Discipline with Dignity Strategies

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Behaviorally at risk students are those that are in danger of failing
because of lack of dignity for their selves.
Traditional methods of discipline will not take with students who
are behaviorally at risk. This is why Curwin and Mendler created
their strategy.
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The Four Principles of Discipline with Dignity:

1. Dealing with student behavior is an important part of teaching.
One aspect of being a teacher means doing whatever one can to
help every individual student. This means dealing with behavior
problems.
Correcting misbehavior is a great opportunity to teach respect
and responsibility. This is part of teaching the whole child.
2. Always treat students with dignity.
Every student deserves to be respected as an individual. Dignity
also includes being aware of a students needs and
understanding their point of view.
Curwin and Mendler advise teachers to ask themselves this
question when reacting to student misbehavior: How would this
strategy affect my dignity if a teacher did it to me? ( Charles,
2005).
3. Good discipline must not interfere with student motivation.
If a student is motivated to learn and involved in the lessons,
they will cause very few interruptions.
Discipline problems arise with students who are not interested in
what they are learning or given a reason to learn.
4. Responsibility is more important than obedience.
If a student is motivated to learn and involved in the lessons,
they will cause very few interruptions.

Discipline problems arise with students who are not interested in

what they are learning or given a reason to learn.

Suggestions for consequences:

Always implement a consequence when a rule is broken.

Keep the consequence appropriate to the situation and the
student.
State the rule and the consequence to the offending student.
Be private. Only the student(s) involved should hear.
Do not embarrass the student.
Do not think of the situation as win-lose.
Control your anger. Be calm and speak quietly but accept no
excuses from the student.
Sometimes the student should choose the consequence.
The professional always looks for a way to help the client.

Suggestions for motivating students who are

behaviorally at risk:

Create lessons that are relevant to the students.

Set up authentic learning goals.
Keep students actively involved.
Show your own interest in the topics and do things that you love.
Make activities things that the students look forward to.

A few techniques that can be used when dealing

violence in the classroom are:

Solving the problem: First, name the problem. Then, decide what
should happen and how you will make it happen. Next, create a
backup plan. Last, follow through with the plan.
Using words that work: Practice using words that can stop
attacks. Be polite, ask if you did something wrong, and the
apologize if necessary.

Helping teachers retrain themselves:

1. Write down things students do or say that you find irritating.
2. Determine why students do those things. Ask yourself, what basic needs
are they trying to meet and what motivates them?

3. Ask yourself, what do you presently do when students do or say irritating

things?
4. Reflect upon if your current tactics are effective or not regarding discipline
in the classroom.
5. Think about the best response possible for addressing students that may
be causing trouble,
6. Practice the strategies beforehand and then put them into practice with
the next opportunity