Social Contracts conceptually are not a new idea they have been around for many years in different forms and names: behavioral agreements and behavioral contracts to name a few. These tools were originally developed by psychologists to help troubled students to learn appropriate behaviors in and out of school. The latest incarnation of the social contracts are closer to the name than a tool used to shape behavior, but rather an agreement between teachers and students. This idea of agreeing on general classroom behavior can curb many unwanted student behaviors before they become classroom problems, because before a semester starts there is an agreement in place that defines how both the students and teacher should treat each other allowing a more manageable classroom environment to be built from the start.
Building a Social Contract
The Four Questions
A social contract needs to include some basic pieces of information to be effective and can be summed up in four simple questions. The four questions can be thought of as the expectations of behavior.
- How do the students want to be treated by the instructor?
- How do the students want to be treated by each other?
- How does the instructor want to be treated by the students?
- How will the students and teacher treat each when there is a conflict?
There are other common questions that can be added, but these questions have been found in almost all versions of a social contract, not just those used in classrooms. These four questions define the essential behaviors in our classroom that we will be using the social contract to solve. It gives both the students and teachers a basic framework of what behavior should be at a basic level in the classroom.
Consequences
In any good contract not only are the expectations for everyone but some basic consequences outlined, so that all parties involved know what possible penalties are for not following the contractual components. These consequences should be basic structure penalties that will be followed when students are demonstrating inappropriate behavior. Some examples are:
- Warning
- Call Home
- After-school Detention
- Referral to Administration
This consequence list should not be an exhaustive list, but should be some basic and major steps in the discipline process; students should be given at least one warning before moving to punitive disciplinary measures. This allows students those chances to identify and change inappropriate behavior.
Writing the Contract
Once you have all of your information put together, you can sit down and create the actual contract. You can be as creative as you want, many teachers choose to simply write the contract while they are discussing it with their class. Many teachers also decide to design a cleaner and polished contract that students can easily read from their seats. Either method that you choose to do will work, though students tend to by into the neater more polished social contracts. Students have said that they feel the document is more authentic and believable when it looks neater.
