmericanschools.Itstaken100yearsafterthemovementbegan,whichoccurred100yearsaftertheConstitutionwasinplace!Wecouldappropri-ately ask why it took so long.21ST-CENTURY CHALLENGESThisbookwillarguethatourprofessioniscurrentlyatarelatedtransformationalstate.Abiologicalsciencerevolutionhasbeenunder way for some timewith, as indicated above, a major escala-tionduringthispastdecade.Furthermore,itmightshortlyexplodewith important new perspectives of what it means to be human at the6 A BIOLOGICAL BRAIN IN A CULTURAL CLASSROOM01-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 6cellularandsystemslevels.Forexample,scientistsarecurrentlyimmensely interested in the development of a comprehensive braintheory that will be of the scientific magnitude of E = MC2, in that itwill spark a revolution in the brain sciences at the beginning of thiscenturythatwillbeanalogoustotherevolutioninthephysicalsciencesthatAlbertEinsteinsrelativitytheoriessparkedatthebeginningofthepastcentury.Itmayprofoundlyalterourviewofourselves, as democracy altered our view of society.Such a global brain theory will inevitably lead to the emergenceofthe21st-centuryversionsofsuchfolksasJohnDewey,JeanPiaget, and B. F. Skinnerwho will translate the biological theoriesintoteaching,learning,andclassroommanagementtheories.Andwhy cant you or one of your students become that person?Educators should thus begin now to explore how best to respondtothebiologicalsciencerevolution.Itwontgoawayifwejustignore it. This exploration should include studying the errors of pre-vious failed movements that sought to transform education, as wellasidentifyingeducationallysignificantcognitivesciencedevelop-mentsthatwillplayimportantrolesintheeducationaltheorythatwill emerge.And as if the biological revolution isnt enough to keep our pro-fession busy, a parallel revolution is occurring in computer technol-ogywhichhasgonethroughthreeseparaterevolutionsinthe30+yearssincethesiliconchipwasdeveloped:frommainframecomputer to personal computer to the Internet. And if you think thatthatstheendofthatrevolution,dreamon!Imaginetheclassroommanagementissuesthatcomputerswillraiseastheybecomemoreintegral to classroom activity.In Experience and Education, Dewey (1938) made a retrospec-tive examination of the Progressive Education Movement, the dom-inant educational movement of the 20th century. Our immediate taskistobeginaprospectiveexplorationofthebiologicalscienceandcomputer technology revolutionswhich may well spark the domi-nanteducationalmovementofthe21stcentury.Ittookalmost200yearsfordemocraticvaluestobegenerallyassimilatedintoclassroom life. Lets hope that the biological science and computertechnologydevelopmentsbegintobegenerallyincorporatedintoschools within the early years of the 21st century.Assuggestedabove,theexcitingthingisthatthisisoccurringonourwatch,andsotodayseducatorsgettoparticipateintheCultural Foundations of Classroom Management 701-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 7beginnings of all of the revolutionary excitement, turmoil, decisions,projects, plans, failures, and successes. Or else we can sit back andlet others do it. If you work with colleagues who plan to choose thelatterapproach,encouragethemtotakeearlyretirement,andsoopen up their professional spot for someone who will get involved.And dont criticize the educators of the past century for foot draggingif you similarly drag your 21st-century feet.Oneneverknowshowarevolutionwillevolve.CouldAlbertEinstein have predicted the mid-century dropping of atomic bombsandtheend-of-the-centuryvideogames?Atomicenergyandtheelectronic revolution both emerged out of his theories. The Chinesewordforstress hastwocharacters.Onemeansdanger;theothermeans opportunity. Expect both within this emerging revolution ineducational policy and practice.Culturalandtechnologicalchangesoccureithertop-downorbottom-up. Top-down means that an organization (such as a corpo-ration or government) decides to change something and then simplydecrees the change. Legislative decisions are a good example of howtheprocessunfoldsingovernment.Thechangegetsimplementedvia majority vote, but it generally takes court cases and subsequentlegislativetinkeringbeforeamajortop-downchangeachievesrealpolitical consensus.Bottom-upchangesalsobeginwithsomeonesidea.Ifitsagood idea, it will gradually and informally spreadotherwise it willdisappear.ThegoodideasalsotendtochangeinanalmostDarwinian manner as they spread. An innovative idea may eventu-ally achieve widespread use, but no one person or group will gener-ally have completely designed its final state. No one owns it, and noone can regulate it.The current standards/assessment movement is a good exampleofalegislativelymandatedtop-downinnovation.Folkshavetinkered with it for years, but its achieved no widespread politicalconsensusaboutitsvalueorexecution,andeducatorswhoareexpectedtoimplementitareamongitsmostseverecritics.Top-downinnovationsgenerallyrequirecoercedcontinuedregulationand enforcement and often breed hostility.Twoexcellentrecentexamplesofverysuccessfulbottom-upinnovationsarerockmusicandtheInternet.Rockmusicdidntbegin in school music programs (which tended to focus on playingnotesthatdeadguyscomposed).Youngpeoplewantedtoplay8 A BIOLOGICAL BRAIN IN A CULTURAL CLASSROOM01-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 8guitars and improvise, and since school music programs didnt focusoneither,theyplayedingaragesandbasements.Theadultsocietywas appalled at the music because it seemed that most rock groupsknew only three chordsand loud. But one could appropriately askwhytheschoolmusicprogramshadnttaughtthemaboutguitarsandcompositionandimprovisationiftheywanteditdoneright.Rock music thus developed according to its own rules, and if some-onetodayobjectstothemusicandlyrics,thatsjusttoobad.Theadult society doesnt own rock music and its variants and thereforecant control it.TheInternetbegansimilarly.Folksinitiallysimplywantedtodevelopasimpleinexpensiveproceduretoconnectscholarsandresearchers.Thatconceptexpandedrapidly.Thousandsofnerdsintent on expanding and simplifying the system gradually and infor-mally merged their creative efforts into the Internet and all the mar-velous communication capabilities it has. And the nice thing againis that no one owns it or can tax or easily regulate it. Rock music andthe Internet are thus popular democracy at its innovative best.So dont complain if current school policies and practices frus-trate you. Begin a bottom-up revolution within your own classroomor school, and nurture it to enhance its further growth. The multipleintelligences movement, cooperative learning, and portfolio assess-ments are examples of such emerging successful bottom-up educa-tional innovations. It can and has been successively done.COLLABORATIVE CLASSROOM MANAGEMENTClassroommanagementprovidesthebestvenueforinitiatingamajor bottom-up educational change. It isnt part of the high-profilecurricular areas or of the politically charged state standards/assess-ment program, and it occurs continuously throughout the school day.Furthermore,likeparenting,folksgenerallyrealizethattheresnosingle way to do it. Classroom management thus provides teacherswith a great opportunity to become subversive under the educationalradar screen!Acollaborativeclassroommanagementmodelalsooffersthebestvenueforinsertingtheexplorationofimportantsocialskillsintotheschoolexperience.Asindicatedearlier,schoolprovidesacontinuing12,000-hourlaboratoryexperiencewithserialsetsofCultural Foundations of Classroom Management 901-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 9nonkinwhohavedifferentvalues,interests,andabilities.Itstheonly such broad, extended opportunity young people have to exploresocialdevelopment.Tohavemasteredcollaborativeskillsinademocracyisespeciallyimportantwhenpoliticalallegiancesareevenlydivided.Forexample,the1999closeandcontestedU.S.presidential election pushed democratic integrity and restraint to theedge. What a tragedy it is to continue to squander such an opportu-nityforstudentcivicdevelopmentonanauthoritarianclassroommanagement model.Thesefactorsenhancetheconstantnonthreateningexplorationof collaborative classroom management possibilities. Thousands ofteachers and students imagining and trying out new ideas and shar-ing them with others will eventually develop creative breakthroughsthat will spread personally and electronically through the profession.Thinkofalltheinnovationsincomputersoftwarethatemergedinrecentyearsasfolkstinkereduntiltheyfoundabetterwaytodosomething.Dontbedissuadedbythosewhoseecollaborativeclassroommanagement as an abrogation of professional responsibility. Remindthem that the U.S. war for independence was fought to ensure par-ticipatorygovernanceandthatconceptoughttopermeatemanage-mentwhereverandhoweverpossibleinoursociety.Collaborationdoesntmeanalicensetorunamok.Democraciesdohaveregula-tions and sanctions.To those who tell you that students will misbehave if we dontcontrol them, ask if their students always behave now. Remind themalso that a democracy is characterized as much by disagreement asbyagreement.Ourcountryhaslearnedhowtoagreeanddisagreeongovernmentalmanagementissueswithoutbeingundulydis-agreeable, and classroom life can function similarly if we commit tothat goal.Misbehavior isnt necessarily negative. Misbehavior is to a class-room what pain is to a body. Pain is a diagnostic system that evolvedin our body to keep our brain informed about the location and natureof potentially dangerous events (such as damage to a foot, althoughtherestofthebodymaybeOK).Muchclassroommisbehaviorissimilarlydiagnostic.Acting-outstudentsareinformingtheteacherthat the lesson isnt working with them (although it may be fine andfunfortherestoftheclass).Thatsuseful,albeitoftendistressinginformation for the teacher. Citizen protests and demonstrations are10 A BIOLOGICAL BRAIN IN A CULTURAL CLASSROOM01-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 10similarly stressful to political leaders, but its folly to view them onlyin negative terms or to ignore or repress them.Itsalsonotagiventhatlearningcanonlyoccurinsmoothlyfunctioning,relativelyquietsettings.Smallchildreneasilymastercomplex video gamesand such electronic environments are noisyand confusing. Adults are similarly fascinated by sporting events inwhichplayershavetothinkclearlyandquicklyinnoisy,chaoticsituations. This doesnt suggest that classrooms should be continu-ally noisy and chaotic but rather that we probably ought to begin tothink out of the box about the range of potentially positive classroomconditions that students should experience as they learn.Itsimportant,whencontemplatingacollaborativeclassroommanagement model, to realize that its not the perfect solution to allmanagement problems. For example, while diagnostic pain and mis-behaviorareuseful,chronic painandmisbehaviorarent.Studentswhohavecontinuingdisruptivebehaviorproblemsmaynotrelateeasilytoacollaborativemodel,buttheadultversionsofsuchstudentsoftendontrelatewelltotheirdemocraticresponsibilitieseither.Democraticsocietieshavecoercivesystemsforsuchfolks(prisonbeingtheadultversionofchildhoodtime-out).Ateacherusingacollaborativemanagementmodelwillcertainlyreprimandandpunishstudentsonoccasioniftheybehaveinaphysicallydangerousorculturallyinappropriatemanner.Democracieshaveboth collaborative legislatures and coercive police.Theproblemwithanauthoritarianmodelisthatitsdesignedprincipally around the misbehavior of a small number of the studentsin a class. Most students relate reasonably positively to school. Anauthoritarian model requires the many students who are cooperativetooperateunderrestrictionsneededbecauseoftheuncooperativefew. A collaborative management model focuses on the developmen-tal needs of the many students who cooperate and deals separately ifnecessary with the few who dont.Iindicatedearlierthattheauthoritarianmanagementmodelprobablyemergedinpartbecauseoursocietyneededacompliantworkforce.The19thand20thcenturieswereindustrialized,andmuch of our huge countrys energy was expended on manufacturingand moving objects. Workers mastered a trade and often stayed witha company for many years.The 21st century begins differently. Many in my own extendedfamily design and move information rather than objects. Many dontCultural Foundations of Classroom Management 1101-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 11go toworkbutratherwork(oncomputers)athomeoratleastremovedfromthebuildingwheretheiremployerislocated.Andmanyareself-employed.Thosewhoworkforsomeoneelsedontexpecttostaywithoneemployerthroughouttheircareer.Iexpectthatyourfamilycircleissimilar.Whatthissuggeststomeisthatyoungpeopletodayneedtolearnnotonlyhowtobereasonablycompliant but also how to become self-reliant. They dont need to betold what to do but rather need to learn how to become self-starters.Theyneedtolearnhowtomanagetheirenergy,space,time,andmovementswithinbiologicallimitationsandculturalexpectations.For all these reasons, a collaborative classroom management modelis an old idea whose time has truly and finally come.So begin exploring collaboration wherever youre comfortable,and follow your own trajectory. Share what youre doing with othereducators, and try out ideas that you get from them. No bureaucracycan stop thousands of educators (or budding musicians or computernerds) intent on improving the current system. Dont be discouragedthatbottom-upchangestaketime.TodayscomputersandtheInternet (and rock music, for all that) are considerably different fromwhat they were even 5 years ago. Realize that were in this for thelong haul. Recall John Deweys regret that he tried to do too muchtoo fast.Thisbookwillhelpyoubegin,andChapters4through8willfocusspecificallyonthedynamicsofacollaborativeclassroommanagement model. On the other hand, an exploration doesnt needa manual and explicit directions. All it needs is your strong desire toventureintosomethingdifferentandthecollaborativeimaginationto figure out how to do it.MyjourneydownthispathbeganwhenIwasasixth-gradeteacher.Derekwasabrightstudentwhocontributedmuchtotheclass. At the end of the year, he told me that he had enjoyed the yearand that I had been a good teacher. He then smiled and continued,You always let us vote on things, and we always voted the way youwanted us to vote.I thanked him, but I was devastated later when I thought aboutwhathehadsaid.IhadntrealizeduntilthatmomenthowIhadmanipulatedmystudentsallyear(andduringprioryears).Mypolicywastoencourageclassdiscussionoftheissueathandandthen,beforetheyvotedonit,tosummarizethevariouspositionsexpressed.DerekwassmartenoughtorealizethatItypically(and12 A BIOLOGICAL BRAIN IN A CULTURAL CLASSROOM01-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 12probablyunwittingly)biasedthevotethroughmysummary.Hewasntangrybecausehegenerallyagreedwithme,butheletmeknow that he knew what I was doingeven though I evidently didntrealize it.WhatIwasdoing,ofcourse,hadlittletodowithdevelopingdemocratic skills in my students. Rather, I was teaching them howto be influenced by celebrity endorsements in advertising.Fromthenon,Iaskedthestudentswhoheldapositiononanissuetosummarizetheirpositionpriortoourvote.SoIlearnedsomething. You will too.Cultural Foundations of Classroom Management 1301-Sylwester.qxd03-01-03 11:56 AMPage 13