The Development of Modern Discipline

a timeline of Developments in modern DisCipline:

1951 -- Understanding Group Dynamics—Fritz Redl (psychiatrist) and William Wattenberg

(educational psychologist) presented the first systematically organized approach to
discipline. It was based on their identification and analyses of forces they called
“group dynamics” that affect people's behavior when in groups.

1954 -- The Role of Reinforcement in Shaping Behavior—B. F. Skinner (psychologist)

expanded on the discoveries of Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov
and for many years studied how reinforcement affects both animal and
human learning. His conclusions led to tactics for shaping behavior
through a process now popularly called “behavior modification.”

1969 -- Understanding Behavior as Student Choice—William Glasser (psychiatrist)

turned his attention to educational theory and practice after becoming
convinced that personal choice—as distinct from reinforcement—was
pivotal in human learning and general behavior. The teacher's role was
to help students make choices that served them better in school.

1971 --Managing Students and Lessons—Jacob Kounin (educational psychologist)

discovered that classroom behavior is very strongly affected by how
teachers present and manage lessons, which opened yet another line of
thought about discipline.

1971-- Using Congruent Communication—Haim Ginott (teacher and psychologist) set forth a
number of new conclusions about how communication
and teacher actions affect student behavior. His contentions still feature
prominently in most of today's approaches to discipline.

1972 --Emphasizing Democracy and the Need for Belonging—Rudolf Dreikurs

(psychiatrist) became convinced that students are continually motivated
to pursue a primary goal in school, which is to gain a strong sense of
belonging. Misbehavior is often manifested in their unsuccessful attempts to do so.

1976-- Assertively Taking Charge—Lee Canter and Marlene Canter (educators)

provided a tactic that teachers of the day sorely needed—a means of easily and effectively
taking charge in their classrooms and dealing with
misbehavior. Their approach, called “assertive discipline,” dominated
discipline practice for 20 years thereafter.

1986 -- Applying the Principles of Choice Theory—William Glasser (psychiatrist)

returned to prominence with new thoughts on helping students make
better behavior choices.

1987-- Keeping Students Actively Involved—Fred Jones (psychologist) discovered

that the major problem in classroom discipline was “massive timewasting.” He developed
several tactics for conserving time and keeping
students involved, which remain highly popular today.

1988-- Maintaining Student Dignity—Richard Curwin (educator) and Allen

Mendler (psychologist) introduced the concept of discipline with dignity
(Brian Mendler, educator, now participates in the work). They insist that
for discipline to be effective, it must allow students to maintain a personal sense of dignity
(self-respect), a concept now emphasized in virtually all modern approaches to discipline.

1989-- Cooperation for Classroom Discipline—Linda Albert (educator) presented a

number of strategies for improving class behavior through structures
that help students relate positively with each other and with the teacher.

1992-- Self-Restitution Theory—Diane Gossen (educator) developed and emphasized the

concept of self-restitution, in which she asked students who
misbehaved to reflect on their behavior, identify the need that prompted
it, and then create new ways of behaving that are consistent with the responsible persons
they want to be.

1993 --Emphasizing Positivity and Humaneness—Jane Nelsen (educator) and

Lynn Lott (educator) provided additional positive classroom tactics that
promote cooperation and enhance personal relations.

1994 -- Building Inner Discipline—Barbara Coloroso (educator) promoted the

growth of “inner discipline” in students, meaning they are helped to realize, within
themselves, that proper behavior leads to a better existence
than does improper behavior.

1998 -- On Classroom Roles and Procedures—Harry Wong and Rosemary Wong

(educators) insisted that proper class behavior is much more likely
when students know exactly what is expected of them—hence they advocate establishing
and teaching clear procedures for all class activities.

1999 -- Learning to Meet Needs Without Harming Others—Ed Ford (director of

Responsible Thinking Process, Inc.) developed a noncontrolling
approach in which students learn to meet their needs without infringing on the rights or
comforts of others, thereby reducing conflict in the classroom.

2000 -- Promoting Synergy in the Classroom—C. M. Charles (teacher educator) advocates

reducing misbehavior by energizing classes through use of teacher charisma, topics and
activities of high interest, group competition, cooperative work, and recognition of genuine
accomplishment.

2001 -- Building Moral Intelligence—Michele Borba (educator) provides suggestions to help

students differentiate between right and wrong, establish ethical convictions, and act on
those convictions in an honorable way.

2001 -- Classrooms as Communities of Learners—Alfie Kohn (educator) laments

the failure of schools to promote in-depth learning. His remedy is to convert classes into
“communities of learners, lesson manaGement: what DiD JaCob kounin DisCover about
teaChinG style anD stuDent behavior?

In the late 1960s, Jacob Kounin, an educational psychologist at Wayne State University,
conducted an extensive investigation into how highly effective teachers dealt with classroom
misbehavior. But as reported in his 1971 book Discipline and Group Management in
Classrooms, he didn't find much at first, as his research failed to uncover the information he
was seeking. And yet it remained evident that some teachers seemed to promote excellent
class behavior while others did not. Kounin analyzed his data again and this time made a
surprising finding—that good discipline was not so much dependent on what teachers did
when misbehavior occurred, but on how teachers presented lessons and dealt with various
groups in the class. Their success came from whathey did before misbehavior occurred,
rather than from what they did to correct it after it occurred.

Specifically, Kounin noted that the more effective teachers managed their lessons so that
students were kept alert, on task, and involved. He found that those
teachers used identifiable procedures for gaining student attention and clarifying
expectations. Of particular interest was what he called group alerting, where teachers
obtained students' full attention before giving directions or making explanations. Then,
during lessons, the teachers maintained student accountability by calling on students from
time to time to respond, demonstrate, or explain.

Kounin also found that teachers of well-behaved classes displayed a constant

awareness of what all students were doing in the classroom at all times. He used
the term withitness to refer to such awareness. Teachers with higher levels of withitness
were able to monitor and interact with students doing independent work even while those
teachers were presenting lessons to smaller groups. Kounin used the
term overlapping to refer to teachers attending to two or more classroom events
simultaneously. He concluded it was one of the most important of all teaching skills.

Other important qualities Kounin discovered included lesson momentum—

referring to a forward movement of the lesson, with no confusion or dead spots;
smoothness, meaning a steady progression in the lesson without abrupt stops and
starts; and satiation, meaning students getting their fill of a particular topic or activity and
becoming bored or frustrated, causing them to disengage from the lesson.
The connection Kounin identified between teaching and student behavior led
to a new line of thought concerning how teaching style affects student behavior.
Most systems of discipline now place heavy emphasis on that connection.
the kounin model. Know what is going on in all parts of the classroom at all
times. Learn to attend to multiple issues simultaneously.

Carefully organize and conduct interesting lessons that

(1) move forward smoothly without dead spots or abrupt changes,
(2) hold students accountable for attention and participation,
and (3) stop before reaching students' point of satiation. ■

neeDs anD DemoCratiC teaChinG: what were ruDolf Dreikurs's Contentions about stuDent
neeDs anD the best way to teaCh?

In 1972 (the year he died), psychiatrist Rudolf Dreikurs put forth two ideas that
were new to discipline. The first was that students—indeed all humans—have a
powerful inborn need for belonging. He believed that when students in school
are unable to satisfy this prime need (the genuine goal of their behavior) they
turn by default to certain mistaken goals such as attention-seeking, power-seeking,
revenge-seeking, and withdrawal.

Dreikurs's second major idea was that learning occurs best in democratic
classrooms that emphasize active student involvement, promote a sense of belonging, and
foster self-discipline. He characterized democratic classrooms as those
where students participate in class decision making and are treated as social equals
by their teachers.

Dreikurs (1897–1972) was born in Vienna, Austria, and died in Chicago,

Illinois. After receiving his medical degree, he entered into a long association with
renowned Austrian psychiatrist Alfred Adler. Dreikurs immigrated to the United
States in 1937 and became director of the Alfred Adler Institute in Chicago and
professor of psychiatry at the Chicago Medical School. His involvement in child
and family counseling prompted his interest in discipline practices in families and
schools.

Dreikurs said the best way for teachers to deal with misbehavior is to identify
and address the mistaken goal it reflects and discuss with students, in a friendly
and nonthreatening manner, the faulty logic in that goal. Dreikurs suggested calmly
asking, “Do you need me to pay more attention to you?” or “Could it be that you
want to show that I can't make you do the assignment?”

Dreikurs also has much to say about the nature and importance of democratic classrooms.
In such classrooms, teachers help students develop self-control
based on social interest, which includes showing responsibility to oneself as
well as to and for members of the group in matters of work, friendship, and
self-significance. Students gain self-control as they become able to show initiative, make
reasonable decisions, and assume responsibility in ways that benefit
themselves and others.

Dreikurs contrasted democratic classrooms with autocratic classrooms and

permissive classrooms as follows: In autocratic classrooms, the teacher makes all
decisions and imposes them on students, which does nothing to help students
show personal initiative and accept responsibility. In permissive classrooms, the
teacher overlooks students' failure to comply with rules or conduct themselves
humanely, which suggests the teacher accepts those behaviors. In democratic classrooms,
teachers are seen to do the following:
■ Always speak in positive terms, never negative.
■ Encourage students to strive for improvement, not perfection.
■ Emphasize students' strengths while minimizing their weaknesses.
■ Help students learn from mistakes, which are valuable elements in the learning process.
■ Encourage independence and responsibility.
■ Show faith in students; offer them help in overcoming obstacles.
■ Encourage students to help each other.
■ Show pride in student work; display and share it with others.
■ Be optimistic and enthusiastic—a positive outlook is contagious.
■ Use encouraging remarks such as, “You have improved.” “Can I help you?”
“What did you learn from that mistake?” (Dreikurs & Cassel, 1995 [originally
published in 1972], pp. 51–54) the Dreikurs model.

Help all students meet their need for belonging in the class. When they misbehave by
pursuing mistaken goals, discuss the fallacy in a nonthreatening manner. Strive to maintain
a democratic classroom that emphasizes group well-being. Such classrooms provide the
best venue for promoting sense of belonging

learninG Communities: how Does alfie kohn suGGest we involve stuDents more Closely in
Genuine learninG?

Alfie Kohn has been deeply troubled by teaching that tries to force students to behave
compliantly. He often begins his workshops for teachers by asking, “What are
your long-term goals for the students you work with? What would you like them to
be—to be like—long after they've left you?” (Kohn, 1996/2001, p. 60).
When you ask most teachers, they say they want their students to be caring,
happy, responsible, curious, and creative. Unfortunately, says Kohn, there is a yawning
chasm between what we teachers want and what we are doing to get it. We say
we want children to continue reading and thinking after school has ended, yet we
focus on testing and grading, which does little to make students want to learn.
We want students to be critical thinkers, yet we feed them predigested facts and
conclusions—partly because of pressure from various constituencies to pump up
standardized test scores. We act as though our goal is short-term retention of right
answers rather than genuine understanding (Kohn, 1996/2001).

Kohn, a former teacher, is now a full-time writer and lecturer with a number
of influential books to his credit. He is critical of many of today's educational
practices and is the foremost proponent of converting ordinary classrooms into
caring, supportive communities of learners, where students work together as they
delve into topics that capture their attention. He stresses these views in his addresses,
workshops, appearances on radio and television programs, and books
such as Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise,
and Other Bribes (1993/1999) and Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community
(1996/2001). He speaks at major conferences and has appeared on well over 200
radio and television programs, including Oprah and Today.

Kohn thinks traditional instruction—the type in which the teacher selects the
curriculum; does the planning; delivers the lessons through lecture, demonstration,
guided discussion, reading assignments, worksheets, and homework; and then uses
tests to evaluate progress—is falling disastrously short of the expectations we hold
for education.

That kind of instruction is aimed at getting students to demonstrate behaviorally

certain specific objectives, usually on tests. But it gives little attention to
exploring ideas, seeking new solutions, looking for meaning or connections, or
attempting to gain deeper understanding of the phenomena involved.

In the style of instruction most commonly used today, students remain relatively
passive most of the time. They listen, read assignments, answer questions
when called on, and complete worksheets, all with little give and take. Instruction
and learning are deemed successful in the extent to which students show on tests
they have reached the stated objectives. But this approach, says Kohn (1999), makes
students focus on outcomes that are shallow, relatively insignificant, and of little
interest or relevance to them. Students come to think of correct answers and good
grades as the major goals of learning. They rarely experience the satisfaction of exploring
interesting topics in depth and exchanging views and insights with others.
Kohn goes on to say that students taught in this way often develop poor attitudes
toward learning. To them, learning is not an exciting exploration, but just a
way of getting the work done. Once they have done the “stuff,” they quickly forget
much of it as they move on to learn more new stuff. They strive to get the right
answers, and when they do not, or if they don't make top scores on the test, they
experience a sense of failure that is out of place in genuine learning, where making
mistakes is the rule. And even when students seem to be learning well, they may
actually be doing poorly because they are not thinking widely and exploring ideas
thoughtfully.

Kohn argues for instruction that is different from the traditional. He says, first,
that students must be taken seriously, meaning teachers must honor them as individuals
and seek to determine what they need and enjoy. Further, teachers must
recognize that students construct their knowledge and skills from a basis of experience.
When students explore, grapple with ideas, and try to make sense of them,
they make many mistakes, but mistakes are always part of learning. Teachers in that
approach facilitate learning by seeking out students' interests and finding what lies
behind their questions and mistakes.
Kohn (1996/2001) says the kind of schooling he would like to see is best promoted
by transforming schools and classrooms into learning communities, meaning
places in which students feel cared about and are encouraged to care about each
other. There they experience a sense of being valued and respected; they matter to
one another and to the teacher. They come to think in the plural. They feel connected
to each other; they are part of an “us.” And, as a result of all this, they feel
safe in their classes, not only physically but emotionally.

Kohn suggests the following as ways to develop a greater sense of community

in schools and classrooms:
■ Show respect for students. Students behave more respectfully when important
adults in their lives behave respectfully toward them. They are more likely to
care about others if they know they are cared about.

■ Help students connect with each other. Connections among students are established
and enhanced through activities that involve interdependence. Familiar
activities for enhancing connections include cooperative learning, getting-to know-
you activities such as interviewing fellow students and introducing them
to the class, and finding a partner to check opinions with on whatever is being
discussed at the moment. Kohn also suggests using activities that promote perspective
taking, in which students try to see situations from another person's
point of view.

■ Use classroom meetings. Kohn says the overall best activity for involving the
entire group is the class meeting. He suggests holding class meetings at the
beginning of the year to discuss matters such as, “What makes school awful
sometimes? Try to remember an experience during a previous year when you
hated school, when you felt bad about yourself, or about everyone else, and
you couldn't wait for it to be over. What was going on when you were feeling
that way? How was the class set up?” Kohn says not enough teachers use this
practice, particularly in elementary schools, where an aggressively sunny outlook
prevails.

■ Provide classwide and schoolwide activities. To develop a sense of community,

students need many opportunities for the whole class or the whole school to
collaborate on group endeavors. This might involve producing a class mural,
producing a class newsletter or magazine, staging a performance, taking care
of the school grounds, or doing some community service.

■ Reflect on academic instruction. In class meetings, talk about how the next unit
in history might be approached, or what the students thought was best and
worst about the math test. Academic study pursued in cooperative groups enables
students to make connections while learning from each other, and units
of study in language arts and literature can be organized to promote reflection
on helpfulness, fairness, and compassion.

the kohn model. Think of your students as serious learners who construct
knowledge from a variety of experiences. Organize the class into a community of
learners, interconnected and concerned with each other. Use classroom meetings
to address concerns about instructional matters and personal behavior. ■