The Dire Task of Cultivating Well-Ordered, Well-Behaved Students

Advice for Classical Christian Teachers & Administrators

We live in an age where mobs of teenagers riot in the streets, where elders are rarely treated with honor and dignity, and where decorum has become a lost art. For many, education is understood as a transfer of information, where students head to educational institutions to amass job skills and certifications. What roles do discipline and character formation play in institutions whose primary goal is to certify more worker bees for the hive? They teach compliance, but not self-mastery. They teach conformity, but not integrity. They teach “equity,” but not honor. They teach tolerance, but not decorum. Discipline for the sake of compliance, conformity, and tolerance does nothing but dehumanize a student (which simply results in disobedient, defiant students). As C.S. Lewis once said, “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.”

Because modern educational philosophy does not take into account the whole person, fails in instilling virtue, and lacks a proper understanding of the nature of Truth, modern educational philosophy falters when it comes to the task of cultivating well-ordered, well-behaved students. As human beings made in the image of God but marred by the nature of sin, we need a proper ordering of our loves. We need to be taught about, steeped in, and reminded of Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. We need to learn about the life-giving fruit of virtue and the deadly, rotten fruit of vice. We need, most of all, to be instructed by the soul-reviving Word of God, for “the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”

Children are not machines which are to be programmed with culturally-acceptable and workforce-useful behaviors. Children are image-bearers who need to be taught how to rightly order their loves. What if instead of demanding compliance (or refusing discipline altogether for the sake of “equity”), discipline had more to do with punishing pride, avarice, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth while simultaneously instilling faith, hope, love, wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance in our students? Imagine the impact that generation would have on our society. In light of this, how then shall we live (and discipline)? I want to briefly suggest eight pieces of advice which classical Christian educators can utilize in order to cultivate well-ordered, well-disciplined students.

Understand that Character-Formation is Central to the Task of Education. If we treat education as merely data-transfer, then we miss the mark when it comes to taking the whole person into account. For centuries, schools existed to shape the character. I recently was teaching about Colonial-Era Education in my American Humanities class, and we spent time looking at the New England Primer, one of the common curricula used in the education of children at the time. The primer contained not only letters, phrases, and images to teach reading, but also a doctrinal catechism. It also includes memory work where students were taught the Lord’s Prayer as well as affirmations like “The Dutiful Child’s Promise.”

I will fear GOD, and honour the KING.

I will honour my Father & Mother.

I will Obey my Superiours.

I will Submit to my Elders.

I will Love my Friends.

I will hate no Man.

I will forgive my Enemies, and pray to God for them.

I will as much as in me lies keen all God’s Holy Commandments.

As Classical Christian Educators, we must reclaim this spirit of engaging in education to not only shape the mind but the soul & heart as well. From this understanding, we are better able to engage in the task of discipline – we are able to understand its proper end.

Remember that Everyone Who is Fully Trained Will Be Like His Teacher. Classical Christian Educators can only help to order the loves of their students rightly if the educators' loves are rightly ordered. As my good friend, Pastor David Deutsch, has said, “When you bring bitterness into the classroom, your class will soon be full of bitter students.” In our effort to shape the morals and character of our students, we must embody praiseworthy morals and character-traits ourselves. The adolescent can spot hypocrisy from miles away. Want a room full of respectful students? Show respect as well.

Be Sure to Know and Teach the “Why.” Demanding compliance without knowing and providing the reasons behind rules & conduct standards completely fails to accomplish the task of forming our students’ character and loves. Teachers & Administrators must be able to articulate the value of respect, the value of orderly classrooms, and even the value of uniforms. “Because I said so” is a phrase that will always prove to be unsatisfactory for our students (and will often produce results opposite of what we hope for). When the reasons for rules are explained, it serves not only as a behavioral standard, but as a teaching tool which puts before our children how the standards for our words and actions directly connect with the good, true, and beautiful.

Embrace Parental Involvement. The task of character-formation lies primarily and centrally in the home. What does this mean for us as Classical Christian Educators? In our effort to come alongside the parents in loco parentis, we must partner with parents in discipline and character-formation. Parents should be regularly notified in regards to disciplinary issues and teachers/administrators should rely heavily on and invite parental involvement when it comes to discipline.

Don’t Forget Who is In Charge. Don’t allow the students to set the culture of a classroom or school. You set the culture. Students must see and understand that you are serious in regards to who “runs” the classroom/campus. This requires confidence and firmness on behalf of the teacher/administrator.

Be Consistent (Always!). If a student senses inconsistency in rule enforcement or standards, they’ll take advantage of that inconsistency everytime. I truly believe that students are able to flourish when the boundaries are clear and the discipline is consistent. Beware of partiality (even with children of faculty & staff!) and don’t send your students mixed messages. When we tell students that a rule is valuable, and then we enforce it only half the time, we’ve invalidated what we’ve said in the minds of our students.

Administrators: Don’t Be Afraid to Prune the Rotten Fruit. There arise times when some students must be removed from your school. Beware of keeping those students who are constantly rebellious, because oftentimes they make disciples among their peers. It is far better to remove one piece of bad fruit (no matter how uncomfortable that may be), than to keep that piece of fruit which ends up ruining other pieces as well.

Point Students to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Love covers a multitude of sins. When students fail (because they will), our response should be one that points them to the good news of Jesus Christ: Christ died to save sinners. We must be quick to remind our students of the gravity of sin but also the glories of the Gospel. We must be rooted in Christlike love; love that does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but also a love that is patient and kind. In our necessary effort to cultivate well-ordered, well-behaved students, Christ must be at the beginning, center, and end. May the glories of the Gospel and the goodness of God’s commands be manifest in our Classical Christian Schools. Those types of schools will transform our students, and those transformed students will transform the world.