Maintain
discipline in the classroom.
Implementing classroom standards
and systems, or a classroom routine, helps minimise disruptions and
distractions in the classroom. Without discipline, it is difficult to
accomplish learning outcomes and causes learners to miss out on learning.
Discipline is not enforcing a set of rules and systems on learners. Discipline
is maintaining order and control in the classroom, ensuring that the learners’
are aware that the classroom is theirs but that you are the authority in the
classroom. Being consistent in how orders are delivered.
Operant conditioning is a method
of learning that appears through rewards and punishment for behaviour. Through
operant conditioning, an individual makes an association between a particular
behaviour and a consequence; this is according to one of the founding fathers
of psychology, Skinner.
As we can see from the preceding
statement, discipline can take three forms: positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, and punishment. According to certain founding fathers of
psychology, positive reinforcement, whether positive or negative, is more
effective than punishment.
- Punishment is not
effective because there is no communication between you and the child;
there is no teaching and learning moment.
- Negative reinforcement is the act of taking something away on account of negative
behaviour. A little while ago, my learners would steal from our stationery
boxes, and none of them confessed, so for a good two to three weeks, we
did not get any snacks.
- Positive reinforcement is like the concept discussed above: for good behaviour we add
something or give them something to show appreciation for the good
behaviour. My learners stopped taking or “borrowing” from our stationery
box; it has not happened for a while, and therefore I bought them lollipops
to thank them for a change in their behaviour.
Implementing
reinforcement:
1. Consistent:
As teachers, we need to have
rules in the classroom. Based on my experience, I have come to realise that it
is wise to have your learners set the rules in the classroom. I hear you
asking, but why, Amanda? It gives you leverage to hold them accountable for the
rules THEY have set, and they come up with the penalty of not keeping the class
rules.
At this point, it is very
important for you to discuss with them the importance of rules and the
importance of maintaining class rules. As a teacher, it is now your duty to
make sure that rules are maintained by everyone CONSISTENTLY and fairly.
2. Consequences
and corrective measures:
I think I have slightly
highlighted this one on the above point. Since they have come up with the
rules, they must come up with the penalties or the consequences of not keeping
the rules. This is where, again, it is important to have a discussion with the
learners about why it is important to have consequences and corrective
measures. What are the consequences, and what are the corrective measures? And
why are these concepts important for them?
3. Reactions must
be in proportion to action:
Consequences and corrective
measures must be realistic, or rather, in the right proportion to the mistake.
E.g., if a certain learner steals another learner's snack, the teacher can
decide that that learner cannot get a snack the following week and perhaps
speak to the learner's parents. Do not make the issue bigger than it currently
is, and do not keep bringing it up or keep reminding the class about what Tommy
did; it was dealt with, and that’s where it ends.
4. Be specific:
There are standards,
regulations, or routines that are practiced in the classroom that are set by
you, the teacher, as discussed in last week's blog.
These routines need to be very
specific, precise, and fair for each learner; this encourages and motivates the
learners, makes them feel comfortable, and gives them a sense of understanding
what their teacher expects of them and how they must reach these expectations.
It is very important that classroom routines are age-appropriate.
5. Show the
correct behaviour:
Practice what you preach. If we
have certain standards, regulations, or routines in the classroom, we must keep
them first. We must remember that as teachers, we are leaders in the classroom,
and no great leader can lead from the back; a great leader leads from the
front. The master teacher, Jesus Christ, was a master teacher because he
practiced what he taught. He lived what he taught, and we too must be in the
same way as Christ.
6. Praise your
kids:
It is very important for your
kids or learners to know that they are on the right track. Praise for them does
not only indicate to them that they are on the right track; it also encourages
them to keep going on the right track. Using words like “thank you” if they
have helped or done something nice in class makes them feel appreciated, and
“please” when asking them to get a certain task done. How we communicate with
them is very important to make them feel like they are seen, and matter
encourages the growth of their emotional and social intelligence.
I remember a while ago, a parent
called me during the week. She called to let me know how furious she was with
her kids, and her nephew (her sister’s son) was furious because their kids were
not being respectful to their elders at home. She suggested that this Sunday I
teach my learners how to be respectful. I remember reminding her that I only
had the kids’ once a week, on a Sunday, and for plus or minus 45 minutes to an
hour, and that was it. She and any other parents have their kids seven days a
week, minus the hours they are at school and their parents are at work, and
those are more hours than they spend with me.
What are you saying, Amanda?
Okay, okay, my point is that as teachers, we can only try our best at
instilling the right kind of values, morals, and discipline in our learners.
After trying our best at instilling order, rules, and enforcing the right kind
of discipline in their lives, they or some go home, and all that we have
enforced is gone because in that house, discipline is non-existent; rules, control,
regulations, direction, and order are not things at all. Do we stop? No, we
keep at it; more often than not, there is a difference you are making in that
child's life.
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