Egalitarianism and classroom discipline: A pre requisite to successful instructional processes in mathematics

Oloyede E.O and Adesina A.D.O

Faculty of Education, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

*Corresponding Author E-mail: adesinaadegbenro58@yahoo.com

Accepted 12 June, 2013

Abstract

Egalitarianism supposes equal attention to every individual and to do this, there ought to be rules of the game. One of the rules that every student in the mathematic classroom is to be catered for by stimulating them to work such that they can always aim at attaining the mark of excellence. This means that a disciplined and ordered classroom atmosphere becomes imperative. The attainment of learning objectives could become difficult in a disorderly anarchical classroom but such a situation portrays an undemocratic community. The performance of each individual in a democratic society (where there is a belief in egalitarianism) is considered important, therefore a good mathematics teacher must be sensitive to the unfolding of defiant actions in the classroom. He must crackdown on such misbehaviour immediately otherwise he could turn small group into big ones. It should be noted that students need NOT cringe in dread every time the teacher steps into their classroom for mathematics lesson. The orderly atmosphere into the mathematics classroom could be a good reflection of the teacher`s belief in democratic principles. The principles of egalitarianism assume that all men are alike and that individual differences are due to environment. The classroom provides and environment for learning. For learning to take place, every child has to enjoy the fundamental rights provided by the political ideologies of the state. Such belief system often affects teacher’s disciplines actions.

Keywords: Egalitarianism, Classroom Discipline, Pre-requisite Instructional Processes in Mathematics.