Randy Kuiper & Natasha Wilson
Cornerstone University

Lived from 1918-2002.
A licensed clinical psychologist who received many educational degrees.
Widely recognized as a pioneer in teaching communication skills and conflict resolution methods to parents, teachers, youth, organization managers, and employees
Founded Gordon Training
International, which is a human relations training organization based on the Gordon Model and located in 48 countries

Gordon has authored 9 books, including:
Group-Centered Leadership
Parent Effectiveness Training (P.E.T.)
Leader Effectiveness Training (L.E.T.)
Teacher Effectiveness Training (T.E.T.)
Parent Effectiveness Training in Action
Discipline That Works.
He has also written and published over 50 articles on the topics of organizational leadership, communications, counseling, discipline, parenting, and conflict resolution.

Leader Effectiveness Training (LET) program
– Introduced in 1957, but revised many times since
– Taught in hundreds of corporations around the world, including
Fortune 500 companies
Parent Effectiveness Training (PET) program
– Introduced in 1962 and was the first skill based training program designed for parents.
– Taught to more than a million parents in 50+ countries
Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET) program
– Introduced in 1974 for parents who wanted their children to be treated the same way at school as they were treated at home

Proper conflict resolution techniques
– What is causing the problem?
– Whose problem is this?
Teacher’s problem
– Don’t put the student on the defense
Student’s problem
– Communicate in a way that actually solves the problem
I already do this in my classroom…don’t I?

1. Give commands and make demands
2. Make threats and give warnings
3. Preach and try to appeal to the student’s morals
4. Give advice and offer suggestions
5. Judgmental and criticizing
6. Namecall (“You are just lazy.”)

7. Sarcastic
8. Give out punishments
9. Point out the student’s faults
10. Produce student defensiveness
None of these solve the problem!

1. Making inquiries to clarify the cause for the problem
Ask questions that promote trust and are nonjudgmental
2. Using non-confrontive messages
I-messages (Teacher-owned problems)
3. Convincing them to trade unacceptable behavior for acceptable behavior
4. Using alternatives to punishments
5. Making changes to the environment
6. Active listening
The goal is to find out what is causing the problem and eliminate it from the child’s environment.

Improves student-teacher relationships
Helps teachers re-think classroom management
Provides tips on getting to the root of the problem
Encourages ownership for the problem which increases student responsibility.
Can be used to increase students’ abilities to work in groups
Time-consuming
Conflict resolution is one aspect of effective teaching
May diminish the teacher’s authority

Trains teachers on how to use the program
– 45 hour program
– 4 step process to each session
Structure: presentations, recordings, videos, readings
Involvement: role-playing, workbook activities, skill practice
Process: discussions, reflections, one-on-one time
Application: individual and group activities
Email: info@gordontraining.com
Web: http://www.gordontraining.com

“Train up a child in the way he should go…”
Proverbs 22:6a (King James Version)
– As teachers, we are called to train our students in the way of the Lord. This involves the way in which we handle management and discipline.
– Training up students in the right way means handling discipline cases in the proper way, which is by bringing God’s Word whenever possible.
– This can be accomplished much easier in Christian schools than in public schools.

Psalm 94:12 says “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law.”
While Gordon thinks that handing out punishments is not the correct thing to do, the Bible states here that those who are disciplined will be blessed if they take heed to the laws of
God.
John 7:24 says “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
Gordon also states that being judgmental towards students will not solve the problem. The Bible instructs us that we are to use right judgment to guide our students.

“Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.” Proverbs
20:11
Teachers have a lot of room to make improvements in the ways they deal with student behavior and discipline.
Students need to realize that the ways in which they behave are known by God.
As Christians, we remember that God has entrusted each one of our students into our care.
As teachers, we must strive to deal with behavior and discipline in a way that glorifies God.

Gordon, T. (2003). Teacher effectiveness training . New York City, NY: Three
Rivers Press.
Gordon Training International. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.gordontraining.com
Teacher effectiveness training: Thomas Gordon. (2004). Retrieved from The
University of South Dakota http://sunburst.usd.edu/~kreins/learningModules/TeacherEffectiveness
Tr aining.htm