Item 2 - Discipline Model - the essential elements

I believe an adequate discipline model should encourage students to monitor their own behaviour and provide them with the opportunity to examine the reasons behind their misbehaviour. I believe every teacher's discipline model should be unique to them. Each individual has the ability to choose from a litany of educational and behavioural theorist's research. It is up to each individual teacher to choose elements that are best suited to their personality and personal values and beliefs.

AN ADEQUATE DISCIPLINE MODEL SHOULD:

• be implemented consistantly.
• make rules/expectations and consequences crystal clear.
• seek to identify the cause; as opposed to simply REACTING to the misbehaviour
• be based on kindness, thoughtfulness, dignity and mutual respect.
• be firmly and sensitively reinforced.
• take into account school discipline policies and proceedures - these often use stage development discipline models that can be very effective especially when dealing with common school issues such as bullying.

PREVENTION IS THE BEST STRATEGY...

• be organised.
• be an active role model.
• create a fun, positive, creative and safe learning environment.
• know your students - by getting to know your students you are providing them with the option to come and speak to you before there is a problem in the classroom. You also gain the added advantage of knowing what the real problem is if they ever do 'act out' in your class. And often a student will be more willing to moderate their behaviour if the teacher is taking some quality 'time out' to help FIX the problem rather than ignore the problem and continue to insist on a disciplinary REACTION.
• create a sense of community and belonging.
• have your class collectively develop and agree on a list of class rules/expectations.

This last point is particularly important because it gives the teacher something to fall back on if things do begin to unravel. Make sure the list is explicit, fair and that everybody in the class understands and agrees with the contents.

WHEN THINGS DO GO WRONG...

• avoid power struggles - you will never win and it will not fix the problem the student has.
• rather than attempt to control a students behaviour aim to manage/coach it - Glasser and Maslow both discuss the concept of satisfying the "basic needs" which I find an exceedingly practical place to begin!
• be consistant - as teachers we must create a discipline model that is compatable with our individual values so that we do not cause confusion in our students or personal conflict within ourselves.
• act immediately - there MUST be a clear association between the act and the punishment. It is no good watching a student misbehave one day only to punish them the next - they will very likely see this as unjust.
• try to make your lesson more relevent - this comes back to Glasser and Maslow; meeting the students needs.
• Sometimes words of encouragement are more effective (and unexpected) than words of reprimand. We all know the saying 'praise where praise is due' but the act of trying is just as important (perhaps even more so) than the act of achieving highly.

References:

Classroom Discipline & Management (an australian perspective) CH Edwards & V Watts Wiley

Education Psychology (Constructing Learning) McInerney & McInerney Pearson Education Australia

http://www.disciplinehelp.com/

http://www.virginiass.qld.edu.au/pp/Behaviour%20Management%20Plan.pdf page 9, 11, 12

Item 1 - Code of Conduct

The following is a 'Code of Conduct' for parents and care givers who wish to create a positive family environment for their children. I think it is important to note that many of the points established in the guidelines below can be applied generally to a range of relationships and indeed should not remain solely centred on the parent/carer/child dynamic. However some points specifically relate to dealing with school aged children.

• Actively show your son/daughter that you love them.
• Provide a physical home environment that is safe, warm, caring and supportive.
• Have clear boundaries and approriate expectations.
• Show a genuine interest in your son/daughter(s) lives - school, home, friends, work - but also allow them the right to privacy.
• Show a positive attitude towards school policy and expectations.
• Show respect, listen and be sensitive - seek to understand others point of view even if you don't agree with their point of view.
• Be honest in your communication.
• Seek to find positive and constructive outcomes from any conflicts that may arise.
• Challenge your son/daughter to do their best - encourage individual execellence and high self esteem.
• Be flexible and adaptive to the needs of your son/daughter.
• Be responsive to presesnt and future ideas, endevours and failings.
• Allow your son/daughter the opportunity to make choices for themselves.
• Allow your son/daughter room to learn from mistakes.
• Be an active role model - promote acceptable community behaviour.

References:

www.education.qld.gov.au/corporate/codeofconduct/respect_for_persons.html

www.readingtuition.edu.au/default.asp?id=724

http://www.virginiass.qld.edu.au/pp/Behaviour%20Management%20Plan.pdf

Teaching Styles

Click here to discover your classroom management style?

Authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and indulgent are four styles of teaching covered in ISU Physics Teacher Education Program a brief description of each is found below. (NB: these styles are extremes - most teachers will probably be a combination of some or all).

AUTHORITATIVE: based on behavioral principles, this teacher is likely to have high expectations of their students. The authoritative teacher expects appropriate levels of behavior to be demonstrated at all times. The authoritative teacher makes clear statements about why certain behaviors are acceptable and why others not. The authoritative teacher has warm relationships with their students.

AUTHORITARIAN: teacher regulates behaviour and is often seen as punitive and restrictive. Students do not have a say in their management, nor are they given explanations by an authoritative teacher. At times the authoritative teacher can be perceived as cold and even punishing.

PERMISSIVE: the permissive teacher lacks involvement, has few expectations of students and subsequently makes few demands. The permissive teacher gives students a lot of freedom.

INDULGENT: the indulgent teacher makes no demands of the student. This style of teaching actively supportes students in their efforts to seek their own ends using any reasonable means.

("Research has shown that the type of management style used results in characteristic behaviors. The authoritative style helps to produce students who are socially competent and responsible. The authoritarian style helps to produce students who are ineffective at social interaction, and somewhat inactive. Both indulgent and permissive styles help to produce students that are immature, show poor self-restraint, and who exhibit poor leadership skills" http://www.phy.ilstu.edu/pte/311content/classmgt/mgtstyle.html).

Item 3 - Glasser & Maslow - student motivation

Passionate, creative teachers = students who WANT to learn.

A motivated student = belief in the intrinsic value of learning.

According to Glasser and Maslow, fulfilling the needs of the student is what it all comes down too.

GLASSER...

...believes that student motivation, and indeed ability to learn, is based on satisfying the following five requirements for effective learning (which he also explores in Choice Therapy);

• survival
• love/belonging
• power
• freedom
• fun

In Control Theory in the Classroom (1986) and The Quality School (1990) Glasser suggests that for a person to succeed at life in general, they must have an initial experience of success in an important aspect of their life.

For the majority of people this initial success would be school related - specifically academic, or though many schools now acknowledge and reward different sporting, community, art and social achievements as well. Glasser argues that traditionally success (specifically academic success) in school was determined by comparative grading and suggests that this system, which only allows a minority of students to achieve A's and B's, effects feelings of successfulness in the majority of students who fail to recieve higher than average grades. According to Covington (1985) 'the self-worth of the remaining students (who may be quite capable) suffers, which depresses their motivation to achieve on subsequent classroom tasks'.

NSW schools have switched to outcomes based assessement which helps to promote self confidence and esteem in a more considered and practical way than past programs. The student can now see which outcomes he/she did not meet and work toward that goal, thereby recognising a personal achievement. This is in stark contrast to the numerically based system of old.

School should be a place that satisfies all of Glasser's five requirements for effective learning because school should be about the development of the whole person not simply about that person's academic ability. There are, so far, nine different types of intelligence. Why then should we, as teachers, ONLY acknowledge and cater for the high achieving academic student. By acknowleding individual differences and allowing for creative expression we are able to foster self efficacy and increase the self esteem of our students. As a student, having the support to discover your talent and the self confidence to achieve is certainly a lesson worth learning and according to Glasser one that is often left unmotivated because often too much emphasis is placed on academic ability alone.

MASLOW...

...believes meaningful learning occurs based on a physiological and psychological heirarchy of needs - he stresses the importance of meeting basic needs before embarking towards the pinacle of self actualisation.

I find Maslow to be more structured than Glasser. Glasser seems to suggest that his five requirements for effective learning are altogether collectively and simlutaneously essential in the effective development and motivatation of student learning. Maslow on the other hand suggests that one stage cannot be met without the stages beneath being satisfied. Maslow's theory takes the form of a pyramid because he considers the first and most basic need is also the greatest. The aim is for the student to develop towards self actualisation. While Maslow's structure makes more sense to me personally, I see the value in Glasser's theory because he seems more in touch with the idea of educating the whole person. The sum of the parts don't necessarily make up the whole - so it is with trying to psychologically deconstruct a person. We only come in 'wholes'.

The journey towards self actualisation shows there is a vast difference between learning because you HAVE to and learning because you WANT to. Maslow argues the importance of making learning relative. As teachers we have to find within ourselves the creativity and inspiration to convey a genuine passion for our subject and inspire our students to WANT to learn. It is not just our subject that will inspire a student it is the way we, as teachers teach them to learn, as well as a whole range of other factors in a students life that also act as important contributers. As teachers we must continually reassess how we relate to our students. By continuing to redefine our expectations and attitudes towards each student we can help them to become well rounded, self actualising individuals.

References:

Classroom Discipline & Management (an australian perspective) CH Edwards & V Watts Wiley

Education Psychology (Constructing Learning) McInerney & McInerney Pearson Education Australia

http://college.hmco.com/education/pbl/tc/motivate.html

Control Theory in the Classroom (1986) and The Quality School (1990)