Embedding Social Responsibility into School Culture

ROARS -the workshop-
RESPECT
OWNERSHIP
ATTITUDE
RESPONSIBILITY
SAFETY

A champion teacher who integrates ROARS

Students say….

This is your senior teacher…the skeptic

AGENDA
What does a ROARS school look like?

It’s all about the relationships…..
What kind of community do you want?
what are you willing to do?

12 Steps to Roars

Group work! Pick one value: what is the behaviour? Report out.

How we maintain it, Roars day, Roars club, getting feedback from students, Roars Rehab
How we support it, covering all aspects: athletics, announcements, etc….
training, what part does Admin play? What is a ROARS visit to the office?
!

You can do it! And now I’ll sing for you…..

A couple of stories
The effect moves outward:
Regular Grade 9 story
Grade 11 story: often troubled
Grade 12 story: way troubled, and new

THREE underlying principles
1) INTENTIONALITY
You will see that nothing is left to chance: we adopt the principles of ROARS wherever we can to give students and staff the greatest chance for success

2) RELATIONSHIPS ROARS takes advantage of a natural order: kids want structure and order, and recognize the natural rights of adults to create this. The second part of the equation is that kids need nurturing relationships with adults, and will work hard to get and maintain them.

RELATIONSHIPS part 2
You can have a great school if you have great relationships
You can have an even greater school if you have EBS AND relationships
But EBS alone will not be enough to make a great school…

3) Common language
Use the same language everywhere to mean the same thing (It’s a nice touch for academics as well)
We assume students “know” what is expected, after all they’ve been in school for 7 or 8 years before you get them…but…each class is like a new universe…with completely different rules

Adult behaviours
If you want particular behaviours from students, what behaviours do you need to practice?
Don’t walk away
Keep your school “tight”
Accept the consequences yourself for communal standards: eg cell phones in classes, tardiness etc.

Step 1 – Invite someone to speak to the staff who has had success with EBS.
Step 2 – Be open to the possibility that this just might work.

Step 3 – As a staff, brainstorm words that embody the type of community you aspire to create.
Step 4 – Form a committee of key students, staff, parents and support workers (3-5 of each faction).

Step 5 – Give the committee one day to accomplish the following:
Choose an acronym (The acronym should be no longer than 5 letters and should be relatable).
Create the Rubric (a maximum of 3 expectations per square).

Step 6 – Copy and laminate the Rubric with the expectation that it will be posted in every room of the school.
Step 7 – Put the rubric in the student agenda.
Step 8 – Print “reward”cards (TLC).

Step 9 – The September Blitz!
. In every class for the first 2 weeks of school, every teacher will go over the rubric with their students and apply it to their own classroom expectations.
Get the Drama students to create scenes that represent each aspect of the acronym and have them perform their scenes at grade assemblies to explain the revolution. It is also extremely helpful to create a cheer for the acronym or a song.
Use the language in the rubric as often as possible.
Become engaged and notice all behaviour, call students out by drawing their attention to the rubric and acronym and reward students with the cards when they display the behaviour that exemplifies the new expectations

Step 10 – Target those grade 8’s because they will be your greatest allies in the future. Be patient, because it will take a full cycle to get the message across completely.
Step 11 – Be vigilant. The new language needs to be used in order for it to be effective in the long term. And every year, you’ll have new students who need to learn what your community is all about.

Step 12 – Take care of each other. Give a reward card to your fellow staff members when they go above and beyond. Remember that you are all on the same team, staff and students alike, working together for the greater good.

Maintaining ROARS-some ideas
Create a vernacular for your acronym, example: Roarsalicious.
Art projects that reflect your community goals.
Writing assignments that explore community issues and needs.
Have a day that celebrates your new code of conduct with games and activities.
Create catch phrases and slogans.
Make t-shirts, buttons and stickers
Have a reward card draw at the end of every week for prizes.
A marketing class could “market” the new code of conduct.
Have a reward card draw at the end of staff meetings where a teacher gets to win a prize.
Make posters.
Put up quotes in the classroom that support the acronym.
Have a display case dedicated to the code of conduct.
ROARS club
ROARS rehab for kids who’ve gotten in trouble (always be about reparation)
Create a specific ROARS period to deal with particular issues

Sustaining ROARS (Admin)
ROARS Training for all new teachers (whenever they come in)
(at Tupper this is done by a combination of teacher and students)
ROARS skits at the beginning of the year in assemblies

Rewards cards draw every Friday
ROARS training for new students
ROARS scholarship
Annual all school ROARS period when students and staff work in small groups to review rubric, survey about ROARS. (the Ministry expects an annual review of Code of Conduct)

R and R” ROARS Rehab for students who have gotten into trouble in the community
Review periodically among staff: “what do we need to do to be more ROARS?”

Departments using ROARS as central basis for evaluation: PE, Arts
Celebrate ROARS moments through announcements-communicate pride in community whenever possible
Renew expectations when needed
Model ROARS responses when challenged by students on staff ROARS quotient

ROARS at HQ
“ this seems to be a ROARS emergency”
“ What part of ROARS does this cross?”
“ What might you have done instead?”
“ How can you take ownership here?”
“ Is what you did safe? Why?”
“ You sure did make a mistake here, but I’m really impressed by how you’ve taken ownership.”
“ Apologizing for the thing you really feel you shouldn’t have said shows incredible responsibility.”

WHAT WOULD I DO NEXT?
As I have seen the possibilities for personal growth both for a community and for individuals, both young and old, in an intentional EBS community, I would move to a greater INTENTIONALITY and bring in deeper questions of “what is right action?” in more complex ethical situations as part of the annual classroom review

ROARS AND ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR
The key to ethical behaviour, especially in the developmental stage, is being able to take OWNERSHIP
Ownership implies “I take responsibility”
“ this is mine to fix” “I blame no one else”
Having to take ownership asks the questions: “What has gone wrong here?”, “who can fix it?”

ROARS AND ETHICAL THOUGHT
Ethical behaviour requires critical thinking…responsibility is at the core of critical thought. It asks the questions: “if I am responsible, what must I consider? What consequences might be the outcome of my actions? Who is dependant on me? What obligations do I have?”

ROARS AND ETHICAL ACTION
SAFETY goes far beyond merely keeping physically or emotionally safe…it asks the questions: “what constitutes safety in this situation? How can the greatest number enjoy safety? What can be done when a situation becomes unsafe?”

Embedding Social Responsibility into School Culture

by Ethical Literacy Learning Community on Jul 13, 2010

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Embedding Social Responsibility into School Culture — Presentation Transcript