Social Environments
 Three main models of classroom management
 Fall on a continuum from low teacher control to
high teacher control
 Different theories use different terms to describe
each approach
1: Interventionist:
 High teacher control
 Focus on environment controlling the child
 Rules without explanations
 Autocratic
E.g. Canter and Canter:
Assertive Discipline
 Based on behaviourist principles
 Clear rules and limits are established by the teacher
 Consequences (positive and negative) are described
beforehand
Consequences:
 All consequences (negative or positive) immediately
follow the target behaviour
 Four main types of consequences
 Positive reinforcement
 Negative reinforcement
 Punishment (2 kinds)
An Easier Way to Remember:
 The term positive is like the Math sign (+) and
means something is added
 The term negative is like the Math sign (-) and
means something is taken away
 Punishment ALWAYS aims to decrease a target
behavior
 Reinforcement ALWAYS aims to increase a target
behavior
ADD
SOMETHING
CHILD LIKES
SOMETHING
CHILD DISLIKES
SUBTRACT
Positive
reinforcement
in order to
increase
behaviour
Punishment in
order to
decrease
behaviour
Punishment in
order to
decrease
behaviour
Negative
reinforcement in
order to increase
behaviour
 Uses token economies (e.g. names
on the board with check marks for
transgressions, or check marks in
order to earn rewards).
 Uses Kounin’s Ripple Effect (also
called Bandura’s “Inhibition”):
Teacher makes reward and
punishment public in order to
increase/decrease chance that
others will copy behaviors.
2. Non-interventionist
 Low teacher control
 Focus on child learning to control his/her
environment
 Anything goes
 Few rules, little enforcement
Ginott’s Congruent
Communication
 Main tenet: Children are capable of controlling
own behaviour if teachers let them
 Key to making good behavioural choices is healthy
self-esteem
 Teachers use communication to help children
understand their feelings and thoughts
Ginott’s techniques
 “Sane messages”: Tell the students what you want
them to do rather than what they have done wrong.
 Accept and reflect students’ feelings- don’t deny
them.
 Avoid praise. Instead, clearly describe what the
child has done.
 Negotiate rather than dictate.
 Use “I messages” to convey your anger in a calm way.
3. Interactionist
 Moderate teacher control
 Focus on reconciling balance of child’s power/rights
with the power/rights of the group
 Rules agreed upon by consensus
 Discussion and explanation
 “Benevolent dictator”
E.g. Glasser’s
Reality Therapy
 What is the goal of discipline?
 Why do we need discipline in our classrooms?
 The goal of discipline is self-discipline
Tenets of Humanism:
 People should be free to make choices and take
responsibility for them
 People are whole and complex and cannot be treated
like a sum of parts
 PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN IDEAS
Glasser’s Control Theory
 Describes 5 human needs
 Needs are not in a hierarchy (like Maslow)
 The need to survive
 The need to belong and love others
 The need for power and influence
 The need to be free and make choices
 The need to play, feel joy and have fun
 Schools fail children by failing to give them the control
over meeting these needs
 When they are not met, learning decreases and
behavioral problems increase
How can we give
students control?
 Teaching Critical thinking skills
 makes students independent of objectivism
 Positive classroom communication
 respect, wait time, reflective responses
 Grading practices that encourage learning rather than
competition
 criterion-referenced, rich feedback
Co-operative learning
 Co-operative learning
 Glasser thinks this is most important
 Inquiry Learning
 also called discovery learning
 center-based
 students select activities and learn concepts and
relationships through them
Restitution
Restitution
 Restitution focuses on relationships not rules. On
responsibility, not obedience. And on respect, not gold
stars. Research has repeatedly shown that when
students and teachers treat one another with respect,
the environment for learning improves and test scores
go up.
Restitution
 Restitution is based on control theory which is a
theory of internal motivation. Traditional discipline
programs are based on stimulus-response psychology
and focus on consequences either positive ones such as
rewards or negative ones such as the removal of
privileges or detention.
Restitution
 Restitution teaches students self-discipline and skills
needed to accept personal responsibility for one's
actions. Restitution strengthens. The focus of
restitution is restituting the self, which teaches
students to behave to be the person they want to be
rather than to please others.
Task:
 Choose the classroom management orientation with
which you most agree. Discuss the strengths and
weaknesses of the approach with your partner.
Reference
http://restitutionsocialdevelopment.blogspot.com
With permission of instructors from U of W