Running head: MY GAME PLAN

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UNIVERSITY OF MARY

My Game Plan
Classroom Management
Lamar Murchison
12/15/2014

Running head: MY GAME PLAN

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Abstract

The following is a brief description of the classroom management philosophy postulated

by the Lamar Murchison. The first part sets out that the pre-service teacher cannot allow
themselves to be too rigid in their preconceived notions of managing a classroom. Then the
subject of what management itself is, and how it is insufficient for teachers to practice is
tackled. He cites military leaders, twentieth century philosophers, and teachers "in the
trenches." They illustrate not only the difference between management and leadership, but also
its application. The final message is that part of our responsibility in this profession is to help
shape society, and that it is our duty to undo the complacency that the author see as having set
in the recent years.

Running head: MY GAME PLAN

Classroom Management Philosophy

It is difficult for a pre-service education student to really grasp a solid philosophy of
classroom management. We like to think that we are ready, and it is healthy to feel ready, but the
truth is these things are not set in stone. There is no "12 Step Program" that can give us all of the
answers and pass on a foolproof secret. Yet it is wise for us to ponder these things and try to
create a strategy that makes sense, at least from the knowledge we do have. When you do that,
you set a trajectory in which you continue to go through that process and are constantly refining
your method.
My own experience in this is not in the classroom, but in the military. Though both
worlds are universes apart, they also share a considerable amount in common. They both are
highly structured and routine oriented. They both have to strike a delicate balance between
individual achievement and collective progress. In both cases, at least in my position, parents and
the community are entrusting their kids' lives in my stewardship. The stakes are still just as high,
as mind is just as tragic to lose as body.
I cannot apply all of my experience to the classroom. But the things that can be applied
count for a lot. There is one thing that I will eliminate from my lexicon as soon as I leave this
class; management. As far as I see it management is what you do with livestock and supplies. It
gives me the image of some mindless bean counter that is "just doing my job ." I do not mean to
insult the true meaning of management either; there is a place for it, but not at the level of the
teacher. The scary realization is however, that this term has become a catchall that is viewed as a
virtue at every level for every person.
In 1941, political philosopher James Burnham published a book entitled The Managerial
Revolution: What Is Happening Today. In it he explained his predictions of the future, in which a

Running head: MY GAME PLAN

"new social class" of "managers" would be the source of all decision making and guidance in the
world. They would not be elected leaders, tyrants, kings, or councils; they would be paper
pushers, policy writers, and money counters. They would know what's best; the "individual idea"
would be a thing of the past, as decisions would be made by statistics, research, and process
management. Sound familiar? Other than his strange prediction that Stalinist Russia, Nazi
Germany, and the "New Dealist" America would form "superstates" (yes George Orwell did use
him as a source when he wrote 1984) and rule over their own hegemonies, he was oddly
accurate. On the frontline, management does not suffice.
The late Colonel Dandridge Malone had an excellent example of a "leadership to
management curve." In his book Small Unit Leadership: A Commonsense Approach, he divides
up responsibility between ranks, from Sergeant to General. Between them, it is quite accurately
pointed out that leadership deals with people, and management deals with things. His formula
is as you move up in rank; you become less of a leader and more of a manager. Teachers are
leaders, principals are leader-managers , superintendents are managers, etc. As you "move up,"
you deal less personally with people, and more with processes/things. I manage my portfolio
(not as well as I should), I lead my men . So the key is how do you get people to do things,
difficult things that they may not want to do? For one, there is mutual trust, another is
perspective, and the other is shared experience. I trust people will die for me, because
they trust I will die for them. People are more likely to do a difficult task if they know that not
doing it will lead to more difficulty, or perhaps the weaker argument, that they can "brag" about
it later.
Finally people are more apt to do something for you, if they see you doing it too. We
know what managers are; they stand over your shoulder, tell you what to do, and walk away.

Running head: MY GAME PLAN

Often when you ask them how, they say "figure it out." They are usually given limited training
that amounts to counting skittles and making sure the process is running. They are taught to be
"process oriented," and that is needed since to ensure things get what and where they need to
be. But the problem is that things can't have mutual respect, things cannot have perspective,
and we really cannot share experience with things. Overall, it is a restoration of the old idea of
what a leader is that I am seeking.
The other thing is keeping people occupied. The reason why at one time vagrancy was
considered a crime is because the view was someone who is not gainfully occupied with
something is more likely to do bad things. The old saying goes; "idle hands are the devil's
playground." Though the degree to which this idea was applied in the past was not entirely
correct, it is mostly correct. High unemployment is normally also marked by rising crime rates.
Desperation causes people to go to severe measures to survive. For kids in the classroom, it is
simple boredom. They have a lot of pent up energy and they need to release it, without
something constructive to release it into, they release it into things like their desk, the class
hamster, and each other.
Kelly Gallagher an English teacher from Anaheim, California wrote an excellent book
on reading entitled Deeper Reading. In it he gives countless examples and strategies for
teaching reading. There are multiple activities that he recommends to have students take part in.
The residual effect is that when they are challenged like this, they are highly occupied and
much less likely to get in trouble. This is to be coupled with a sense of ownership. As a history
teacher I will have them assume roles. They will need not only learn and know about events,
dates, and people; they will experience those events, they will be present in those dates, and
they will be those people. We will learn about the Vietnam War, we will wage the Vietnam

Running head: MY GAME PLAN

War, and we will win it this time! (Not with guns, jets, and helicopters, of course). If you wear
the hat, you assume the role. They will own their role. They will take charge of their work and
make it their own. "That is not my job" (a phrase I want to bury forever) will not be accepted.
When you see no one else doing it, within reason, it becomes your job. That is what it means to
be a citizen.

Running head: MY GAME PLAN

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References

Burnham, J. (1941). The Managerial Revolution: What is Happening in the World.

Greenwood Press.
Gallagher, K. (2004). Deeper Reading. Stenhouse Publishers.
Malone, D. (1983). Small Unit Leadership: A Commonsense Approach . Presidio Press.