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PREVENTING DISCIPLINE
PROBLEMS
It is obviously wise to have a successful prevention
discipline programme
EST 213: CLASSROOM
If discipline problems can be prevented, many of
MANAGEMENT the difficulties experienced by teachers will be
Creating a Personal Theory of Discipline
avoided.
Lecture17
A good preventive discipline programme has
several important characteristics:
Discipline problems tend to escalate once they
appear 1) It provides for students’ needs (love, control,
freedom, fun) in the instructional programme
In a good preventive discipline programme, the 2) It encourages students to communicate what they
problems will not have a chance to grow to make it would like to learn and how they would like to
increasingly difficult to overcome learn it
3) It involves students in establishing explicit rules and
expectations Providing For Students’ Needs
Human needs include control, freedom, and fun along
4) It allows students to help determine the role of the with love and acceptance (Glasser, 1984)
teacher
Misbehaviour of students indicate that such needs
5) It fosters the establishment of good relationships are not being met
between students and teachers
Students are often unable to satisfy their needs at
6) It helps students learn how to evaluate their own home. This may apply to home or other social
academic performance settings
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Since children spend a lot of time in school teachers In the preventive discipline approach described here
have a unique opportunity to help students to have helping students satisfy their basic needs is an
their basic needs met more fully important way to prevent the problem behaviours
that often result when these needs are not met
and in turn
Adults usually consider children’s need for control to
enjoy a more satisfying school be illegitimate. It seems not right to allow students
control when they seem out of control and
experience
rebellious
However, this rebellion cannot be controlled by Curriculum and rules are usually dictated
restricting their behaviour giving students little or no flexibility
Their unruliness is a product of having too few
opportunities to govern them
These restrictions are thought as necessary
This problem can be solved only when students
are allowed more control and responsibility because students are thought to be inherently
This need for freedom is difficult to provide for
irresponsible
students in schools as they are assembled in large
groups and expected to pursue common goals Students are customarily told that learning is
difficult and that to be successful they have to
work hard
Most teachers do not believe that they have
any obligation to make learning fun. In fact,
teachers consider learning to be hard work
and not fun
Anyone observing children learning in a free Infact schools can turn some children off
setting (unstructured environment) would from learning altogether.
admit that they seem to have a lot of fun. How can this change be explained?
From a very young age children are One major factor is learning in school is
compelled to learn and spend much of their different from the natural settings
time engaged in learning, enjoying
immensely all the time
- Students are expected to learn what they
are assigned instead of what they consider
Unfortunately the longer children stay in interesting
school settings the less they like learning - Strict schedule must be followed
- Unlike natural environments completing
assignments is drudge
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However, learning in school can be just as One of the prime requirements for teachers
exciting as learning that occurs naturally is that they love their students
When it is so, fewer discipline problems Ifstudents do not feel that they are loved
exist they will react negatively
It is when learning becomes boring that they turn Love is demonstrated through actions (pats
for other activities to entertain them – usually they
on the back, handshakes), words (use of the
misbehave
student’s name, compliments), and attitudes
(fairness to all, kindness)
Excessive control, anger and cutting
remarks express a lack of love and respect.
