Beyond Discipline MCED 7318 Classroom Management

 An American author and lecturer who has explored a number of topics in education, parenting, and human behavior. He calls into question topics such as the use of competition, incentive programs, conventional discipline, standardized testing, grades, homework, and traditional schooling.

 * Born in Miami Beach, FL  * Earned a BA from Brown in 1979  * Earned a MA in the social sciences from University of Chicago  * Taught at the high school and college level in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts  * Is now an independent scholar and is not affiliated with any intuition.  * Father of two children and lives in the Boston area

 Here are some of Alfie Kohn’s accomplishments  *Editorial Advisory Board, Education Digest  *Editorial Board, Greater Good Science Center  *Laureate, Kappa Delta Pi (International Education Honor Society)  *National Council of Teachers of English George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language, 2000, for The Schools Our Children Deserve  *American Psychological Association's National Psychology Award for Excellence in the Media, 1987, for No Contest  *National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) Gold Award, 2006, for Unconditional Parenting

 In Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community, Kohn challenges teachers to give up current practices of handling behavioral problems through coercion and reward and to solve problems by providing an engaging curriculum and caring community.  Kohn stresses that the ultimate goal of classroom management should be having students behave appropriately b/c they know it is the right thing to do and b/c they understand how their actions affect other people not just simple obedience.

 Kohn suggests that the purpose of education is to produce not just good learners, but also good people.  It can not be achieved through Behavioral techniques praise Privileges Or punishments Because they simply can not change the student only their behavior. Behavior manipulation does not develop a commitment to being a caring and responsible person. The more students are rewarded for their behavior the more difficult it is for them to become moral people.

 Kohn stresses that the focus in classrooms must change from an emphasis on curbing negative behaviors to an emphasis on promoting positive one.  Students need to construct moral meaning so they are not just doing what they are told to do and become ethical people.  Kohn suggests that effective classroom management requires the building of communities and to do that the following needs to happen Teachers must evaluate interactions w/students Find alternatives to traditional punishments Eliminate the focus on rewards and praise

 Teachers need to self- evaluate: what they consider important in the classroom, interactions with students, and what students are asked to do.  Teachers must always look first to their responsibility for creating situations and states rather then automatically looking at the students as the cause.  Kohn proposes that a new discipline plan is not needed but a whole new curriculum.

 Studies have shown that extrinsic motivators such as grades, praise, and tangible rewards are not merely ineffective but are also actually counterproductive to producing ethical, responsible individuals.  Objections to the use of praise: They only work for a short period of time Students work for the rewards but may not see the value of what they are learning. Much praise used by teachers is fundamentally fraudulent

 Don’t praise students, only what students do  Make praise as specific as possible  Avoid phony praise  Avoid praise that sets up competition  Give praise in private  Avoid praising a student’s character  Avoid praise that compares or condescends

 Teachers need to find alternatives to punishment & treat inappropriate behavior as a problem to be solved together in a supportive classroom community.  In this environment, discipline problems can become ways to teach values, provide insights, and build up self-esteem.  Discipline must be more than punishment, it should be a means of helping students become caring and ethical individuals.  When a disturbance happens it should be viewed as a way for students to become active participants in their own social and ethical development.

 The success of problem solving depends on the following: A positive relationship between students and teachers, the relationship must be ongoing. Students must know that they are cared about and valued regardless of their behavior. Teachers might dislike the behavior, but they must never devalue the student. Teachers should assess their own responsibility in creating the problem. Teachers must identify the factors that caused the problem to occur. Teachers must determine the best time to work with the students to solve the problem.

 To start the process you should ask the student “What do you think we can do to resolve this problem?” Help the student consider appropriate options and results of each option.  The “working with” approach is more time consuming then the traditional approach to discipline but has great outcomes such as students learning problem-solving skills that will benefit them for their whole life.

 Once the teacher has evaluated their relationship with the students, eliminated the focus on rewards and praise, and found alternatives to punishment; a classroom community can start to be built.  By removing traditional approaches to classroom management teachers and students can build a community of learners in which it is safe to try new ideas and even to fail.  In these communities students will care about each other, their teachers, and their school.

 The first step to building a classroom community is that students have a positive relationship with an adult who respects and care about them. The community is built on a foundation of working together throughout the day. Students need to be allowed to work toward a common goal and gain a sense of significance from being an active participant in their own education.  Academic instruction should be a part of the community building so that what the students are learning is not a separate from their community.  Perspective taking is an important part of community building. This is where students can imagine how the world looks from someone else’s point of view.

 Classroom meetings sever several purposes: Discussions of how to resolve classroom problems Discussion of how to build the community Let’s students know their voice counts Give the feeling of community Students learn problem-solving and decision making Students develop the ability to reason and analyze

 Benefits of building a community are: Greater academic motivation and performance A liking for school Empathy and motivation to help others An ability to resolve conflict Greater enjoyment of class Commitment to key democratic values Higher sense of efficacy Increased selfless behavior

Ideas for building community within the classroom 1. Believe in the importance of classroom community 2. Be interested! 3. Assign “study buddies” 4. Recognize each student for their uniqueness 5. Teach perspective 6. Provide chances for discussion and debate 7. Play games 8. Help students find common threads. 9. Use literature to build community 10. Conduct classroom meetings 11. Participate in service projects 12. Have classroom jobs 13. Use cooperative learning 14. Use rituals and traditions 15. Share talents

 How to put Community Classrooms in place 1. Evaluate your interactions with students. 2. Evaluate the curriculum. 3. Change from the punisher to a problem solver. 4. Reduce or eliminate you and your students’ dependence on extrinsic rewards to get desired behavior. 5. Create a classroom community where students value each other and work together willingly.