Donald, is this policy enforced during the admissions process? In order for your policy to be fair students should not be admitted if they have tattoos or rings that would not allow them into the classroom.
James Jackson
i am very happy with our policy on rings and tattoos etc.we don't allow them they must be out of site if there offences
Georgia, are you able to bring in guest speakers? Students may take a different view point on such issues when they hear from local administrators. This is especially useful when the administrators are from organizations that may be employing your students. Some times rules coming from us as instructors is just noise but when we bring in outside representatives the policies seem to take deeper roots. Just a thought.
James Jackson
timothy, policies are created to allow any institution to maintain order and discipline. Typically there are policies that are created due to factors outside of academics such as insurance and liability for different states. As instructors we need to be in sync with our administration and take their lead as to how the policies are to be implemented. Some of the most restrictive policies tend to be created to allow better management of less than 5% of situations that ever take place within an institution and as such need to be managed carefully. All students need to be treated equally but not all students follow the rules equally well. A student that is habitual about breaking rules will always be managed differently than a student that has broken a rule for the first time. I hope this makes sense. Disagree with me and lets carry on with this discussion. Could be a great springboard into a conversation we can take into The Maxknowledge Lounge - http://www.careercollegelounge.com/.
James Jackson
Call me old school, but we really emphasize adherence to school poicies. There are always those who try to push through. I do pull them aside and remind them of the policy. Long hair seems to be my biggest vise. Working in a hospital, I am continuousy fighting that demon, so I've learned to be very empathic on our first day of rotation and that I will take points if repremanded for same offence.It's working slowly.
I feel school administrators need to Always be transparent when dealing with schoolpolicies. Make sure the new policies are clear and constructice that students can have a good understandind the new policy.Also make sure the policy doesn't apply to certain sects of students BUT to all students.
As was stated, it comes down to teamwork and adherance to policies. I have had issues with directors not backing me when I inforce rules. I even had a director state that she did not want to get all worked up over sleeping in class because it really was not that important. I said that if it is not important we should not have a policy that states students cannot sleep in class. While this director was here, the student's learned very quickley that all they had to do was go over the instructor's head. My school has policies that I do not agree with but I still enforce them because they are policies.
I believe that classroom discipline begins with the instructor, and that admin has a responsibility to hire the right instructors. Furthermore if the students perceive that only some instructors follow the rules it makes the job so much harder then it needs to be. We should only need to reiterate the rules not explain them on day 1 of a course. If we all stick together then our product will be superior.
My idea would be for the one or two instructors that are lax in making students follow rules should be disciplined themselves.
On top of that, it would be great if the administration did not only talk tough in faculty meetings. I think that retention numbers help to elevate the discipline problems.
We are successful in developing professional attitudes in our students through strict adherence to dress codes and behavioral standards. We emphasize that there will be rules that they may not agree with in the workplace that they will have to respect, thus preparing them for real-world experiences in the workplace. This statement usually gains cooperation from students that heartily disagree with a standard.
Great point, Mary! I'm not sure how many students realize how "career limiting" that neck tat could be.
We don't really worry about tattoos but we enforce our dress code on a higher scale.
It is very important to cover all rules and policies on the first day of classes. Furthermore, in my experience as an instructor I trained myself to emphasis certain rules periodically throughout the entire course for all my classes. In a positive tone, I explain why these rules must be adhered too and the consequences surrounding the deviation of these rules and policies. This takes about 10 minutes but it will remain effective for so many days afterward. The reminders helps to the rules fresh and on the surface and I find this technique to be most effective in my classes.
jeannie, this is an example leading by example and is a good practice. While it may not be the best approach for all institutions I do not see any negatives for those institutions that choose to operate within this boundary. There is value however in also teaching students to not focus so much on what others are doing but focus on what can set them apart in a positive way with their potential employers. When we dress for success our success is best! Thanks for sharing.
James Jackson
At our school the teachers have to follow the exact dress code as students. Scrubs daily, hair up, no tatoos showing must be covered, only one pair of stud earring.
Patricia, I tend to disagree with your statement. I do agree we need to treat all students equally but not all situations are equal. What this means is we must take full advantage of our ability to be human and not robots. A robot simply reads lines of code and never alters the direction unless the code changes. In live the code changes all the time so it is difficult to treat each situation equally as the circumstances will be different. If one student meets the same criteria as an other then the same result should occur but different circumstances will require a different path which will have a different result yet you treated both students equally as you evaluated the circumstances without bias. This can be confusing and does require more energy but in the end it is what makes a good instructor great, that ability to treat each student equally but realize each situation is different and therefore each outcome can be different.
James Jackson
I think the most important thing to maintain is treating each student equally during disciplinary action. Rules should be rules for all with no special treatment for certain circumstances.
I think our instructors do an excellent job of meeting the goals and objectives students expect. There are so many varied ages & people of all backgrounds in our school environment & all instructors share information to help each other and ultimately the school to be successful.
Linda, excellent comments. The more students can be engaged with their own learning environment the more ownership they will take and self-regulate. Not that 100% of the time will this work but has worked in most settings I have experience in over 20 years of teaching.
James Jackson
So true about the policies with extra ear rings and all the other unneeded things. I try my best to inform all students to just look and keep it Professional!
