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Teaching self discipline
- 1. Teaching Self-Discipline Mark Zulkoski & Michelle BowmanApril 2010
- 2. The role of schools has changed over the years.
- 3. Introduction “Being a self-disciplined student allows the individual the freedom to concentrate on their academic rigors, because they know what is behaviorally accepted of them” (Olson, 2010). It has become the responsibility of public schools in America to ensure that students graduating have acquired a sense of self-discipline over the course of the school’s curriculum.
- 5. Various backgrounds and experiences
- 6. Motivators
- 7. Teaching Self-Discipline According to Combs (1985), there are four basic principles that are important for educators to understand when teaching self-discipline: (a) Self-discipline is determined by people's perceptions (e.g., feelings, attitudes, beliefs, and aspirations); (b) self-disciplined persons see themselves in positive ways; (c) success experiences contribute to positive views of self and self- discipline; and (d) a feeling of belonging or oneness with others is requisite for self-discipline.
- 9. Changes:a result of implementation of Discipline with Purpose
- 10. It must be a mission for all schools to teach students how to be self-disciplined, if educators are truly aiming to educate the whole child in an effort to develop students who are productive and responsible citizens of our global community.
- 11. References Baumrind, D. (1996). The Discipline Controversy Revisited. Family Relations, 45 (4), 405-414. Retrieved April 17, 2010 from http://www.jstor.org/stable/585170 Combs, A. (1985). Achieving self-discipline: some basic principles. Theory Into Practice, 24(4), Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1477067 Discipline with Purpose. (2010). 15 Self-Discipline Skills. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from Discipline with Purpose: http://www.selfdisciplinedwp.com/reres.htm Educational Toys & Resource Guide to Child Development. (2004). Teaching Children Self- Control. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from Bright Tots: http://www.brighttots.com/Parenting_issues/Teaching-Children-Self-Control.html Jones, R., & Tanner, L. (1981, March 01). Classroom discipline: the unclaimed legacy. Phi Delta Kappan, 62(7), Retrieved April 17, 2010 from http://www.jstor.org/pss/20385974 Kohn, A. (1985, October-November). Discipline is the problem, not the solution. Learning More, Retrieved April 17, 2010 from http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/ditpnts.htm Maziarz, G. (March 8, 2010). Teacher, Mary Our Queen School. Interview. MorgueFile. (2010). Photos retrieved 23 April 2010 from http://www.morguefile.com/archive/browse/#/?qury=society&terms_all=society Olson, G. (March 8, 2010). Teacher, Mary Our Queen School. Interview. self-discipline. (2010). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved April 19, 2010, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/self-discipline Vasek C. (March 10, 2010). Teacher, Mary Our Queen School. Interview.
Editor's Notes
- Educating a child is more then just reading, writing and arithmetic. It now includes teaching students life skills, such as self-help skills in self-discipline so that they can learn about themselves and what is behaviorally expected of them both in school and as members of the larger society.
- A sense of self-discipline is a necessary and vital skill for students to develop in order to become successful and productive citizens of the world.
- Children brought up without being taught how to self-discipline may become ostracized, greedy or uncooperative.It is the ultimate goal of discipline not to obey elders, but to have self-control so that they learn to respect rules or guidelines.
- As educators, we deal with various students from various backgrounds, and each one of them has a perception as to what discipline is or should be. People learn self-discipline from maturing and growing up. For example, a child learns the social norm of sharing over time and through experiences. Sometimes parents or adults have to convince or tell a child to share, but over time, the child no longer needs reminding and shares on his/her own. Children learn self-discipline from how others have treated them and how they have treated others. According to Combs, “behavior is a symptom, the outward expression of what is going on inside a person,” (1985). Self-discipline is related to behavior because it is the reaction a person takes in response to a stimulus. If a middle school student is tripped while playing soccer during P.E. class, and he/she steps back and responds with a confused look rather than chasing down the nearest person with his/her fist in the air, the student has developed a sense of self-control and inside their mind we can see they have matured enough to understand that accidents happen. If educators can manipulate the environment, and present the situation in a favorable light, the student is more likely to respond positively to the stimuli. Quite often students and educators are self-indulged in situations of “what’s in it for me”, or are trying to place relevance to intrinsic or extrinsic motivators.
- Motivators such as “if I do this, then I can achieve or have this,” (feeling good about oneself), or not wanting to let down a loved one or person of respect are two examples of intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivators are tangible rewards, such as stickers, food, privileges, and events. While these are popular and seem to work in the short term, their long-term effects wane. Alfie Kohn, questions extrinsic motivators, “Do they work? Yes and no. Threats and bribes can buy a short-term change in behavior, but they can never help kids develop a commitment to positive values,” (1985). Used concurrently, extrinsic and intrinsic motivators seem to be most effective (Baumrind, 1996). Intrinsic motivators are a result of self-reflection and a thought process. It is this thought process and student behavior that teachers must strive to understand and interpret in order to teach self-discipline. Aside from understanding student perspectives, a person must also develop a positive self-image in order to become self-disciplined.
- Dr. Laurel Tanner authored the text Classroom Discipline in 1978. Through this text, Dr. Laurel challenged educators to look at students and their behavior from a different point of view then previously examined. “Numerous public opinion polls rank discipline as the biggest problem facing public schools” (Tanner, 1981). Three years into her program, Dr. Tanner continued to voice her stance that discipline and teaching go hand in hand, and must not be separated from the each other. Dr. Tanner developed twelve principles of classroom discipline which became the basis for Discipline with Purpose, which is a framework developed by two educators, Barbara Vasiloff and Paula Lenz (Discipline with Purpose, 2010).
- Lenz and Vasiloff based Discipline with Purpose off of Tanner’s research, but expanded Tanner’s twelve principles into 15 self-discipline skills. The skills are aimed to encourage teachers and parents to rethink their role as disciplinarians and teachers of self-discipline. This program of instilling self-discipline and characteristics into the young students has been a successful part of schools across the country. As you can see here, the 15 skills are divided into three stages according to age: Basic, Constructive, and Generative.“We have used Discipline with a Purpose” for many years, and it has really helped the students know what is expected of them, socially and behaviorally,” (Olson, 2010). Mary Our Queen School in Omaha, Nebraska implemented the Discipline with Purpose curriculum to its staff in early 1990. “We now have a consistent curriculum to follow and use with all children. We have had professional development to help us learn the program and utilize what it offers,” says teacher G. Maziarz, (2010).
- Results of consistent use of Discipline with Purpose are noteworthy. Initially, Mary Our Queen School spent three hours as a staff to decide what the needs of the school were and how they wanted to meet those needs. A decision was made to adopt Discipline with Purpose and a certified Discipline with Purpose facilitator came to the school to provide staff development for the teachers and administration. After the five hour training for the newly implemented discipline curriculum, staff was allowed opportunities during teacher workdays to work collaboratively to discuss the successes and challenges they discovered. Many discovered that they had the same fears and triumphs after implementation of Discipline With Purpose. In an interview, teacher C. Vasek said, “We were a united community, and it felt secure for all of us to be following the same discipline model for once,” (2010).