Principles of Teaching: Discipline in the Classroom

   

    Discipline is one of the most important if not the most important factor for a successful classroom management. This is also the most difficult to deal with. Nowadays, discipline has changed a lot. Before, discipline is maintained through traditional method or by "iron hand". As a traditional maxim goes, "spare the rod, and spoil the child". However, discipline has become more child-centered and democratic. It has to be taken into account the psychological, physical, social and legal impact a disciplinary action can have on the child.
    As a teacher, I know I still have a lot to learn with regards to maintaining discipline. I have to admit but not all my ways in dealing with discipline problems may not be "right" for others. This is where experience can help a lot. Some methods or ways may not be effective for some students while some work. Results actually vary. But bottomline, no matter what ways we may use, we need to remember the child first. That we must keep in mind that on our way of making our students disciplined is the power of actually breaking or making them.
   Anyway, here are some of the ways in dealing with discipline problems inside the classroom. These are just the first part so please watch for my proceeding posts.

1. Teach them first. Almost always, students exhibit inappropriate behavior because they actually don’t know that what they are doing is wrong. This highlights the importance of orienting the students about do’s and don’ts inside or outside the classroom especially at the beginning of the school year. This way, students will get acquainted on the things they need and avoid to do. They will realize what we expect of them and thus minimizes the likelihood of an inappropriate behavior to occur. 

2. Emphasize positive alternatives. When a student exhibited an inappropriate behavior, focus on the equivalent positive behavior that he/she can do instead of focusing on his negative behavior. For example, a group of boys play with brooms in their “swordplay”. We can intervene by explaining that somebody might get hurt, and that brooms are used for cleaning.  Instead of making the brooms as weapon to fight each other, we can suggest using the brooms for the boys to compete who sweeps or cleans the most dirt in the classroom .

3. Teach empathy. Students have the tendency to be egocentric, most especially the younger ones. This means that they still have to understand empathy, or to be on “someone else’s shoes”. Applying this to discipline, we can make students realize the consequences of an inappropriate behavior to other people. We can let students analyze, “What if we are in the other person’s situation?” or “How will you feel if…”. Through this, we can encourage students to think the cause and effect of their behavior. We teach them the possible impact of a certain behavior to other people, to their surroundings and to different situations. Take note however that we should do this in a sincere and nonjudgmental manner.

4. Lend a hand. Behavior problems caused by lack of self-control like frustration can be resolved by offering the students our help. This could be in a form of a suggestion, a question or even just a simple gesture.  This way, students learn the value of interdependence, that is, certain problems can be solved through a helping hand. For example, if a student got frustrated by a math problem and threw away his notebook, we can address this by giving him encouragement and a motivation to start over. We can even help him solve the first part of the problem then let him finish the task himself.

5. Use I-message. This I-message is an intimate form of communicating your feelings as a teacher about a certain behavior of students. This increases the awareness of the child about the impact of his/her behavior toward others which include you as a teacher. For example, if students are not listening or giving attention to what you are talking, a teacher can address this by saying, “When you are not listening, I feel disrespected. I feel that there is no need for me to teach you anymore. I feel I need to repeat what I have said which takes away our limited time.” However, some of us might find this uncomfortable. Just take note that when saying I-message, it has to be sincere but firm at the same time.

6. Values are caught than taught. Perhaps this is one of the best if not the best way for teachers to reinforce good behavior among students. As teachers, or even just adults, we serve as role models to our students. Some students even look up to us as their idols while some find us more influential than their own parents. For instance, we can never make students the value of cleanliness if we ourselves look untidy and unclean. Or we can never ask students to speak softly while inside the classroom if  we yell to our students on a daily basis.

Quotes and Wisdom about Teaching: My Favorite Quotes on Teaching

    These days I have been reflective about my role as a teacher, perhaps because of what is going on around my workplace. I don't want to say anything for the sake of the people around my workplace but based on what I observed so far, I realized that teaching is NEVER just teaching the subject matter, using "brilliant" teaching methods or accomplishing school paperworks. I believe that teaching is MORE than these. I don't want to prolong this intro because I will be consuming a whole page if I will discuss this matter. :-) May I present to you some of my favorite quotes about teaching/education or being a teacher. These quotes are actually my guiding philosophies as to being a teacher. I really hope that whoever read these quotes will also be reminded that to be a teacher is more than just teaching.  The quotes are retrieved form Quote Garden and  50 Inspirational Teaching Quotes.

"Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own." -- Nikos Kazantzakis


"Learning is finding out what we already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers, and teachers." -- Richard Bach


"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them become what they are capable of becoming." -- Goethe

"A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron." -- Horace Mann

"They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel." - Carol Buchner

"If a seed of a lettuce will not grow, we do not blame the lettuce. Instead, the fault lies with us for not having nourished the seed properly." - Buddhist proverb


"A very wise old teacher once said: "I consider a day's teaching wasted if we do not all have one hearty laugh." He meant that when people laugh together, they cease to be young and old, master and pupils, jailer and prisoners. They become a single group of human beings enjoying its existence." -- Gilbert Highet


"It is not what is poured into a student that counts but what is planted." -Linda Conway


"The greatest sign of a success for a teacher...is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist." -- Maria Montessori


"One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child." -- Carl Jung


A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary. ~Thomas Carruthers

A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.  ~Henry Brooks Adams


A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others.  ~Author Unknown


Good teachers are costly, but bad teachers cost more.  ~Bob Talbert


The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires.  ~William Arthur Ward


A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image.  ~Author Unknown


What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.  ~Karl Menninger

The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book.  ~Author Unknown


Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.  ~John Cotton Dana


Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first.  The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior.  When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed.  ~Marva Collins

LET Sample Questions: Sigmund Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development

You may want to read first my series of post about Sigmund Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development.

Sigmund Freud's Pyschosexual Stages of Development

Application of Sigmund Freud's Theory

If you think you're done, then try to answer the following questions. You can do it!

1. Teacher Sakura(for a change...hehehe) noticed that one of her students is fund of biting the tip of the ballpen. Which theory will best explain her student's behavior?
A. Piaget's Cognitive Theory
B. Pavlov's Classical Conditioning
C. Freud's Psychosexual Theory
D. Skinner's Operant Conditioning

2. Naruto, who is 5-years old, is fund of playing with his penis when he urinates. In which stage of Freud's theory can Naruto be considered?
A. Phallic
B. Genital
C. Anal
D. Latency

3. Latency stage is considered as the "calm" stage of psychosexual development. Which explains this condition?
A. Children have less energy on this stage
B. Children are not interested about their sex organs
C. The libido is blocked temporarily
D. Sexual energy is diverted to school and peer activities

4. When the daughter is competing with the mother for the father's attention, the daughter is said to be experiencing,
A. Oedipus Complex
B. Electra Complex
C. Fixation
D. Identity Crisis

5. Which will probably happen if a child failed to resolve the crisis of the anal stage?
A. The child may become sexually promiscuous
B. The child may have problems with trust
C. The child may become obesessed with cleanliness
D. The child may become a smoker

Answer Key: 1. C; 2. A; 3. D; 4. B; 5. C
Questions or clarifications about the answers are welcome. Feel free to post it on the comment box.

Application of Sigmund Freud's Theory of Psychosexual Development

     I forgot to include on my previous post that Sigmund Freud is the father of psychoanalytic psychology. This is the reason why his theory is also referred to as psychoanalytic theory of development. Psychoanalytic school of psychology by the way adheres to the existence of unconscious mental processes (i.e. Libido) which influence the individual's behavior in various indirect ways.

(You can read my previous post here: Sigmund Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development)

     Going back to the applications of the theory in the classroom setting, I honestly find it hard to find how a sexually oriented theory be applied inside the classroom. For this reason, I will not list the applications like I usually do rather explain some of the aspects of the theory in relation to teaching.

     Freud actually gave the idea about "inner conflicts" that can affect one's behavior. Some psychologists, like Erik Erikson (watch out for my post about him, he is also one of my favorites), adapted this idea but changed this from less sexual to more social in nature. The conflicts or crises are important in a sense that they must be solved in order to successfully and normally proceed to the next level of our development, and to avoid fixation or maladjustment.

     For instance, our pupils/students may be categorized into Phallic, Latency or Genital stage of psychosexual development. Our role as teachers therefore, is to assist our pupils/students solve or go through their inner conflicts on these stages. We can actually help if we give them ample attention in their certain needs.

     For example, play is an outlet among children where their sexual drive is being directed in the Latency Stage. If this will be suppressed, their will be a possibility for the child to fixate, or will continue to play even inappropriate for his/her age as an adult in the future.

     Among our pubescent/adolescent students, let us be more responsible in discussing about topics regarding sexuality. We must be more sensitive and careful because we know that on this stage, our students are going through a lot of crises and confusion. Let us teach them to be sexually responsible by explaining to them the sexual changes they are going through, and the consequences of their actions. Let us teach them to be more critical and reflective to clarify their inner issues. Let us not forget to offer our hands if they need our advice or to collaborate with their parents. This is the so-called sex education.

     As my conclusion, the application of Freud ideas to teaching and learning is that it gives us an explanation of some of our pupils/students' behavior that are manifested inside the classroom. However, the specific application of this theory in the teaching-learning process is not yet fully studied or experimented compared to other theories. What I presented here are just some of the aspects in which this theory can be applied. As teachers, the decision is still upon us on how will we use this knowledge to assist our students. If you can add more of the applications, I will greatly appreciate it.