ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an analysis of the meaning of students’ best interests and offers the Best Interests Model (BIM) consisting of the three Rs—rights, responsibility, and respect. These three are intermingled in that rights carry with them a duty to act responsibly. Respect goes both ways, that is, it is mutual between the educator and the student and includes self-respect. The framework intentionally refers to the best interests of the student as an individual, as opposed to students in a group. The underlying assumption is that if the individual student is treated with fairness, justice, and caring, then a strong message is sent to all students that they will also be afforded justice and caring, and that they should treat others similarly.
