Social Control in the Middle Level Classroom: The Nomic Model

• In Event: 207 - Section on Sociology of Education Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 17. The Role of Teachers

Abstract

Based upon our research in middle level classrooms in Texas, Oregon, and Kansas, we present an alternative theoretical model of classroom management we call the nomic model. In contrast to behavioristic models of classroom management that stress rewards and punishments, and rational choice theories that argue for teaching students to make “good” choices about their behavior, we argue student behavior in the classroom is very seldom a matter of student choice in the strict sense, but rather is an outcome of a very complicated and taken for granted social interaction process stemming from students’ efforts to manage the inherent lack of social order that characterizes the human condition. We offer an alternative way of thinking about classroom management and show how the classroom management strategies we observed align with this model.

Authors

• Jerry L. Williams, Stephen F. Austin State University

• Michelle Williams, Stephen F. Austin State University