Democratization of Support and Opportunity: All Children Get to Participate and Develop Competencies

The third article in this series on supportive classrooms for African American students takes a brief look at how Ms. Jordan, the teacher at our Los Angeles site, consistently offered children equal and fair opportunities to participate in formal and informal classroom activities so they all could develop skills and competencies. We call this “democratization of support and opportunity,” and it is a central feature of the Natural Circles of Support approach.

Starting with low stakes activities such as getting supplies and work stations set up in the room at the beginning of the program, Ms. Jordan consistently offered children opportunities to develop and demonstrate social, behavioral, and academic competencies needed for success at school. The following are two examples.

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During the first week of the Kennedy Elementary program, Ms. Jordan asked children to leave the notebooks she had given them in the after-school lab rather than take them home. However, after one of the children questioned her request, she changed her mind.

Ms. Jordan: Does anyone have a backpack that you can keep your notebook in?

Many children shouted out something about having backpacks.

Ms. Jordan: Then it would be better for you to keep the notebooks. You’re all responsible and I keep forgetting that I’m not working with kindergarteners. So, with kindergarten I have to always make sure that they keep up with things, but you all are responsible, I’m sure I’m not going to have any problem. You can take your notebook home by putting it in your backpack, and make sure you bring it back every time you come because I have one for everybody.

In this example, Ms. Jordan affirmed the ability of her 2nd to 4th grade students to handle responsibility as an obvious fact. She set clear expectations through her words and actions for the children and provided them the opportunity to demonstrate their competency, providing opportunities and support for children to practice and demonstrate these capabilities.

In another example from the second week of the Kennedy Elementary program, two boys had a mild conflict, with one of them slightly hurting the other.

Ms. Jordan: The more important thing is that you hurt somebody. This is a good example. Armand did something to Marquis, and Marquis came to tell me, and what I’m always concerned about is that you try to solve your own problems. I’m not going to be here all the time, your mother is not going to be here all the time, your particular teacher is not going to be here all the time, so you need to know how to solve your problem. Somebody does something wrong to you, what should you say to the person?

Armand: I said sorry.

Ms. Jordan: Right, you did, you did the correct thing. But Marquis should’ve done what; he should’ve done what to you, Armand?

Armand: He should’ve said sorry to me.

Ms. Jordan: No, no. You’re the one who injured him. What was the first thing Marquis should’ve said?

Kaya (another child): That’s OK?

Ms. Jordan: Oh no, he’s injured. He’s been hurt. So, you’re not going to say OK. (Armand laughs at that response.) First of all, Armand, we’re going to listen to people who respond. Kaya gave a legitimate answer, so we’re listening to her and respecting what she says. But I’m saying that in this incident, I want them to get to the point that Marquis lets you know that you injured him.

When another child failed to understand the teacher’s point, she asked Marquis and Armand to come to the front of the class and act out what happened. The teacher gave the other children a chance to respond to the question of what Marquis should have said to Armand.

Marquis: You bumped into me.

Ms. Jordan: Then Armand, what are you going to say?

Armand: I’m sorry.

Ms. Jordan: See how easy that was? You need to learn how to confront each other and do it in a gentle way, be patient. Remember the story Subira Subira? Give the person the benefit of the doubt and have them apologize.

In this example, Ms. Jordan conveyed a positive assessment of the children’s abilities to resolve interpersonal conflict, which she reinforced through her actions and explicitly positive view of the children as a group. By providing a supported opportunity for children to collectively problem-solve, she actively conveyed a belief in the children’s ability to resolve interpersonal conflict, and to relate to one another in a conflict situation in positive and constructive ways.

She also provided them with a supported opportunity to develop respectful relationships between the children and reinforce the legitimacy of everyone’s contribution by interrupting Armand’s making light of Kayla’s response. Kayla’s response was named as “legitimate,” and deserving the respect of the class. Not only does Ms. Jordan provide opportunity and guidance to develop interpersonal skills, but she also connects her efforts back to the curriculum (“the story of Subira Subria[1]), reinforcing the lesson through showing its relevance in class.

Ms. Jordan used minimal intervention practices in the children’s activities, only as much as necessary, to support independent, self-regulated behavior. The intervention focused on carrying out one’s role obligations and having others perceive and treat people equally. She affirmed each child’s role in the classroom, giving continuous practical and meaningful opportunities to use and develop skills in a variety of activities.

Ms. Jordan treated all children as competent and supported this by providing them with numerous opportunities to practice skills, receive helpful feedback, and letting her students know they have their teacher’s trust. Thus, she provided genuine Democratization of support and opportunity, modeling this central Natural Circles of Support approach. ?

https://www.naturalcircles.org/

[1] Subira, Subira is the retelling of a Tanzanian folktale by Tololwa M. Mollel about a little girl who is sent on a quest to take three whiskers from a lion, armed only with a song, in order to cure her little brother’s unhappiness.