Group Dynamics & Classroom
Discipline: The Pioneering Work of
Fritz Redl & William Wattenberg
AMY BARK, JUSTIN INGRAM,
AND JEN VINSON
Redl
 Fritz Redl emigrated from Austria
to the United States in 1936. He was
a researcher, therapist, teacher, and
professor of behavior science at
Wayne State University.
 He made many contributions as a
member of the department of
criminal justice at the State
University of New York at Albany,
where he worked with deviant
juveniles.
Wattenberg
 William Wattenberg, born in 1911, was a
educational psychologist that taught at Northwestern
University, Chicago Teacher’s College, and Wayne
State University.
 Wattenberg authored The Adolescent Years (1955),
All Men Are Created Equal (1967), and co-authored
Mental Hygiene in Teaching with Fritz Redl.
Contributions to Discipline
 Prior to Redl and Wattenberg’s contributions, classroom
discipline was thought of as teachers’ strong efforts to
impose behavior requirements upon resistant students.
 Mental Hygiene in Teaching (1951): The first set of
theory-based suggestions designed to help teachers
understand and deal with misbehavior in the classroom.
 Redl and Wattenberg were the first to describe how
students behave differently in groups than as individuals
and the first to identify social and psychological forces
that affect classroom behavior.
Central Focus
 Redl and Wattenberg focused on group behavior,
its manifestations, causes, and control.
 Their purpose was to help teachers understand and
deal with group behavior in the classroom.
 They showed how group behavior differs from
individual behavior, pinpointed some of the causes
of those differences, and set forth
specific techniques for helping
teachers deal with the undesirable
aspects of group behavior.
Principle Teachings
 People in groups behave differently
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than they do individually.
Students adopt identifiable
roles in the classroom.
Group dynamics strongly affect
behavior.
Teachers play many different roles that affect student
behavior.
Diagnostic thinking helps teachers solve behavior
problems effectively.
Teachers can correct student behavior and maintain class
control by using influence techniques.
Principle Teachings continued…
 Supporting student self-control
is a low-key influence
technique.
 Providing situational assistance is
also a low-key influence technique.
 Appraising reality is an influence
technique that helps students
understand the underlying causes
of their misbehavior and foresee the
consequences if they continue.
 Invoking the pleasure-pain principle
is an influence technique that entails rewarding good behavior
and punishing bad behavior.
Analysis of Redl and Wattenberg’s Views on Discipline:
Student Roles and Behavior
 Leaders: those that show
above-average intelligence,
responsibility and social
skills
 Clowns: those that assume
the role of entertainer
 Fall guys: those who take
the blame and punishment
in order to gain favor with
the group
 Instigators: those that
cause trouble but act like
they are not involved.
Group Dynamics
 Group dynamics is when
groups create their own
psychological forces that
bring strong pressure to
bear on individuals.
 The effects of group
dynamics are…
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1) Contagious behavior
2) Scapegoating
3) Teachers’ pets
4) Reactions to strangers
5) Group disintegration
Psychological Roles of Teachers
 Representatives of
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society
Judges
Sources of knowledge
Helpers in learning
Referees
Detectives
Models
Caretakers
Ego supporters
Group leaders
 Targets for hostility
 Friends and confidants
 Objects of affection
 Surrogate parents
Control Techniques for Misbehavior: Diagnostic Thinking
 Diagnostic Thinking
 1)
Forming a hunch
 2) Gathering facts
 3) Exploring hidden factors
 4) Taking action
 5) Remaining flexible
Applying Influence Techniques
 Influence techniques: the actions that teachers use when
attempting to resolve problem behavior
 In order that teachers might acquire a consistently
effective procedure for dealing with misbehavior, Redl
and Wattenberg urge that teachers ask themselves a
rapid series of questions before taking action:
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1) What is the motivation behind the misbehavior?
2) How is the class reacting?
3) Is the misbehavior related to interaction with me?
4) How will the student react when corrected?
5) How will the correction affect future behavior?
Applying Influence Techniques continued…
 The answers to the previous questions help teachers
select a corrective technique that is likely to
produce positive results overall.
 The 4 examples of corrective techniques are
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1) Supporting self-control
2) Providing situational
assistance
3) Appraising reality
4) Invoking the pleasurepain principle
Corrective Techniques: Supporting Self-Control
 Supporting self-control is a technique that teachers
use aimed at helping students help themselves. It is
low-key and is not forceful, aggressive, or punitive.
Teachers can use the following techniques to support
self-control:
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Sending signals
Physical proximity
Showing interest
Humor
Ignoring
Corrective Techniques: Providing Situational
Assistance
 Situational assistance is used when the student
cannot regain self control. Teachers can…
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Provide hurdle help or individualized assistance
Restructure or reschedule
Establish routines
Remove distracting objects
Remove the student from the
situation
Use physical restraint
Corrective Techniques: Appraising Reality
 In appraising reality, students examine a behavior
situation, note its underlying causes, and foresee its
probable consequences. Teachers can…
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Clearly make a frank
appraisal
Show encouragement
Set clear, enforceable
limits
Corrective Techniques: Invoking the Pleasure-Pain
Principle
 The pleasure-pain technique should be the last technique used if the
previous 3 techniques failed.
 In describing this principle , Redl and Wattenberg refer to rewards
as punishments but give relatively little attention to the reward
(pleasure) aspect, while having much to say about the punishment
(pain) aspect.
 Punishment should consist of planned, unpleasant consequences
the purpose of which is to change behavior in positive directions.
These punishments should not be physical or vengeful toward the
student.
 Teachers should communicate that they are not angry but wish to
help the student. If the student feels good intentions from the
teacher, he or she will be upset with themselves for losing control.
Corrective Techniques: Invoking the Pleasure-Pain Principle
continued…
 Punishment should only be used when other methods have failed. Many
things can go wrong when punishment is used:
 1) Punishment takes the form of revenge or release from tension.
 2) Punishment has detrimental effects on student self-concept and on
relations with the teacher.
 3) Over time, punishment reduces the likelihood that students will
maintain self-control.
 4) Students may endure punishment in order to elevate their status
among peers.
 5) Punishment presents an undesirable model for solving problems.
 Threats vs. Promises
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Threats: emotional, empty statements that make students anxious and
fearful
Promises: unpleasant consequences that will be invoked when rules are
broken.
Classroom Scenario
PLEASE TAKE A FEW MOMENTS TO READ
THE CLASSROOM SCENARIO GIVEN TO YOU
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENTATION.
WE WOULD LIKE YOUR INPUT AFTER
HEARING ABOUT REDL AND WATTENBERG’S
THEORIES
Additional Reminders
 Redl, in his 1972 book When We Deal with Children,
reminds teachers of several principles to keep in
mind with regard to student misbehavior.
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1) Give students a say in setting standards and deciding
consequences. Let them tell how they think you should handle
situations that call for punishment.
2)Keep students’ emotional health in mind at all times.
Punished students must feel that the teacher likes them. Talk
to students about their feelings once they have calmed down.
3) Be helpful, not hurtful. Show your students you want to
support their best behavior.
4) Punishment does not work well. Use it as a last resort. Try
other approaches first.
Additional Reminders continued…
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5) Don’t be hesitant to change your course of action if you get
new insights into a situation.
6) Mistakes in discipline need not be considered disastrous
unless they are repeated.
7) Be objective, maintain humor, and remember that we are all
human.
Strengths
 Redl and Wattenberg made 4 landmark
contributions toward helping teachers work more
effectively with students.
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1) They described how humans behave differently in groups
than they do individually, thus helping teachers understand
classroom behaviors that might otherwise be perplexing.
2) The provided the first well-organized, systematic approach
to improving student behavior.
3) They devised for their system a procedure for diagnosing the
causes of student misbehavior, in the belief that by dealing
with the causes, teachers could eliminate most misbehavior.
4) They established the value of involving students in
discipline decisions and maintaining positive feelings.
Weaknesses
 Although Redl and Wattenberg’s suggestions for
identifying student and teacher roles seemed viable,
in practice they have provided limited benefits in
classroom discipline.
 Once teachers identified roles, they remained
unclear as to what to do about them to help student
behavior become more acceptable.
 Their suggestions were too cumbersome and difficult
to implement efficiently.
 Redl and Wattenberg may have been too optimistic.
References
 Fritz Redl & William Wattenberg, Mental Hygiene in
Teaching (1951)
 Chapter 1, Group Dynamics and Classroom
Discipline: The Pioneering Work of Fritz Redl and
William Wattenberg Packet