Jacob Kounin
Discipline and Group
Management in Classrooms
By: Christy Pryde
Overview
• Wrote Discipline and Group Management in
Classrooms (1977).
• Believed organization and planning are key to
keeping students engaged in the classroom.
• Focuses heavily on preventative discipline;
techniques and strategies designed to prevent
discipline problems before they happen.
Key Ideas
• When teachers correct misbehaviors in one student, it
often influences the behavior of nearby students.
• Teachers should know what is going on in all parts of the
classroom at all times.
• The ability to provide smooth transitions between
activities, and to maintain consistent momentum within
activities is crucial to effective group management.
• Teachers should strive to maintain group alertness and to
hold every group member accountable for the content of a
lesson.
• Student boredom can be avoided by providing a feeling of
progress and by adding variety to curriculum and
classroom environment.
–
Andrius, J. (2008, October). The Kounin Model. Retrieved May 2010, from Teacher Matters:
http://www.teachermatters.com/
Lesson Movement
Lesson Movement is achieved through:
Withitness
Overlapping
Momentum
Smoothness
Group focus.
Ripple Effect
When a teacher corrects the behavior of one
student and it positively affects the behavior
of other students nearby.
Occurs for both encouragement &
reprimands.
Works best at primary school levels
Weaker application at secondary levels,
depends more on the prestige of the teacher.
Withitness
Definition: a teacher’s knowing what is
going on in all areas of the classroom at
all times.
“having eyes in the back of your head”
Communicated best by teacher
behavior rather than words.
Effective only if students believe the
teacher really knows what’s going on.
Overlapping
Definition: the teacher’s ability to attend
to two issues at the same time.
Example: while working with a group of
students (1) and another group is off
task (2), give group 1 something to
address while you go get group 2 back
on task, then return to group 1.
Momentum & Smoothness
Pacing, Momentum and Transitions
Teacher’s ability to move smoothly from one
activity to the next and keep momentum
within an activity correlates to ability to control
behavior in the classroom.
Smooth transitions have student attention
turned easily from one activity to the next,
thus attention is kept on the activity at hand.
Group Focus
Ability of a teacher to engage the whole class.
Uses techniques such as building suspense
or asking community questions.
– A.Encourage Accountability: Make students aware that they will be graded
for their participation and contributions to the group.
– B.The teacher can have a canister of popsicle sticks that have each
students name on them. The teacher can pick the popsicle stick at random
to keep students on track and out of their seats with anticipation for
question/answer time, board problems, etc.
– C.The students can facilitate a discussion. Once they have finished a task
they can turn to each other or they could pair up with those who are already
done and compare answers.
Application of Kounin’s Model
(Donna will not work)
Donna, in Mr.Jake's class, is quite docile. She never disrupts class and
does little socializing with other students. But despite Mr. Jake's best
efforts, Donna rarely completes an assignment. She doesn't seem to
care. She is simply putting forth no effort.
How would Kounin deal with Donna?
Andrius, J. (2008, October). The Kounin Model. Retrieved May 2010, from
Teacher Matters: http://www.teachermatters.com/
Answers
• Use the ripple effect. "I see many people have already
completed half their work." Look at Donna, later comment,
"I'm afraid a few people will have to stay late to complete
their work".
• Let Donna know you are aware she is not working. Say to her,
"I see you have barely started. This work must be done
today!"
• Call on Donna in discussions preceding independent work, as
a means of involving her in the lesson.
• Point out Donna's progress when it occurs: "Good! Now you
are on the track! Keep up the good work."
• Provide variety. Continually challenge Donna to accomplish
more.
• Hold Donna accountable with group focus techniques. Do not
disregard her just because she has been nonproductive.
Fact or Fiction
Ripple Effect is when you reprimand one
student so other student’s behavior improves.
Withitness is when your students are closely
following the activity.
Overlapping is when a teacher has multiple
activities going during a class all at once.
Effective Transitions happen when a teacher
links ideas over subject areas or topics in a
class.
Fact or Fiction cont’d
Momentum is when a lesson moves very
quickly without stopping or asking if students
have questions.
Smoothness is a teacher’s ability to continue
on with a lesson after a classroom
interruption occurs.
An example of “Group Alerting” is telling
students “this is something you will need to
know for the test.”