Discipline What Is the Best

Discipline

What is the best way for a teacher to attain desired behavior from his or her student? The question of maintaining discipline in a classroom has long been of interest to educators, psychologists and other researchers. The approaches of behavior modification vary considerably. For example, B.F. Skinner (1980) theorized that humans do nothing without being motivated in some fashion. The decisions that a person makes are based on this impetus. Skinner's philosophy came down to the concept of "do this, and you will in turn get that." His "successive approximation" methodology especially suggested setting an end goal for the behavior desired and then keeping track of and positively reinforcing progress as the student gets closer to the goal. Since punishment and anger had earlier been used as a primary approach toward discipline in the traditional educational setting, this form of altering behavior was much more acceptable. In some cases, in fact, a contract was drawn up between the student and the teacher, so each individual would know what was expected.

There are four different forms of reinforcement in Skinner's approach: tangible, activity, graphic, and social. Tangibles reinforce behavior with items, such as a prize, candy, certificates, or pencils. In activity reinforcement, the students are offered a deal. If they behave well for the substitute teacher, for example, they may have a party the next day. The third, graphic reinforcement, as its name implies, is when the teacher rewards the student graphically with stars on a chart, checks on a graph, or smile stickers on a page. According to Skinner, all these social reinforcements motivate good behavior (1980).

Although Skinner believed that this was a very constructive way to reinforce positive behavior, he admitted it did not always work. Sometimes, punishment had to be used. However, Skinner believed that this negative approach should be used only as the last resort. In fact, he suggested that teachers use the "Catch 'Em Being Good" method.

In their theory of assertive discipline, Lee and Marlene Canter also support the contractual agreement approach. A contract is a "written, signed agreement" between the teacher and the student and is structured in such a manner that it allows the teacher to continually intercede and observe the student's behavior (Canter, 1989).

In order for the agreement to be successful, it must target one or two specific behaviors that must be changed or improved, give constructive reinforcement back to the student, detail the consequences resulting from not fulfilling the terms of the contract, and limit amount of time required for completion agreement (Canter, 1989). The Canters differed from Skinner in that they stressed that the ultimate goal was to improve the student's self-esteem to highest point of internal motivation and personal satisfaction for a job well done (Canter, 1989). At some point, the reinforcement is no longer needed.