Of Discipline and School Policies
Discipline is training that develops self-control, orderliness, efficiency, and character. It is a fundamental element of respect – respect for oneself and for others. As part of their responsibility, school administrations should be committed to cultivating and consciously promoting discipline among their stakeholders, who include administrators, learners, staff, and parents.
Constantly changing school and world environments, and in the quest to improve performance, school administrations, also mean the alignment of current objectives or strategies through the introduction of new rules or amendment of existing rules. Such changes, while meant to inspire and bring about a positive impact, can, if not handled and communicated well, become the source of great confusion and frustration for stakeholders.
Shared understanding and appreciation of group rules and standards amongst stakeholders still remain one of the biggest challenges for institutions of learning. This is unfortunate because it is an essential element of discipline within the collective. When dealing with others, it is important that people are conscious of and appreciate their obligations to each other and related implications. This fosters responsiveness and compliance.
Appreciating school rules
Ignorance or lack of proactive effort to secure schools through operational policies makes school environments and communities prime settings for stakeholder exposure and exploitation.
Today, many institutions and their stakeholders alike still do not appreciate the benefits of maintaining robust codes of conduct. They regard policies as a nuisance or policing tools, and continue to administer their schools recklessly under fluid regulations and verbal instruction, without regard for the threat that their approaches pose. It is only after a crisis befalls them that they wake up to the realization of the importance of maintaining policies. Unfortunately for many, they are more often than not already exposed, negatively impacted, and with little or no room for peaceful redress or absolution.
The exposure to the institutions further is compounded by increased stakeholder awareness and understanding of their rights and freedoms which has resulted in intensified demands and litigations against schools.
On the other hand, it is important that schools remain conscious of their reasons for having the guiding rules and regulations. They should ensure that the rules are not too stringent to the point that they are intimidating, overly restrictive, and consequently impede operations and achievement of desired progress and objectives.
The rationale for school rules
Institutions formulate and deploy rules for various reasons depending on their needs. Some of these are highlighted below.
- To enable learners to appreciate the role rules in group settings and the importance of observing them.
- To foster the values of responsibility and accountability for one’s actions and for others which is a practical life skill.
- To maintain order in the classrooms, buildings, compound, and where applicable, away from school.
- To promote good health and safety of learners and staff through safe environments.
- To promote responsibility for and prevent damage to the school and personal property.
- To ensure equal opportunity and fair handling of stakeholder groups.
- To limit disruptions and distractions in school work and activities.
- To ensure good manners and mutual respect are maintained.
- To facilitate efficient management of presenting situations.
- To facilitate stakeholder appreciation of different roles and obligations in order to minimize the potential for conflict situations.
- To provide clarity and shared understanding of exceptions.
Communicating school policies
For shared understanding, school administrations must establish and effectively communicate their expectations to all stakeholders. School communities are made up of different groups of people with diverse backgrounds, and who have different communication, and learning styles.
How policies are communicated to stakeholders can motivate success or failure. Institutions must therefore strive to adopt varied communication strategies in order to reach all stakeholders to secure their buy-in and inspire compliance. Every effort must be made to assist stakeholders to internalize the provisions of set codes of conduct. It is only by knowing them that they can consciously support them.
Deployment of written policies that clearly communicate stakeholder obligations is fundamental as this provides for clarity and continuity, enables consistency and fairness of application, and is a ready and valid source of reference in instances requiring interpretation. It is important to complement these with regular awareness campaigns using other communication approaches and media to remind stakeholders of the existence and provisions of the various policies, and of any subsequent changes.
Of note is that it is extremely difficult to hold individuals responsible or accountable for failure to deliver on their obligations without first having secured their consent to abide by some clear guidelines.
It is therefore recommended that individuals to whom the policies apply and who are tasked with compliance confirm, in writing, that they have read, understood, and undertake to abide by the provisions of the policies. In this way, they are duly bound and cannot cite ignorance for their personal failure to observe the policies.
Provisions for amendments
When formulating codes of conduct it is important to remember that they are designed for stakeholder guidance and protection, and are usually not exhaustive. With change being constant, crafters must provide for appropriate additions and amendments based on future needs.
It is thus essential to expressly, in writing, state that the policies shall be supplemented by additional instructions as shall be issued by the school administration from time to time, using different formats and media.
It is also important to state that the institution reserves the right to at any time amend or repeal the guidelines either in whole or in part.
Operationalization of codes of conduct
In order to operationalize policies effectively, institutions must have appropriate supporting elements including, delivery structures, processes, and documentation.
In this blog, we have provided links to some policies for ease of reference and adoption. These can be easily copied and edited to suit the special needs of individual institutions.
In one of our other blogs, we cover and provide samples of some useful documents such as forms and checklists that can be applied to support the implementation of school policies.
Execution of policies
There must be clarity in respect of responsibility and accountability for the execution of policies. Where applicable, consequences for violations should be well-defined. Who or where to go for support in the interpretation of the policies should also be clearly stated.
Anyone that is charged with executing policies should remember that new policies or changes to existing policies are usually effective as of the date of their adoption or such other explicitly stipulated date in the future. They should not be applied in retrospect.
