Building Community in a Standards-Based Classroom
Graduation Date
Spring 2006
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Document Form
Degree Name
Master of Science
Program Name
Education
Program Director
Madalienne F. Peters, EdD
Abstract
Creating a sense of classroom community has social, emotional, and academic benefits. The problem confronting schools today is how to create community in a standards-based environment, where teachers are no longer the primary decision makers about how time and resources are allocated in their classrooms. The purpose of this study was to examine and document the attempts of practitioners to build community in standards-based classrooms. Existing literature contains information about definitions of community, benefits of community, and teacher practices that build community. This study extends that knowledge by applying grounded theory to data obtained by interviewing five teachers. Teachers provide classroom structure through which they implement four strategies that generate and maintain community. Standards place constraints on community building, but these constraints can be counterbalanced by teacher priority.