Mutual Respect
Haim Ginott – Sherri
Jim Fay and David Funk – Tracy and Gyseka
Thomas Gordon – Kristy
Alfie Kohn - Erin
What is the degree of teacher
control in establishing rules,
norms, etc?
• Minimal
• Students and teachers establish norms, the rules are a
democratic process.
• Sets clear boundaries for behaviors while acknowledging
and exploring their feelings.
• Natural consequences
What is the degree of student control that
is given regarding the establishment of
rules, norms, etc…?
Democratic
process –
Students give
input
Teacher is
facilitator
and guide
Is there concern for the student’s
thoughts, feelings, etc.?
• Yes, the goal is to encourage students to self manage.
• Positive, positive, positive
• Being non-judgmental, acceptance
• Active and reflective listening
Theoretical Basis
• Humanist basis
• A central assumption of humanism, according to Huitt (2001), is
that people act with intentionality and values.
• “In humanism, learning is student centered and personalized,
and the educator’s role is that of a facilitator. Affective and
cognitive needs are key, and the goal is to develop self-actualized
people in a cooperative, supportive environment.”
http://www.learning-theories.com/humanism.html#more-39
Huitt, W. (2001). Humanism and open education. Educational Psychology
Interactive.
Children make decisions from an internal
locus of control and not an external locus of
control
• Internal control – students
learn self management in a
supportive environment
• Student take ownership of
behavior
• Students have a voice in how
the class operates – setting
rules, consequence etc…
What are the main points of their
theory?
• Punishment is not an effective way to train kids.
• Discipline is teaching, guiding, and understanding the why of
behaviors
• Students can learn to be self reliant
• Teachers should use active listening skills
• I- messages when dealing with conflict
• Focus is on behavior not on student’s sense of self
• Rewards are given out carefully, focus is on genuine
encouragement of specific behaviors
What should teachers be doing or
not doing when students
misbehave?
Do
Don’t
• Ignore some behaviors
• Find out the reason for
the behavior
• Change instruction
• Teach new behavior
• Listen
• Be supportive
• Private Conference
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Scold or yell
Do all the talking
Jump to conclusions
Personally criticize
Use sarcasm
Punish
Single out student if
possible
How should teachers approach
students who misbehave according
to the author?
• With an open mind
• With understanding
• Offer choices
• Actively listen
• Calmly
• I-messages
• Give students a voice in their consequences
Scenarios
Thomas Gordon
You have students working in small groups on a project. You notice, after a while, that
one of the students begins to talk in an angry way to another of his group members,
stands up, and tosses papers aside.
Using Thomas Gordon’s approach I would walk the student away from the group and tell
him I noticed he became increasingly frustrated. Then I would ask how the group was
doing in accomplishing the task. After I listened to him I would repeat back what I heard
for clarification. At this point he might need to talk more to make his point clear. We
would problem solve together to find solutions for him to work in the group.
If the others in the group were part of the problem it might be wise for the whole class
to revisit the class established norms for group work. This could be done before the next
group work time. It would need to be timed like this so that emotions could cool down
and students would have had time to process.
These actions might be affected if the student’s ethnicity is one in which students are
not allowed to share in decision making with adults. In an adult centered ethnic
community the student might feel unable and unpracticed in voicing an open opinion.
They also might feel intimated by authority and experience discomfort sharing their
thoughts and feelings. More private ethnic communities might share these same
outlooks as well.
I think I would need to reassure the student that they are important. During the
conversation I would try to make positive comments when possible and do my best to
make the student feel supported. Also it is important for the student to recognize if they
had a part to play in the breakdown of the group. If they were able to recognize their
part then we could really work on that internal locus of control and teach him ways of
resolving conflict in a healthy manner.
• Answers to angry kid example:
• Using my author’s theoretical approach (Love and Logic style classroom
management) I would approach the angry student and say something like, “I
noticed you seemed angry about something that happened in your group.
Would you like to talk about it?”
•
• If the angry student had a different cultural background than me I would need to
consider whether the cultural differences were having an effect on how we were
reacting to each other. I know that there are cultural differences that may cause
some students to interpret things that I say differently, so I would try to be
sensitive to such differences in my approach.
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• A teacher using the Love and Logic approach to classroom management would
need to try to allow the student to have a voice in deciding what to do to
mediate the problem he or she is having with their classmates. The teacher
would need to wait until the student had taken some time to calm down, and
then approach them, listen actively to their version of the conflict, then ask the
student what they think should be done to handle the situation.
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Sherri Florek
EDU 383A
Authors and their Theories
Author: Haim Ginott
February 26, 2011
Situation: Students are working in small groups. You notice, after a while, that one of the students begins to talk
in an angry way to another of his group members, stands up, and tosses papers aside.
Using your author’s theoretical approach, how would you talk to or communicate with that student?
Using Ginott’s theory in this situation, I believe the teacher would use an “I” message and say “I hear talking in
an angry voice that is disrupting the class, thank you to those students who are working together and
cooperating.” With this approach the teacher would not respond to the papers being tossed aside, but would
ignore it until he/she had a chance to deal with the student privately.
How might your actions be affected if the student were of a different ethnic group from you?
The teacher needs to have an understanding of the student’s cultural background. There may be different
communication styles, boundaries, and methods of discipline in the home that can impact the classroom behavior,
but there are still behaviors that need to be expected in the classroom for the safety of all students.
Based upon what you discovered from your author, what do you feel would need to be said to that student and
what might you say?
When the teacher has the opportunity to talk to the student alone, he/she would model communication that
would be appropriate to use in the situation and share skills that would help the student be able to make
responsible choices in a small cooperative learning group. The teacher would give the student an equal amount of
time communicating his/her thoughts and ideas for ways to make a positive change in the situation.
The teacher could say “I understand that there is something that is not working out in your group and it is
making you angry. How might we be able to talk about it and come to an understanding? I expect everyone to be
able to work together and be respectful to each other. I believe we can talk this out among the group members
and come to an agreement of some expectations for the small group.” What do you think we can do to
successfully work together and complete this assignment? “