RAISING RESPONSIBILITY

Discipline
The best discipline is the kind nobody notices- not even the one being
disciplined.
Discipline as opportunity:
- is a tool for teaching responsibility
- ultimate goal is self discipline-the kind of self control that underlies voluntary
compliance with expected standards. This discipline is a mark of mature
character and that a civilized society expected of its students.
John Goodlad a professor said : first public purpose of schooling is to develop
civility in the young. Civility can only be achieved with self discipline.
-- derived from Latin word: disciplia that Implies instruction
- important to master a task(professional musician, athelete, craftsman)
- refers to our nature-consciously or non consciously we are the one to choose
our responses to both our thoughts and emotions
Discipline is understood in a very limited way by most educators How do we get these children to behave? - rather than , How do we support
the people in our charge as they learn to channel and direct their positive energy
in ways that accomplish their goals and those of their community?
--Richard E Clark
Many teachers operate with a focus on obedience rather than on self discipline.
Lee Salk, a child psychologist says that;
To many people, discipline means punishment, But actually, to discipline
means to teach. Rather than punishment, discipline should be a positive way of
helping and guiding children to achieve self control.
Marilyn Gootman;
Discipline is teaching self control,not controlling or managing students.

Richard Sagar says

.
An effective discipline program requires three particular,vital educational
functions:
-The maintainance of order
-The development of internal locus of control
-The promotion of prosocial behaviour
Students acknowledge the ownership of behaviour,self evaluates and develops a
plan .In the process the students become self regulated.- The Locus of control is
internal.
External control approach where the teacher takes possession of the problem,
presents the students with a plan, overpowerment of some kind that is usually
punishment.
Teachers who rely on external methods of control may succeed in getting
students to tow the line under their supervision. What happens when the teacher
is not around?
Self development is most effective if the person is commited. Commitment
comes through internal motivation..Internal motivation is fostered in a positive
learning environment where people feel they will not be harmed, where they are
given choices that encourage ownership and empowerment, where self
evaluation and self correction are the dominant avenues to growth, and where
people learn that appropriated, responsibility behaviour is in their own best
interests.
KEY POINTS
Discipline means both to teach and to learn.
Discipline is a tool for teaching responsibility.
A good discipline program requires the maintainance of order ,the development
of an internal locus of control, and the promotion of social behaviours.
The real influence of teachers is reflected by what students do when the teacher
is not with them.

THE RAISE RESPONSIBILITY SYSTEM

- Young people want to be responsible but we are using wrong approaches to
help them.
- handles disruptive behaviour simply and easily
- In the process builds self-discipline, respect for self and others, and both
individual and and social responsibility.
- reduces stress for adults and young people
-the three phases are: Teaching the concepts, Checking for understanding and
Guided choices.
1.TEACHING THE CONCEPTS
A

IMAGING THE CONCEPTS:

i.
Blank A 4 Paper
ii.
Fold paper horizontally
iii.
Upper half print wordAnarchy
iv.
Explain:Anarchy is behaviour in which there is no law and order and
anyone can do anything without any consideration for others
v.
Draw any scene that comes to the mind Anarchy
vi.
When finished draw Bullying
vii.
Describe what you drew
viii.
When finished turn paper over, write Conformity
ix.
Describe drawing
x.
When finished turn paper over, write Democracy
xi.
Describe drawing

B ANALYSIS OF THE ACTIVITY.

1 Processing the concepts:
( Doraemon, Shin Chan, Seven Dwarfs ,The hole in the dyke etc)
2 Ownership
3 Meaningfulness

C EXPLAINATION OF THE LEVELS

Level A- Anarchy
Level B- Bullying
Level C- Conformity
Level D- Democracy
Dr Edward Dcci says :

Aotonomous functioning requires that an

internalized regulation be accepted as your own; regulation must become a part

of who you are. It must be integrated with yourself. Through integration, people
become willing to accept responsibility for activities that are important but not
(necessarily) interesting-activities that are not intrinsically motivating.
Behaviour at this level is manifested by qualities of character that individuals
habitually recognize as the right thing. The four classical virtues:
Prudence: is practical wisdom-recognizing and making the right choices
Temperance: moderation of all things.It is the control of human passions and
emotions, esp anger and frustration
Fortitude: is courage in pursuit of the right path,despite the risks.It is the strength
of the mind and courage to persevere in the face of adversityJustice: fairness, honesty, keeping promises
Responsibility and democracy is inseparable.
In a letter from Japan:
Several other teachers have begun using the same language to reinforce
the childrenss understanding and some have actually started using the
same plan. Of course, this has added a great deal to its effectiveness. All of
my students can now recognize their own level of behaviour and label it
appropriately.They know almost instantly when they need to make better
choices.This takes less time away from instruction and keeps the
classroom climate stressfree and positive
-by Diane a teacher.

Applying and Teaching The concepts

IMAGES are more effective in understanding the concepts than are
DEFINITIONS
The examples must be relevant to the learner. Young people need to be
actively engaged in constructing examples specific to their classroom,
playground, social or community setting. What would anarchy look like here?
Bullying in the first grade is different from the fourth grade.
The examples created when developing concepts are personal meaningful,
interesting and relevant.

COGNITION AND MORAL DEVELOPMENT

- Awareness of the hierarchy is foundation of raising responsibility
- Awarenesss come before acknowledgement
- depended on cognitive growth(Piaget & Kohlberg)
- In schools without such an environment morality and responsibility will only be
words for most children
William Glaser
- Awareness : Young people need to be helped to see that the negative emotion
should be the result of what they do rather than the result of being found out.

ADVANTAGES TO TEACHING THE HIERACHY

-Oliver Wendel Holmes said :
The human mind, once stretched by a new idea never regains its
original dimensions. When young people become aware of levels of social
development, they become conscious of social responsibility in their own
behaviours and in relationships with others
- serves as a means of communication (Brings clarity of understanding and
assists communications between teacher and student.
- encourages students to maintain conducive environ for learning
- awareness as a responsible citizenship
- raises awareness for individual responsibility.

-calls attention to the fact that people are always making choices.
-empowers young people
-encourages students to achieve the highest behaviour
-encourages mature decision making
-fosters character education
-serves to distinguish between the inappropriate behaviour and the person who
acts inappropriately.
-focus on labeling behaviour and not people
-fosters understanding about external and internal incentives.
-leads to improve self esteem.
The building Blocks of self esteem are skills.The more skillful a person,the
more likely he or she will be able to cope in life and situations.By fostering skills
of personal and social responsibility,schools can help students increase their
behavioural options.
-California State Dept of Edn 1990
Self esteem is closely related to self satisfaction.
-Students learn their behaviour plays a role in determining how they want their
their teachers to relate to them.
-fosters student self management
KEY POINTS
1 The Raise Responsibility Sys is proactive. The plan is to set the stage for
dealing with disruptive behaviours before they occur.This is in contrast to a
reactive strategy of dealing with disruptive bahaviours after they occur
2 A deductive approach is used.Four concepts are taught first.
3 The person identifies a level of development-separating the bahaviour from
the person.

4 The program uses internal motivation so the young person develops a desire
to be responsible-both individually and socially
CHECKING FOR UNDERSTANDING
People need to know you mean them no harm
Mental Frame: essential to maintain control. A teacher must claim a positive
outlook, viewing the situation as one for guiding rather than punishing, as an
opportunity to help the student readjust bahviour.The student perceive the
teacher as attemping to help rather than punish.
i. Unobstrusive techniques: body language,mannerisms,posture,tone of
voice,pacing of speech,feelings and language
ii..Visual: Face-tool of coomunication-friendly smile,expressions,eyes,eye
contact,lowering of head to student etc
iii. Verbal: Pause,Change of voice inflection,
Use of release tension Breathing in out
State needs s.a. I need your help.Thanks for your consideration,If you could do
something about changing that,what would you choose?
iv. Kinetic: Move to different location,proximity,positive rappo
QUESTIONS AS INQUIRY
- testing and checking for understanding
- encourages the respondent to clarify thoughts
- the teacher simply asks the student to identify their level of behaviour the
teacher can guide if the students dont know
Asking:
The person who ask the question conrols the situation
A student may test ignorance.The teacher must acknowledge the situation
level. The power of the strategy is that when the student acknowledge the level
of behaviour,the misconduct stops and usually apologizing is carried out.
Cautions
Effectiveness of answers will depend on the effectiveness of the questions
Effective questions is a skill

Tone
-essential ingredient of communication
TONE OF VOICE
Its not much what you say
As the manner in which you say it
Its not so much the language that you use
As the tone in which you convey it
Come here!I sharply said
And the child cowered and wept
Come here. I said-he looked and smiled
And straight to my lap he crept
Words may be mild and fair
But the tone may pierce like a dart;
Words may be soft as the summer air
But the tone may break my heart
Words come from the mind
And grow by study and artBut tone leapts from the inner self
Revealing the state of the heart
For if you want behaviour to change,
Of this you must remain awareMore than words. it is the tone of your voice
Which communicates how much you care.

KINESICS
-non verbal body language
PRACTICE IS THE MOTHER OF SKILL
KEY POINTS
I The strategy starts by setting the mental frame : irresponsible behaviour is
viewed as a teaching opportunity for fostering responsibility
Ii First use unobtrusive visual ,verbal or kinetic techniques to stop distractions.
Iii When handling disruptive behaviours, a stress reducing mode is used. A

non coercive guidance approach is employed rather than an authoritarian

coercive approach
Iv An asking rather than a telling-approach is employed because asking is a
more effective strategy for encouraging self evaluation
v.

A disrupting student is asked to identify the level of chosen behaviour

not the behaviour itself

vi.

If he questioning is done in front of the entire class, classroom time is

not wasted

vii.

The classroom maintains a positive learning environt at all times

GUIDED CHOICES
1 If a student has acknowledged unacceptable behaviour and continues to
disrupt learning, Guided Choice is employed.
2 Employment of authority is essential with youth who go beyond acceptable
behaviour standards. But it is not used without being authoritarian .Authoritarian
shuts down the desire for change and growth.
3 Win- Win strategy and situation
4 fulfills 4 purposes:
-stops disruption
- isolates the student from the class activity
- gives the disrupting student a responsibility-producing activity to encourage
reflection
- allows the teacher to return to lesson promptly
5 Activities depends on creativity of the teacher
6 Essay: A form filled by student a self evaluate activity: What did I do? What
can I do to prevent it from happening again? What will I do?
7 Self Diagnostic referrals:

KEY POINTS
-Guided choices refers to using authority without being punitive The strategy is
based on offering choices
-any such activity fulfills four purposes
-stops disruption
- isolates the student from the class activity
- gives the disrupting student a responsibility-producing activity to encourage
reflection
- allows the teacher to return to lesson promptly
-Primary students are given an activity that is similar to a time out but includes
the young persons becoming engaged in a self evaluating activity.
-With older students consists of the students completing a form refered to as an
essay. In cases where a student continues to disrupt the lesson,Self Diagnostic
Referals are used.
-Authority is combined with guidance, and sending a student to an administrator
becomes unnecessary.