Positive Discipline

Following on from my last post about teaching good manners and humility, here is a useful resource for parents and teachers.

Marvin Marshall, author of “Discipline without Stress - How Teachers and Parents Promote Responsibility and Learning” has a very useful newsletter that you can subscribe to. Dr Marshall’s book focuses on the importance of internal motivation in changing behaviour, and he believes that this is more effective than rewards and punishment. He has a companion book for parents, Parenting without Stress- How to raise responsible kids while keeping a life of your own. Both books are available from Amazon or from his website www.MarvinMarshall.com.

Dr Marshall also sends out a very informative newsletter. This month, he answered questions at an interview. Here are 2 questions taken from the interview and reproduced in his newsletter (MarvinMarshall.com):

QUESTION:
What might be three key guidelines that a teacher could keep in mind, or on a small index card, to help remind him/her to stay more positive in the classroom?

RESPONSE:
1. Ask yourself, "Will the person hearing your communication interpret what you say in positive terms?"

2. Ask yourself, "Will the person feel as if I am using coercion in any way?"

3. Ask yourself, "What can I ASK so that the person will feel that I am giving a CHOICE and that I am prompting the person to REFLECT?

QUESTION:
What are a few key mistakes do you think teachers tend to make around classroom management?

RESPONSE:
1. They ASSUME students know what the teacher wants the students to do WITHOUT first modelling, practicing, and reinforcing the procedure to do what is being taught.

2. They confuse classroom management (teaching procedures to make instruction efficient) with discipline (how students behave).

3. They assume that discipline is naturally negative. Not necessarily so! The best discipline is the type where the person doesn't even realize that discipline is being employed.

The newsletter has a section for parents too. To read other interesting snippets and advice, and to subscribe to the newsletter, click here.