In a PYP school, each working group (teachers or students) begins to create an “essential agreement.” In the classroom, this means that it is not a teacher who imposes rules, but that everyone works together to find an agreement on how the class will work. I am so impressed with the way you have pushed your students to think beyond the rules. Faced with the good lead, the students have the deepest ideas. Reading the essential chord was such a pleasure, children have a very unique way of expressing the world in their own way. As far as I`m concerned, since I teach in an IB school, I prefer to start my class by creating an “essential agreement” to make sure my class is working well and well. Instead of teachers imposing their rules on their children, all members of the group work together to reach an agreement on how the classroom works. Here are some tips for creating an essential chord in the classroom. […] Time, but it is a delicate and important process in our attempt to understand each other. This blog, from the IB website, is a great resource for those who are interested in formulating essential agreements […] […] A key agreement has been reached in our classroom.
He focused on two areas: how we deal with each other and how we […] The word shows the keywords in the original student list, which helps them learn. We believe it is important to have an essential agreement based on creating an environment conducive to learning and not on rules and regulations. The class insisted that everything was essential and that nothing could be lost with this agreement! Search for Google images for “class rules” and “class chords” (or “essential chords,” as they are called in the PYP) and see if anything surprises you… Teachers in some schools are now starting to move from the use of the word “rules” to the use of the word “agreements.” What are the differences between rules and consistency in the classroom? Rules are imposed. They are defined for compliance purposes. Any violation of the rules should be punished in order to obtain the power of the rule. The rules are “above people.” The place of control is external and teaches us that we do not have power – so we are pushed towards obedience rather than inner motivation. I really like that the focus is not on the rules, but on an essential agreement that reflects collective values and behaviours about how the class wants to have its learning environment. While some teachers no longer use the term “rules” in their classrooms, others still use it because they might think about what their classroom would look like without rules.
They don`t want a chaotic class, so they prefer to use the “rules” instead of “agreement” In a PYP school, every class, every team, even the whole school has an essential agreement that sets the tone for collaboration and teamwork. Otherwise, how could we know what the common standards and expectations are? There are endless opportunities to develop such agreements, and since the start of a new school year in Australia, all our teams and classes have been working on theirs.
