The Responsive Classroom approach is informed by the work of many great
educational theorists as well as the experiences of exemplary classroom
teachers. There are seven basic principles within this approach:
1. The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.
2. How children learn is as important as what they learn: Process and content go hand in hand.
3. The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.
4. To be successful academically and socially, children need a set of social skills: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and
self-control.
5. Knowing the children we teach–individually, culturally, and developmentally, is as important as knowing the content we teach.
6. Knowing the families of the children we teach and working with them as partners is essential to the education of children.
7. How the adults at school work together is as important as individual competence: Lasting change begins with the adult community.
Teaching Practices
The Responsive Classroom approach includes the following main teaching practices:
a. Morning Meeting: A daily routine that builds community, creates a positive climate for learning, and reinforces
academic and social skills.
b. Rules and Logical Consequences: A clear and consistent approach to discipline that fosters responsibility and self-control.
c. Guided Discovery: A format for introducing materials that encourages inquiry, heightens interest, and teaches care
of the school environment.
d. Academic Choice: An approach to giving children choices in their learning that helps them become invested,
self-motivated learners.
e. Classroom Organization: Strategies for arranging materials, furniture, and displays to encourage independence,
promote caring, and maximize learning.
f. Working with Families: Ideas for involving families as true partners in the education of their children.
http://www.responsiveclassroom.org/index.html
