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CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE.
Term Paper ID:25032
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Compares approaches of Reality Therapy & Cooperative Models. Definitions, principles, techniques, role of teacher.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Compares approaches of Reality Therapy & Cooperative Models. Definitions, principles, techniques, role of teacher.
Paper Introduction:
CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE: REALITY THERAPY VERSUS COOPERATIVE
DISCIPLINE MODELS
Introduction
According to Baron (1992):
Classroom management and effective discipline are skills that all beginning teachers must learn. Classroom management refers to those procedures or routines a teacher uses to maintain a smoothly running classroom; discipline refers to those techniques or strategies a teacher uses to respond to specific acts of student misbehavior. (p.1)
The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the application of Reality Therapy as a form of classroom and school discipline with the Cooperative Discipline model. The first
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Thus, children (as well asadults) will behave well if they are assisted in recognizing that goodbehavior is the most need-satisfying thing they can do.Cooperative Discipline According to Albert (1989), cooperative discipline's basic philosophyis that children have a strong psychological and emotional need to belong.This need influences how they respond to their environment and how theymake behavioral choices. Learning, 24(2),43-46. Welch, F.C. For example, both call for teachers to engage in a certainamount of evaluation, influencing of students and in the practice of somebehavioral (reinforcement) techniques. These are:identifying the behavior, dealing with misbehavior immediately, andproviding some encouragement. Basedon the principles of reality therapy, the program, designed for grads K-5),teaches students to assume responsibility for their own actions; withdiscipline being instructional, as opposed to punitive. These same principles are applied to classroom discipline in thereality therapy approach. Thereality therapy approach can be said to be somewhat more cognitive innature than the cooperative discipline approach in that it focuses onindividuals being able to "figure out" or reason between their choices andthe perceived quality of their "world" or life circumstances whereas thecooperative discipline approach is more focused on the child'spsychoemotional sense of self-esteem. Regarding their strengths, Emmer reports that both approacheshave been supported by research as able to elicit teacher support andenthusiasm; moreover, they are both able to use training to change teachersperceptions of discipline in a positive manner. School discipline programs that work. (1993). Educational Forum, 45(1), 57-67. Another reality based program is described by Butzin (19984). Department of Education, Washington, DC.(ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. (1996). Butzin, S.M. (p.1) The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the applicationof Reality Therapy as a form of classroom and school discipline with theCooperative Discipline model. These behaviors included: involvement with thestudent as a caring friend; focusing their concern on students' presentbehavior, not their past behavior; encouraging student acknowledgement ofthe appropriateness of chosen behaviors; development of a plan for betterbehavior which may include referral to the Time Out room for help;fostering student commitment to the plan; allowing no excuses if thecommitment is broken; and not using punishment, but rather fair andconsistent consequences to choosing unacceptable behavior. (Paperpresented at the National School Boards Association Convention (SanFrancisco, CA, April 23-26) ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 241993. CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE: REALITY THERAPY VERSUS COOPERATIVE DISCIPLINE MODELS Introduction According to Baron (1992): Classroom management and effective discipline are skills that all beginning teachers must learn. Strengths and Limitations Emmer (1986) has discussed the strengths and limitations associatedwith both cooperative discipline and reality therapy approaches, notingthat, to a certain extent, they have similar strengths and similarweaknesses. (198 ). Reality therapy focuses on the present and not the past and is saidto be based on "control theory" a term changed to "choice theory" inGlasser's later writings. It wasnoted that teachers can help students to build more moral and ethicalframeworks for their behavior by utilizing cognitive and behavioralstrategies that are either at the threshold or just beyond the threshold ofstudents' moral reasoning stage. MN: AmericanGuidance Services. This assumption is thatall human beings are born with five basic needs built into their geneticstructure: survival, love, power, fun, and freedom; an assertion central tothis assumption is that all of our lives we must attempt to live in a waythat will best satisfy one or more of those needs (Glasser, 1989).Individuals try to control their own behavior so that they can choose to dothe most need-satisfying thing at the time. For example, George (198 )developed a disciplinary approach based on reality therapy in whichstudents' improved their behavior by examining moral dilemmas. This is the conclusion that thetwo models appear to offer some sound methods and techniques for classroomdiscipline and determining whether one model should be favored over theother must await future research. Moreover, anotherstrength of reality therapy is its focus on present behavior and its callto ignore the past. Psychology in the Schools, 17(1), 385-389.----------------------- 1 On the other hand, with some exceptions,most children in school---even ones who misbehave--tend to be normal,healthy children. (1994). NM: American GuidanceService. (198 ). The core components of the program involved teachers engaging inseveral overt behaviors. There is no definitiveresearch that has established whether the limitations and/or strengths ofone model should be used to place it above or beneath the other model. Albert, L. There is very little individuality associated with the stepsthat must be taken. Echoing the foregoing, Munck (1996) reports that, in general, thecooperative discipline approach is an approach that emphasizes sharedresponsibility for classroom discipline between students and teachers,turning classrooms into "communities of ownership" which means thatteachers and students collaboratively arrive at the rules for classroommanagement. Discipline. A teacher's guide to cooperative discipline: Howto manage your classroom and promote self-esteem. (1996). Specifically, Bassin (1978) reports that realitytherapy asserts that schools and teachers need to abandon punitivemanipulations and initiate positive, supportive interactions with studentsin order to produce a real decrease in student misbehavior. (Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Associationof Colleges for Teacher Education (36th, San Antonio, TX, February 1-4)ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. (1995). When teachers take steps to satisfy this desire tobelong, disruptive and unruly classroom behavior is minimized. NY: HarperCollins. Is it a dirty word? Onthe other hand, cooperative discipline approaches offer teacher techniquesthat are said to be applicable to most students presenting behavioralproblems. However, tosome extent, the actual overt teacher practices of reality therapy are moreindividualistic which is to say that the methods used by a teacher, in anysituation, are focused on the particular needs of a particular student. It seems reasonable to assert that a strength of reality therapy overcooperative discipline is its flexibility in terms of allowing the teachera more individualistic approach to student misbehavior. According to Albert (1995), the central aim of overtbehavior is to create a school climate that student-centered environment,incorporating teacher-student self-esteem and providing students with asense of belonging.Comparison In terms of overt teacher behaviors, it can be seen from theforegoing review of the two approaches, that there are similarities intechniques. It is quite easy for teachers to view students interms of their past history of behavior and the call to avoid this ishelpful, allowing teachers as well as administrators to take a new andfresh perspective of so called "problem students." One particularly problematic aspect of reality therapy on the otherhand is that it was developed on the basis of William Glasser's experienceswith delinquent teen-age girls. Emmer, E.T. ED 24 82. As noted in the paper, the models have bothsimilar and dissimilar points with perhaps their strongest differencecentering on their postulates regarding the etiology of misbehavior. Reality therapy in the classroom. ED 316 927). In general, choice therapy states that regardlessof what has occurred in the past, to be happy and effective, we must liveand plan in the present (Welch & Dolly, 198 ). Discipline strategies for teachers. George, P.S. This is followed by discussion andillustrations of overt teacher behaviors associated with the two disciplinemodels. Journal forSpecialists in Group Work, 3(2), 63-77. The extent to which a theory and accompanying methodsderived from samples of delinquents might apply to normal school childrenand adolescents can be seriously questioned.Comparison What the foregoing discussion of the strengths and limitations of thecooperative discipline and reality therapy approaches reveals is that bothmodels have their strengths and their limitations. Both discipline approaches alsoemphasize the importance of restructuring or changing schools so that theybecome institutions that, in general, foster good behavior. Both approaches are similar, however, inthat they postulate that the key connection between remediation ofdisciplinary problems has to do with teacher-student relationships andallowing students to feel that they are special and cared about. It is noted that school districts,teachers, and teacher educators should have better evidence upon which tobase decisions about implementation of specific methods or teachertraining. The idea is that if students have a hand in creating andenforcing the rules, then defying the teacher will not work anymore,because students would also be breaking their own laws.Comparison In terms of comparing the two discipline models, it can be noted thatthe reality therapy approach is based on the innate capacity of individualsto make choices to fulfill their needs while the cooperative disciplineapproaches focuses on self-esteem. Bloomington,Ind: Phi Delta Kappa Education Foundation. Evaluation This paper offered a comparison of the reality therapy andcooperative discipline models. In terms of its underlying assumptions, the cooperative disciplinemodel asserts that, at its roots, all misbehavior is the result of poorself-esteem (Albert, 1989). Glasser, W. Baron, E.B. References Albert, L. Bassin, A. The same can be said of the various behaviors proscribed by eachmodel for teachers. The cooperative discipline connection. The first section of the essay examines thetwo models in terms of their basic philosophies of discipline, underlyingassumptions, and key terms. On the other hand, both discipline approaches are said to have aserious limitation which is that there has not been sufficient researchinto all of the outcomes associated with each model, both positive andnegative. Effects of teacher training in disciplinaryapproaches. Engelhardt, L. (ERIC Document ReproductionService No. Students mustfeel not only that their teachers and their schools genuinely care aboutthem, but also that teachers and the school are making efforts to help themunderstand what they want and/or to choose behaviors that will satisfytheir needs. A record is keptfor each child upon which all serious behavior infractions are written.During phase 1 (1-5 behavior infractions), the teacher deals with thestudent directly, evaluates possible causes of inappropriate behavior, andattempts to find and reward positive aspects of the student's behavior.After three infractions, the student must meet with the teacher and developa written plan to change the behavior. Overt Teacher BehaviorsReality Therapy Reality therapy utilizes both cognitive and behavioral approaches inthe remediation of classroom misbehavior. Engelhardt (1983) reported that the Douglas School System in SouthDakota has successfully operated a Time Out/Discipline Model program intheir middle school for five years that was developed based upon realitytherapy. A systematic evaluation of Glasser'stechniques. From tourists to citizens in the classroom.Educational Leadership, 54(1), 32-36. School discipline: A new management system thatworks. Discipline, moral development, and levels ofschooling. Misbehavior beyond this point (phase 4) resultsin suspension and work with a behavior specialist. Three overt teacherstrategies are said to be central to cooperative discipline. Ten or more infractions(phase 3) will call for a meeting of the student with the teacher,principal, counselor, and parents, and the development of another writtenplan for behavior change. The concern of reality therapy is to create warm, trusting,relationships with clients which are said to need help from counselors interms of evaluating both what they want and the total behavior that theyare presently choosing. The counselor then assists clients to create aplan to either change what they wanted to something more achievable, and/orto choose behaviors that will better satisfy what they now want. Reality therapy. In terms of specific principles, cooperative discipline usesinterventions to challenge students to become "citizens" of their classroomand take responsibility for its academic and social environment; self-discipline is said to be the result of a joint collaborative effort betweenstudents and teachers, one that focuses on consistent classroomorganization (Freiberg, 1996). (1986). Basic Philosophies, Assumptions, and Key TermsReality Therapy According to Welch and Dolly (198 ) reality therapy, as applied tothe educational setting, derives from a philosophy of counseling in whichefforts are made to help counselees deal with personal problems by creatingmore realistic "quality worlds" (what they want), and/or figuring outbetter choices (what they do) to satisfy what is in their quality worlds.When clients do this, they are said to feel better and to be more effectivein terms of controlling of their lives. Munck, E. Other related techniques include strategiesfor avoiding and defusing confrontations, the reinforcement of desirablebehavior, the use of methods to build student self-esteem, encouragement ofparent involvement. If there are continuing behavior problems (6-1 infractions, phase2), the student must meet with the principal and school counselor anddevelop another written plan for changing behavior. Classroom management refers to those procedures or routines a teacher uses to maintain a smoothly running classroom; discipline refers to those techniques or strategies a teacher uses to respond to specific acts of student misbehavior. Untilthese theoretical components are tested empirically to established theirdegree of validity, if any, it is difficult to favor one model overanother. In addition, Emmer statesthat research findings also suggest that these systems do provide teachersand administrators with strategies for dealing with major threats to schooland classroom order and they provide rational, systematic means ofcommunication with students about expectations and consequences. Both reality therapy and its application to the educational contextis based on a basic assumption about motivation. & Dolly, J. The parents are informed about theproblem and the student's plan for change. For both models, the various strategies and behaviorshave been found to be relatively effective, albeit with some varianceacross situations and groups of students (see: Baron, 1992). (1989). (1989). The final section of the essay delineates the strengths andlimitations associated with both approaches. (1992). Final draft of report submitted to the Office of EducationalResearch and Improvement, U.S. Perhaps as a result of the foregoing, Emmer (1996) reports thatmost school districts utilize these approaches based on mostly thetestimony of the adherents and practitioners who support their efficacy;however, as he points out testimony and endorsement are subject toexpectation effects and other biases. (1978). In other words, themethod relies fairly heavily on cognitive-behavioral teacher actions andstrategies.Cooperative Discipline With respect to the overt teacher behaviors associated withcooperative discipline, Albert (1995) states that overt teacher behaviorsare directed toward assisting students to choose their own behavior, whileinfluencing their choices toward good behavior. Freiberg, H.J. Building on this relationship betweenmisbehavior and self-esteem the approach offers corrective, supportive andpreventive strategies for achieving order and control in the classroom viaactivities that encourage and enhance a child's self-esteem (Albert, 1989). Given the just delineated factors, there is really only oneevaluative conclusion that can be drawn. ED 356 2 1). In summary then, reality therapy encourages teachers to engage inseveral diverse cognitive and behavioral methods including the judicioususe of moral dilemmas to facilitate moralistic thinking, the use of time-out procedures, the establishment of good relationships with students, theuse of different reinforcement methods for fostering student commitment andacknowledgement of appropriate behavior, evaluative efforts examining forthe causes of a student's misbehavior, and so forth.
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