Control (Choice) Theory
A Learning Technique
By William Glasser
What is control theory?
 Behavior
is never caused by a response to
an outside stimulus.
 Instead,
behavior is inspired by what a
person wants most at any given time:
survival, love, power, freedom, or any
other basic human need.
Basic needs that fuel wants
 To
survive.
 To belong and be loved by others.
 To have power and importance.
 To have freedom and independence.
 To have fun.
What is the choice?
By understanding the drives for
SURVIVAL, POWER, LOVE,
BELONGING, FREEDOM, and FUN in
people, we become more conscious of the
need for our world to be a quality world of
our choosing .
10 Axioms of Control Theory
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The only person whose behavior we can control
is our own.
All we can give another person is information.
All long-lasting psychological problems are
relationship problems.
The problem relationship is always part of our
present life.
What happened in the past has everything to do
with what we are today, but we can only satisfy
our basic needs right now and plan to continue
satisfying them in the future.
10 axioms of control theory
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
We can only satisfy our needs by satisfying the pictures
in our Quality World.
All we do is behave.
All behaviors are Total Behaviors and are made up of
four components: acting, thinking, feeling and
physiology. All Total Behaviors are chosen, but we only
have direct control over the acting and thinking
components.
We can only control our feeling and physiology
indirectly through how we choose to act and think.
All Total Behavior is designated by verbs and named by
the part that is the most recognizable.
How does it work?
A person can take greater responsibility for
his actions and make the proper behavior
choices by examining the following
questions:




What do you want?
What are you doing to achieve what you
want?
Is it working?
What are your plans or options?
How it is applied in the classroom
 Two
Types of Teachers
 Boss teachers
Depends on the rules and consequences
method and use rewards and punishment
to get students to do what the teacher
wants.


Students are primarily motivated by rewards
and avoiding punishment
Students are secondarily motivated by their
own desire to learn.
How it is applied in the classroom
 Lead
teachers
Make aligning lessons and assignments
with students' basic needs their primary
business.


They avoid the necessity of a reward system.
A grading system is used for assessment, but
only as a temporary indicator, not a reward.
students are engaged, deeply motivated
learners, and not just children completing
busy work and pre-determined requirements.
What are the results?



Students have a say in what they learn, and
teachers negotiate both content and method
with them.
How and what students learn stems directly
stems from their basic needs.
In instruction, teachers tend to use
cooperative, active learning techniques that
enhance the power of the students.
Application of the theory

Curriculum


Teachers must negotiate both content and method
with students. Students' basic needs literally help
shape how and what they are taught.
Instruction

Teachers rely on cooperative, active learning
techniques that enhance the power of the learners.
Lead teachers make sure that all assignments meet
some degree of their students' need satisfaction. This
secures student loyalty, which carries the class
through whatever relatively meaningless tasks might
be necessary to satisfy official requirements.
Application of the theory
 Assessment



Instructors only give "good grades“ those that
certify quality work. This satisfies some
students' need for power
Courses for which a student doesn't earn a
"good grade" are not recorded on that
student's transcript.
Teachers grade students using an absolute
standard, rather than a relative "curve."
Goals of the control theory?

From the words of Glasser himself:


To teach prospective teachers how to relate to
their students so that the students feel the teachers
care about them and respect them. Without “pay”, no
human being will work up to their ability if he or she is
not cared for and respected.
To teach prospective teachers to introduce the
concept of competency into their classrooms. No
human being will work hard at anything unless they
believe that they are working for competence.
References

Funderstanding
http://www.funderstanding.com/control_theory.cfm

WikEd
http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Control_theory

Interview with William Glasser
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3960/is_2002
07/ai_n9097918