Judicious Discipline
“Be Safe. Protect our property. Do your best work. Respect the needs of others.”
(Landau & P. Gathercoal,200, p.454)
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Forrest Gathercoal
• Professor at Oregon State
University
• Experience as a teacher,
coach, and high school vice
principal
• Author of Judicious
Discipline in which he leads
workshops around the
United States
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Key Concepts
• Front-loading Framework, not a
management model
• Students have complete freedom in the
classroom; except when their behavior
interferes with the safety and rights of those
around them.
• Democratic classrooms
• Based on the U.S Bill of Rights
• Freedom, Justice, and Equality
• Judicious consequences (No rewards or
punishments!)
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Bill of Rights
 1st Amendment
Freedom of religion, speech, and/or the press
• 4th Amendment
Equality, protection from search and seizure
• 14th Amendment
Justice through due process of law
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Student’s Role
• Students have the freedom to think and act
based on their interests
• Through due process, students receive justice
• Students receive the opportunity of equality
to learn
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Gaining Attention!
• Turn the lights on and off until the students
are quiet
• Ring a bell/ Make noise!
• Count from 5 to 1- at one the students should
be quiet by when you reach one
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Teacher’s Role
• Be a role model
– Must create and post his/her code of ethics
• Develop Judicious Rules as a class
• Use judicious consequences
– Must be at the level of the violation
– Must be prepared for individual situations and/or students
• Encourage students to become active learners
• Do not fear sharing power and control
• Student centeredness- in which every solution to a
problem will help the child learn from his/her mistakes
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Implementation
• Introduce the Bill of Rights and the values of
equality, freedom, and justice
• Create an fair and prepared learning environment
• Teach students to be leaders
• Develop a democratic classroom
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How much freedom is enough?
• Do students have the right to wear clothing
that is prohibited by the school, due to a
religious belief?
• Can I lower a students grade (considered as
their “property”) because he/she was late?
• Can I put a child in detention without a due
process?
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Compelling State Interest
• Property loss/damage
– No one has the right to destroy another’s property
(including the school’s property)
• Legitimate educational purpose
– Educational rules and consequences must be set to
ensure the students’ success
• Threat to health and safety
– Teachers must ensure the safety of the every child
• Serious disruption of the educational process
– Students’ rights can be denied if they disrupt the
educational process
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Judicious Discipline
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Class Meetings
• Students resolve interpersonal
conflicts through an open forum
• Teacher will lead the meeting in
order to produce an effective and
organized meeting
• Students have the option to
participate
• No names can be used, instead you
can use “A person who acts this
way…”
• Teachers will encourage students to
set goals for themselves
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Key Terms
• Class meetings: open forum to peacefully resolve classroom
conflicts
• Code of ethics: ethics by which the educator lives
• Compelling state interests: four interest that classroom
rules must meet
• Democratic classroom: educational classrooms in which
students know their human rights are protected
• Front-loading: Educators develop and introduce the rules
and consequences as a class, cooperatively and peacefully
• Judicious consequences: individual consequences that will
help the child understand and learn from the mistake
• Justice: due process of law and deals with governmental
fairness
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Activities
• Create your own classroom rules or save for
future use in using Judicious Discipline in your
classroom
• Judicious Discipline key terms crossword
puzzle
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Reference
• Manning, M.L, & Bucher, K.T (2007). 0-13170750-7. New Jersey: PEARSON
MERRILL/PRENTICE HALL.
• Clipart from:
– http://www.teacherweb.com/SC/bells/madden/bi
ll_of_rights_poster2.jpg
– http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images/
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