One of the standards I believe addresses how we go about this is this teaching standard:
1 (a) acting consistently with fairness, respect and integrity;
Children from a very early age learn and can be taught what is fair and what is respectful.
As teachers, children often come to us without a full understanding of these ideas, and over time, we try to impart and teach and model these ideals as much as possible.
One of the ways in which we do this all the time is setting up expectations. Expectations for how work is done in the classroom, how to treat friends, classmates and teachers; and how to address someone or ask a question when there are others to consider in the room.
Routines are great for this and start the first day. This year our classroom started with a Sharing circle, what was expected in that circle, and positive interactions are always reinforced. Reminders were given to those that needed it, but the most important thing is to create a sense where everyone gets a chance to say their piece, even if it is just to say "pass" if they did not feel like sharing anything that day.
Another way I try to continue this is using our Classroom Meeting. Every Wednesday at last block, we have our meeting where we can talk about decisions or announcements to make as a class from field trips to new rules or routines. We also open up our Bother box, to see if there has been anything going on during the week that has created problems for a student or other students. Students may anonymously write their issues on a piece of paper and put it into the box. When we read the papers we find out how those issues affect others and come up with a democratic solution about how to deal with them. The students enjoyed our first meeting and it fostered a sense that even though as teachers we can't always see and deal with all problems right away, that they will be listened to and treated with respect. This is also a great modelling behaviour to allow students to see fair ways to deal with problems.
Setting limits and rules is also important of course. This year we have been setting rules and boundaries as they have been modelled, rather than trying to make a list of rules in the first day or few days of school. This has allowed the students a little more opportunity to remember them as the first few days back from school seem like a blur to everyone, including teachers!
We are all human beings and it is good to remind ourselves of that whenever we are dealing with students (and even adults) that make mistakes or make poor choices.
This book is an excellent resource I have implemented in the classroom and recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it and has had to deal with many issues regarding expectations and behaviour in the classroom:
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