CONTENTS

EDU3043
CONCEPT AND MANAGEMENT OF
CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE

Dr. Mary Wong Siew Lian

Jabatan PIPK
IPG KBL

Concept of classroom discipline

Various models of discipline and their
applications
- behavior modification (Skinner)
- assertive discipline (Canter)
- logical consequences (Dreikurs)
- group managment (Kounin)
- reality therapy (Glasser)

Concept of Classroom Discipline

Jones (1979): says that "discipline, most simply
stated, is the business of enforcing simple
classroom rules that facilitate learning and
minimize disruption" (p. 26)

Discipline has two meanings in relation to

behavior:
- First, it refers to a condition of misbehavior:
The discipline in Year 2 Intan is pretty bad

Dr. James Hymes: Discipline is the slow, bit by bit,

time consuming task of helping children to see
the sense in acting in a certain way

- Second, it refers to what teachers do to try to

get students to behave acceptably:
Mr. Smiths discipline system is one of the
best Ive come across

Discipline encompasses both prevention and

remediation:

"training that is expected to produce a
specified character or pattern of behavior, or
Is "DISCIPLINE"
concerned with
PREVENTING MISCONDUCT
or with
PUNISHING IT?

"controlled behavior resulting from such

training"; but it can also be

"punishment intended to correct or train.
Cotton (2001): Nowhere is it more true that "an
ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure"
than in disciplining young people in educational
settings

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Discipline is the extent to which students

behave in acceptable ways, as they become
involved in the tasks of learning and instruction

Models of discipline and their applications

Behavior Modification (Skinner) (1960s)

Discipline also refers to methods used to

prevent or reduce the occurrence of
undesirable behaviors

Actually Skinner never concerned himself

directly with classroom discipline in his
experiments; his followers used his ideas to
develop behavior modification

Discipline addresses what the teacher does to

help students regulate and monitor their
actions

Praise and rewards (Skinner used the term

reinforcing stimulus) are still extensively used
to motivate and support students in learning

(Gabriel, n.d.)

How does behavior modification work?

Behavior modification is now widely used to:
- speed and strengthen learning, and
- help students change their behavior for the
better

When the student performs an act and is
rewarded (reinforced) for doing so, he/she
will be more likely to repeat the act and try
even harder in future

Skinner did not advocate using punishment
for behavior modification

Assertive Discipline (Canter) (1976)

The Canters urged teachers to take charge in
the classroom

Put forward at a time when prevailing
permissiveness (habitually being tolerant of
something) was making teaching ever
more difficult

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Behavior modification is done through

systematic reinforcement (constant or
intermittent)

Shaping of behavior is done through successive
approximation, in which behavior comes closer
to a pre-set goal

Behavior modification has been found to be
successful in treating disorders ADHD,
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), phobias,
separation anxiety, disruptive behavior and
autism, among other conditions

Teachers should interact with students in a

calm, insistent and consistent manner

Rationale - students had a right to learn in a
calm, orderly classroom and teachers had a
right to teach without being interrupted by
misbehavior

Under assertive discipline students had to
to conduct themselves properly in school

IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSERTIVE DISCIPLINE

Students must obey a clear set of rules for
class behavior

Positive consequences such as praise and
recognition were given when rules were kept

Negative consequences became progressively
more unpleasant if students continued to
break rules

THREE TYPES OF TEACHERS

HOSTILE
Behaves as
though students
are their
adversaries

NONASSERTIVE
Are overly passive;
Fail to specify clear
and reasonable
expectations; are
inconsistent

ASSERTIVE
Clearly, confidently and
consistently model and
express class
expectations

Stern faced,
extremely strict
about keeping
rules/laws

May appear wishywashy (cant make up

their minds) but
sometimes can be
harsh on students

Builds trust with

students; gives them
the rationale for rules
that must be kept for
their good

In implementation of assertive discipline,

teachers must carry out the following:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Explain why rules are needed

Teach the specific rules
Check for understanding
Explain how students will be rewarded if
they obeyed the rules
5. Explain why there are corrective actions for
breaking rules
6. Teach the corrective actions and how they
can be applied
7. Check again for understanding

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Misbehavior ended when teachers applied a

consequence that was distasteful enough to
force students to comply with the rules

Initially assertive discipline was criticized for
being too controlling

Canters later added provisions such as giving
misbehaving students positive attention,
helping them, and establishing mutual trust
and respect

HOSTILE
Gives strong
admonishments:
Sit down, shut
up, and listen!

NONASSERTIVE
Makes statements like:
Please try to behave
like ladies and
gentlemen

Makes students How many times do I

feel disliked and have to tell you to stop
treated unjustly talking?
Such teachers
feel that to
maintain order
they must keep
the upper hand

Students do not know

what to expect or are
confused about
expectations and
enforcement

ASSERTIVE
Gives clear
instructions:
Our rule is no talking
without raising hands
Please raise your
hand and wait for me
to call on you
Are mindful of
students need for
respect, warmth and
encouragement

Discuss what do you think of the following

suggestion by Canter?
"Whenever possible, simply ignore the covert
hostility of a student. By ignoring the behavior,
you will diffuse the situation. Remember, what
you really want is for the student to comply
with your request. Whether or not the student
does it in an angry manner is not the issue."
(Lee Canter's Assertive Discipline)

Assertive Discipline, after all, is essentially a

collection of bribes and threats whose purpose is
to enforce rules that the teacher alone devises and
imposes
The point is to get the trains to run on time in the
classroom, never mind whom they run over

The widespread use of Assertive Discipline

faded away rather abruptly and by the turn of
the century it had largely disappeared from
the educational scene. WHY?

Everything, including the feelings of students,

must be sacrificed to the imperative of obedience
(Kohn, 1996)

Logical Consequences (Dreikurs) (1972)

Failure to achieve this goal results by default

in certain mistaken goals they think will
satisfy this need
MISTAKEN GOALS

Dreikurs believed that all human beings have

one genuine need the need to belong

Students sense belonging when the teacher
and others :
- gives them attention and respect
- involves them in activities
- do not mistreat them

How should the teacher handle misbehavior due

to mistaken goals?

Identify the mistaken goal

Address the mistaken goal, discussing it in a
friendly and non-threatening way

Calmly ask:

Do you need me to pay more attention to
you?
Could it be that you want to show me that I
cant make you do the assignment?

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MISBEHAVIOR

Seeking attention

Talk out loud, show off, interrupt others,

demand teacher attention

Seeking power

Drag their heels, make comments under their

breath, try to show the teacher cant make
them do anything

Seeking revenge

Lying, subverting/destroying class activities,

maliciously disrupting the class

Displaying
inadequacy

Make no effort to learn, withdraw from class

activities

Discussion
Do you agree that all classroom misbehaviors
can be thought of as four mistaken goals that
students pursue to gain a sense of belonging?
Or could it be understood as a variety of
actions students exhibit for many different
reasons?


Rules for governing class behavior should be

formulated jointly by the teacher and students

Misbehavior results in unpleasant

consequences such as extra homework or
being excluded from normal class activities

Logical consequences for compliance or

violation should be associated with these rules

Punishment should never be used it is a way

for the teacher to get back at the student and
show who is the boss

Good behavior brings pleasant consequences

such as enjoyment of learning and associating
positively with others

Punishment humiliates the student and this

can have additional undesirable results

Replace it with logical consequences that have
been agreed to by the class

Dreikurs also believed that learning occurs

best in democratic classrooms that promote
a sense of belonging and help students acquire
self-discipline

Democratic classrooms where students can
participate actively in class decision making
and are treated as social equals by their
teachers

One fundamental important goal of education is
to help students develop self-control based on
social interest (for the good of others and self)

Autocratic versus Permissive

Classrooms
AUTOCRATIC
CLASSROOMS

Teachers make all

decisions and imposes
them on students
Students dont get to
develop personal
initiative and accept
responsibility

PERMISSIVE
CLASSROOMS

Teachers fail to require

that students comply
with rules and conduct
themselves humanely
Teachers also dont deal
with the consequences
of their misbehavior

Dreikurss suggestions for democratic classroom:

Always speak in positive terms, never be
negative

Encourage students to strive for improvement,
not perfection

Emphasize students strengths while
minimizing their weaknesses

Helps students learn from their mistakes

Encourage independence and responsibility

Show faith in students; offer them help in
overcoming obstacles

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Encourage them to help each other

Show pride in student work; display and
share it with others

Be optimistic and enthusiastic

Use encouraging remarks such as:
You have improved.
Can I help you?

What did you learn from that mistake?

Group Management (Kounin) (1971)

Kounin (1971): good discipline was not so
much dependent on what teachers did when
misbehavior occurred, but on how they
presented lessons and dealt with various
groups in the class

Teachers of well-behaved classes displayed
constant awareness of what all students were
doing in the classroom

Effective teachers also managed their lessons

in ways that kept students alert, on task, and
involved

Good teachers used identifiable procedures
for gaining student attention and clarifying
expectations

Group Focus - can implemented through:
Group alerting teachers gain students full
attention before giving directions of making
explanations

Using all these procedures (overlapping,

group alerting, student accountability,
maintaining lesson momentum) would:
- ensure smoothness in the lessons
- avoid satiation (supplying something to
excess) resulting in boredom, frustration,
misbehavior and disengagement from lessons

Teachers with high levels of with-it-ness were

able to attend to several class events
simultaneously

The act of attending to two or more classroom
events simultaneously is called overlapping

Overlapping is considered one of the most
important teacher capabilities

Give examples of overlapping in our Malaysian
classrooms

Student accountability keep on calling on

various students in the groups to respond,
demonstrate, or explain

Maintaining lesson momentum a constant
forward movement that kept students alert and
involved, with no confusion or dead spots

An effective teacher should:
- start lessons with dispatch (quickly and
effectively)
- keep a steady pace
- make efficient transitions among activities
- bring lessons to a satisfactory close

Kounin - the most important factors in managing

behavior are:
1. Presenting lessons that students find engaging
2. Managing lessons to keep students involved
and accountable
3. Keeping track of what is going on in all parts of
the classroom at all times and making that
fact evident to students

Kounins model incorporated both the

instructional and disciplinary aspects of the
classroom together

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Reality Therapy (Glasser) (1998)

Glasser was a psychiatrist and educational
consultant who counseled delinquent
adolescents using a method called reality
therapy

Reality therapy is focusing on helping
individuals to resolve their problems within
the present reality rather than probing into
what happened to trouble them in the past

Reality therapy is firmly based on choice

theory - we cannot control anyones behavior
except our own

All we can do is help students envision
/conceptualize a quality existence in school
and plan the choices that lead to it

From that vision comes student involvement
and responsible behavior

Guidelines for Reality Therapy

Focus on the present

Talk about what one might do now to

resolve the problem

Avoid discussing
These are the ways that counselees
symptoms and complaints choose to deal with unsatisfying
as much as possible
relationships
Focus on what counselees Feelings and physiology can be
can do directly - act and
changed, but only if there is a
think
change in the acting and thinking
Avoid criticizing, blaming
and/or complaining and
help counselees to do the
same

Remain non-judgmental and

non-coercive but encourage
people to judge all they are
doing in terms of the results

If the choice of behaviors is not

working, then the counselor helps
clients find new behaviors that
lead to a better connection

Dont get bogged down by

excuses

Teach counselees that legitimate

or not, excuses stand directly in
the way of their making needed
connections

By doing this, they learn to avoid

some extremely harmful external
control behaviors that destroy
relationships.

ACTIVITY

Reflect on the key points for each of the five
models of discipline

In your opinion, which model works best?

Give reasons for your choice

Read on newer models of discipline **
- Self-discipline (Thomas Gordon) (1989)
- Beyond discipline (Alfie Kohn) (2001)

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