1. Jason R. Blankenship, Sarah Carey, and Whitney Dempsey
CI 442
“Jacob Kounin’s Theories”
Jacob Kounin was born in 1912, in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Iowa State
University with a doctorate degree in 1939. In 1946 Kounin began his work at Wayne State
University as an educational physiologist. He focused on incorporating both discipline and
learning in the classroom since other theorists alienated the two.
Jacob Kounin’s work primarily took place in the 1970s. Kounin’s book Discipline and
Group Management in Classrooms condenses his work. Originally he began his research on
how misbehavior is handled by the teacher after it has occurred, however he soon realized it
was more imperative to observe the teachers actions in management of the classroom from the
very start. His research took place during a span of five years. Kounin concluded his
observations by reviewing elementary, college, and high school classrooms. He founded the
majority of his inferences and research by videotaping more than eighty classrooms at the
elementary school level.
Jacob Kounin went from educational psychologist to well-known theorist. His rationale
would be focuses on preventative discipline: using techniques and strategies to prevent
misbehaviors from occurring. He believed that in order for a teacher to have an effective
connection between management and teaching, there needed to be good Lesson Movement.
This Lesson Movement is achieved through with-it-ness, overlapping, momentum, smoothness,

2. and group focus. Jacob believed firmly in “with-it-ness.” With-it-ness was Kounin’s word to
describe a teacher’s ability to know what was going on at all times in his/her classroom. This
can be as simple as making scanning looks around the room every once in a while. Kounin said
that is was not necessary for the teacher to know what is going on, but for the students to
perceive that the teacher knows.
He was really big about not wasting time, always being prepared and having a set plan,
and having smooth transitions. That's were other parts of his theory come into play. Overlapping
is something that Jacob Kounin came up with to describe doing more than one thing at a
time. This portion of his theory was most closely related to "withitness" because the two go hand
in hand with being in control in the classroom and knowing what you're doing.
Another big portion of Jacob Kounin's theory dealt with lessons having smoothness and
momentum. These are big deals when working with lessons so that they have flow and are well
prepared. Smoothness is when a classroom is organized and the teacher is able to keep the
students focused and can transition smoothly from one lesson to the next. Momentum is much
like smoothness in that it involves keeping the lesson going and being prepared for anything that
could happen while having the students focused and having good transitions.
He believed that teachers must have the ability to multi-task and roll with the punches. A
teacher must be able to “roll-with-the-punches” in acknowledging that things might go wrong
and being able to fluidly adapt and continue onward despite distractions and disruptions. Being
able to keep on track without getting on tangents as well as being diverted by irrelevant

3. questions or information is important. I think Jacob’s idea for the classrooms is genius.
Essentially he’s saying to be able to have enthusiasm and be prepared for anything. If we can
follow his steps fully then we should become excellent teachers.
References
Management theorist report- jacob kounin. (2013, November 25). Retrieved from
http://emilyheadrick.weebly.com/management-theorist-report.html
Managing Behavior Via Teaching Style. (2013, November 25) Retrieved from
http://www.behavioradvisor.com/TeachingTips.html