Recently
I asked a group of educators to list the top three traits that they felt an
educator must have. The overwhelming
number one trait they said was to be consistent.
Consistency
simply means that a person behaves the same way on repeated occasions when the
circumstances are the same or similar.
Basically,
for educators it means that we enforce the policies and procedures of the
school the same way, every day and for every student.
I
know we all have challenges with students not wanting to follow the rules. They want to do their own thing. And while I agree that there are a few who
don’t like rules, I think most of our students aren’t so much opposed to the
rules, but rather it is the inconsistency in enforcing the rules that they
struggle with.
Several
years ago, we surveyed students and one of their number one concerns was the
unfair enforcement of the policies and procedures of the school. Students
want things to be fair.
If
the student knows what to expect they can perform to those expectations. But
when we ask something of them one day and the next day what we expect is
completely different, that is where the problems occur. When we lack consistency in the enforcement
of the policies of the school, it sends a conflicting message of what is
expected of students.
To be a consistent educator, we
must fairly apply the rules and standards of the school to every student, every
day regardless of how we feel each day and regardless of student behavior.
I’ve seen educators who will enforce something today, but completely
ignore it tomorrow. And the truth is,
I’ve been guilty of the same thing. One
day I let some students get away without being in dress code and then the next
day I would enforce it. It becomes
confusing for students. No matter your
motivation for letting them get away with something, all it is doing is
creating future problems. Be consistent in everything you do, day in and
day out! Trust me, it will make your
daily dealings with the students much easier to handle.