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Description - definitions

In general terms discipline is any training intended to produce a specific character or pattern of behavior, especially training that produces moral or mental development in a particular direction. ("discipline" Wikipedia online. 29 November 2005, from Wikipedia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discipline)

However the word discipline has different connotations. According to the Oxford english dictionary it may refer to:

a) the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour. b) the controlled behaviour resulting from such training. c) an activity providing mental or physical training

("discipline n." The Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Univ Illinois-Urbana Champaign. 7 November 2005 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.e15692>)

Therefore discipline is a polysemic term that can equally refer to:

1. To train by instruction and practice, especially to teach self-control to. 2. To teach to obey rules or accept authority. 3. To punish in order to gain control or enforce obedience. 4. To impose order on.

(discipline. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language (2003). Retrieved 07 November 2005, from xreferplus. http://www.xreferplus.com/entry/4081132)

According to the prominence gave to any of these connotations of discipline is possible to observe five main objectives that are tried to be achieved by this kind of training:

• Obedience
• Control
• Respect
• Self control
• Learning

In education the emphasis in some of these goals over others is observed in sometimes opposing systems and techniques of classroom management, and usually connotes strategies to reduce or eliminate undesirable behaviors and procedures to both increase desirable behaviors and decrease undesirable behaviors.

Synonyms

School discipline

Children discipline

Classroom discipline

Application in classrooms and similar settings

The application of discipline in classroom and similar settings is identify with different classroom and behavior management systems in education (see also school discipline ):

• Assertive discipline

• Discipline with Dignity

• Positive discipline

• Team-discipline

• Others.

According to the system use is emphasis divergent number of techniques to rule the consequences of misbehavior by students. For example:

• Natural consequences

• Logical Consequences

• Time-Out

At the same time that defines the degree of power and the type of techniques required by the teachers action to confront students misbehavior. For example:

• Looking

• Naming

• questioning

• Commanding

• acting

• modeling

As Wolfgang (2005) points out the selection of this procedures and techniques are base on divergent philosophical and attitudinal assumptions about student’s motivation and the proper methods require for teachers intervention, characterize by three defined philosophies of discipline:

•Relationship-Listening

•Confronting –Contracting

•Rules and Consequences

Each one of this philosophical positions indicate “the level of autonomy an control given to the to change his own behavior or the coercive or aversive actions used by the teacher or school officials to get the desired change in student behavior and reestablish order and safety in the educational setting�? (Wolfgang, 2005: 3)

Also, it is according with the classroom management style that is apply that discipline can be indentify directly with the idea of punishment (see also wikipedia entry on punishment )

However, the most critical part of an effective implementation of discipline involves helping children learn behaviors, and effectively promoting positive social relationships, and helping them develop a sense of self-discipline that leads to positive self-esteem. (see Policy statement at the AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: Guidance for Effective Discipline).This implied also the emphasis in fomenting certain behaviors considered desirable.

Precisely, some of the critics over classroom management systems are related not only with concerns about a limited or very narrow definition of discipline but the goal that is pretended with his application. For example Alfie Khon's critic of Jones's Model of Positive Classroom Discipline:

"When a student does such and such, tell me where to stand and how to look and what to say". This is the sort of demands ta keeps

classroom management in business. But these easy to follow recipes are fundamentally insulting to teachers, not unlike attempts to

design a "teacher-proof" curriculum. They are short-term fixes, instruments of control intended, at best, to stop bad behavior

rather than affirmatively help children to become good people" (Khon, 1996, pp. xiv-xv. Op. Cit. by Wolfgang, 2005: 75)

Table: Discipline Models

Signed "life experiences", testimonies and stories

I was disciplined as a child by my parents. Instead of turning me into a violent person, as some seem to belive, it helped me to develop self-control, and the ability to understand that my actions have consequences. As a teacher, discipline is essential for the classroom. My students would not be able to learn at all if the classroom was complete chaos because of a lack of discipline. Discipline has not only helped me create a learning environment in my classroom, but it has helped me teach my students important life skills that they need to become productive members of society. As I mentioned before, discipline teaches students self-control. Children are not born with this quality; they need to be taught. I have also seen in my teaching experience that discipline teaches students that every action has a consequence, whether good or bad, and that their actions affect other people. All of these are lessons that need to be learned if students are to become decent people who are able to function with other people in society. -Elizabeth Giger

I was also disciplined physically as a child by my parents and perhaps this is testament to my parents' abilities, it was disappointing them rather than the fear of a spanking which often kept me out of trouble. BUT the spanking was never a pleasant thought! I feel that there is a fine line between being too harsh or too lenient on a child, and I strongly feel that if anything, one should err on the discipline side because society is rule based and without a foundation of understanding rules and consequences, one can never succeed fully in it. -E

I believe discipline is very important to a persons upbringing. As a chold I knew if I did something wrong I would be disciplined for it. Sometimes I would get spanked but not very often. Most of the time I would not be allowed to do something I wanted to do if I could not behave. I learned very quickly to do what i was supposed to do and my life would be much easier. If a teacher has no discipline then whatare they really teaching the children. Kids must learn there are reasons for rules and they must be followed or they will pay a consequence. It does not matter if the students agree with the rules. Bret Helms Bureau Valley School District

When I was in sixth grade, I had a very strict teacher. She was very much in charge of her classroom, and no one got away with anything. At the time, I really didn't like her all that much. In retrospect though, she is probably the teacher that I learned the most from. She freed us to spend our time learning, instead of wasting both her time and our time dealing with silly misbehaviors. All of us were treated equally and fairly. As the years have passed, I have really come to respect her as a teacher and as a disciplinarian. -NMF

I wanted to put this testimonial directly below the one above. I had a very similar experience to that described in the previous testimonial. In sixth grade I had a very strict teacher who studetns for lack of a better term, feared. Though I can see how this may be instructional later in life, rather than feeling freed to learn in this classroom, many of us felt oppressed and simply did not want to be there. It was difficult to learn in the class because we were so afriad that if we weren't doing exactly what she thought we should be doing we would get another notice sent home or detention. In many ways that teacher ended up ruining the subject for me for a long time. Unlike above I will never respect that teacher and still resent her methodologies to this day. Based on these two testimonies then, it seems as though there is a fine line between being a good disciplinarian with a good classroom climate, and a dictator who is highly ineffective. - Timothy Zorn

Throughout this semester, I have continually marveled at the theorists who see teachers who want behaved children as some kind of "stifling". I do not see wanting a non-chaotic classroom climate as a means to stifle children. Having expectations of appropriateness leads to a conducive atmosphere for learning. Children need and desire to have boundaries. -Connie Early

Let me share one story that happened a couple of years ago. One of my most challenging students took most of my time just getting him to follow the rules and routine. As with many of these kids, I knew there was a great kid inside just waiting to get out! At the open house about a month after school started, his mom came up and said he didn't like school (a dagger in my heart!). When I asked why, she replied, "Because you make him mind!" Wow...I was speechless that a parent wouldn't want you to do so. A couple of months later, I felt we had made good progress. Right in the middle of a lesson, he got up (and I thought to myself...I hope this isn't starting all over again!), but what he did surprised me – he came up to me and gave me a big hug and a smile and went right back to his seat. I realized it was his way of saying thank you for caring enough to make him behave. -?

When working in an elementary school in Americorps*NCCC, my teammates and I were told that, because of our status, we should not do any "discipline". Because we were barely tutors and certainly not teachers, none of us realized that they were really talking about punnishment and other forms of reinforcement, and that subtle forms of classroom management would not only be available to us, but probably necessary if we were going to be able to work with even one student. This inability to use "discipline" was even more difficult for me when I tried to teach lessons to a class, under the supervision of the teacher, whose "discipline" came in the form of telling the students to "shut-up" and other non-productive tactics. -Steve Hetzel

Discipline is a word that is overused in schools today. It encompasses punishment, classroom management, and all forms of climate control. I prefer to think in terms of classroom management because that implies success for all ("discipline" does not) and it implies that the teacher is mindful of the many different parts of the classroom environment from having an engaging lesson plan to having adequate natural light. -?

Some other teachers in my school think that I am too much of a disciplinarian. I believe that if you do something wrong, there should be a consequence. In today's society however, we have a tendency to want to talk about it before there are consequences that go along with it. I have a puppy, I don't try to talk to it and explain what happened after he made a mess in the kitchen. There are consequences, of course with a dog, if he doesn't see the consequence right away, he will not remember what happened. With a student, they need to realize their wrong doing and be reprimanded properly. I am not saying that if they stole something their hands should be cut off, but I do think that it may help if me make an example of a couple of people to show that we mean business. It may not be fair, but who says that life is fair. -Jeremiah Kramper-

I to believe in discipline in the classroom. I think that discipline is a word that is rarely used in its true sence though. Classroom managment might better define much of the personal testimony on this page. I believe that students need to know that they have stepped out of line, but the classroom managment strategies can be implimented with compassion. -Chris Royer-

My beginning band teacher (whom I ended up having for 5 years after 5th grade as well) had the strictest classroom discipline I have ever seen. I was determined to be his best student because I respected hm so musch. I was also admittedly fearful of him until I went on to a higher grade and no longer had him. Then I realized what a strong sense of pride and discipline he instilled in me and my music. Now when I see him, I realize he was a big reason I became a teacher and he is one of my biggest supporters. We have a great relationship and I find myself hoping to achieve the same results in my classroom that he achieved in his. -Missy Legutki

One of my biggest fears concerning a future with my own children is what form of discipline to use. Spanking was used as a form of discipline in my household and I don't know if I'm better or worse for it. I would hope that I would be able to use other forms of discipline but many argue that it's just not as effective. I wonder if those people just aren't as patient. --S. Peduzzi

When I was a child, if I did something wrong, I was disciplined. I was rarely spanked or sent to my room. My family lived on a farm and if I did something wrong, a shovel was handed to me and I would spend the afternoon cleaning out cow pens. I learned very early that if I didn't want to do those jobs, I better straighten out my act. In school, I think discipline is crucial for success as a teacher. All students must be held accountable for their actions in order for the behavior to stop or end. -Nick Hartz

I don't know why people think discipline is a bad thing nowadays. People need to learn to follow rules and if you don’t there are consequences that will occur. As a Teacher and a Coach I have watched young teachers and coaches come through our system struggling with discipline. They want to be the student’s friend instead of their teacher. Life is full of consequences, and if you make a bad decision in life, you will usually have to pay for it one way or another. – Dale Donner

References and other links of interest

Butchart, Ronald E & McEwan Barbara (1998) Classroom Discipline in American Schools New York: SUNY Press

"discipline n." The Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Univ Illinois-Urbana Champaign. 7 November 2005 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.e15692>

"discipline n." The Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Univ Illinois-Urbana Champaign. 7 November 2005 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t23.e15692>)

"discipline" Wikipedia online. 29 November 2005, from Wikipedia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discipline

"Policy statement of the AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: Guidance for Effective Discipline" PEDIATRICS Vol. 101 No. 4 April 1998, pp. 723-728" 7 November 2005 from: AAP http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics%3b101/4/723

Wolfgang, Charles H. (2005). Solving discipline and classroom management problems (6th Edition ed.). New York: Wiley & Sons, Inc.

some websites about discipline:

http://www.disciplinehelp.com/

http://www.positivediscipline.com/

http://www.stophitting.com/