This document, the third in a series on diversity in the classroom, examines the responsibility of teachers to their diverse students. Section 1, "Introduction," reviews the issue. Section 2, "A Shared Responsibility," describes the context within which to build practices that help children become stronger. Basic to this section is the belief that a partnership between parents and teachers is essential to teaching students necessary prosocial skills. Section 2, "The Social Curriculum," discusses how the distinction between academic and social learning is relatively arbitrary and built on the belief that many children in today's classrooms lack the basic social skills necessary to build and maintain positive social relationships. Section 3, "The Democratic Classroom," places the teaching of responsibility into the classroom context, suggesting that classroom expectations, rules, and behavior can be enhanced by adopting democratic classroom practices that encourage students to take responsibility for their behavior. Section 4, "Challenging Behaviour," recognizes that despite positive home/school partnerships and classroom practices that teach and reinforce responsible behavior, some students will challenge teachers. While the entire document presents suggestions and strategies appropriate for all students, this section offers an escalation model of acting out behavior describing four distinct, identifiable behavioral levels with corresponding response styles and skills presented. Two appendixes present an attitudes toward conflict chart and 10 tips for crisis prevention. (Contains 53 references.) (SM)