The Classroom Constitution Program at Project Discovery utilizes experiential activities to explore and better understand students “Attitudes, Behaviors and Cognitions” or what we call the “ABC’s” and their impact on other classmates and the greater school community. Over the course of the day students in smaller groups of 10 to 15 generate a historical record of ABC tools that they know are effective because they have used them and found them to be empirically useful. They have dissected them, understand their value and have all agreed that their use can a positive dynamic force in a learning community.
Toward the end of the day students work on writing out their “agreements” longhand into a Classroom Constitution that is more than just pretty words… we want what is agreed upon here to be actionable. In other words, ABC’s we could see if we videotaped their time together. When the last edit has been completed, students sign a commitment to their Classroom Constitution that they will abide by their creation and do their best to live up to the ABC’s they have agreed on.
The takeaway from this program will be signed Classroom Constitution that is put up on the classroom wall and is discussed throughout the school year as students and even whole classes, experience the inevitable highs and lows of working together in a learning community. The power of this process cannot be overestimated. Human beings tend to support what they themselves create so their Constitution carries a lot of weight since they were stakeholds in the process from the beginning.