Topic 3: Levels




	ESE502 : The Class : Discipline : Levels

Topic 3: Levels

Read Me First

Classroom discipline literature has many programs that focus on classroom management and not nearly as many dedicated to human enhancement. In Developmental Discipline the teacher pulls text from paradigms and theorists to construct a personal discipline system. This material can be utilized by the classroom teacher to build on specific areas of enhancement and enrich expertise in discipline as new levels of expertise are acquired. Potentially, this material can guide teachers in individualized acquisition of skills, allowing classroom management skills, and the perspective about student and self management to evolve and mature, to be a "becoming" rather than a destination.
These education and management concepts:

Are meant to be systemic - built into, not just "laid on top of" interactions in the classroom
Enhance acquisition of true discipline, focusing on the ideal of discipline as development of desire for and skills to encourage lifelong learning
Embrace definition of true humanity being a blending of autonomy and heteronomy -- social pursuit, arm in arm with idiosyncratic need to fulfill self
Recognizes education's inherent responsibility to society to assist in socialization since children are highly social during these years and can benefit from guidance
Provides practices that are true to human nature and sees the role of educator as flowing with needs and motives of children and self rather than being driven by political or economical special interests
Views schooling as a mini snapshot of the world as global village, i.e. the classroom is a workshop in valuing and honing balance:
1. getting individual needs met and meeting the needs of others
2. taking personal responsibility without robbing others of freedoms
3. distinguishing between freedom and license, then having the self discipline to act in concert with that understanding
4. communicating ideas and needs without forcing them on others
5. accepting and using emotional nature without penalizing others
6. exploring and developing true gifts and talents and accepting and understanding limitations and areas for growth
7. providing activities and means of learning beyond those based on testing and grading
8. creating accountability to self and others that is reality and future based not teaching and measuring only those thing that can easily be evaluated
9. valuing own culture and learning to understand and appreciate others'
10. appreciating the fulfillment of knowing and the excitement of realizing how many ideas are still beyond reach, still to be explored
11. recognizing and welcoming the child and the adult in each of us
12. moving among finesse, perfection and completion with the same level of dedication and value as the excitement of creativity and novelty
13. seeing power and control as negotiable and interchangeable with facilitation

Change is Complex

This hopeful vision is neither "pie in the sky" nor antithetical to the current system. Implementing this personalized form of discipline and education does take an ability to organize in more than one dimension, to view the classroom and students as a construction in process. It is exciting and stimulating because it is not static and because discipline can become an extension of each teacher's learning and thinking style, can evolve and develop, and can be fit to a particular classroom group.

Teachers entering the classroom are idealistic, they have a love of learning and a passion for their subject. They want to make a difference, want to do much of what is suggested above. Motivation to implement new ideas comes up against the very human desire for safety and structure. It is the juxtaposing of habit and need for novelty and stimulation. On the one hand we have the strength of the modeled images from our own educational history. We have old teacher messages and tapes, messages and modeling from our nuclear family experiences, the way we were taught and the methods we liked as we learned. On the other we have new ideas and the idealization of enhancing the teaching system and amplifying our chosen field of study.

At present we also have an emerging field of study about people, how human beings really learn, what motivates us to want to know and how to recognize and energize those desires. Much of this information is in a state of flux as more brain research occurs and the literature on ecological balance of nature and nurture matures. Who children are and what constitutes great teaching is changing as human science emerges beyond the developmental stage of studying animals in order to understand people. These ideas are still emerging as research informs us and as teachers inform researchers. The student dimension can amplify understanding of those we love and serve.

Understanding CONTENT delivery is also a part of a well managed classroom. This is usually taught in curriculum classes where teachers are offered didactic methods and forms for honoring constructivist teaching. Many of us know instinctively that each student constructs a personalized meaning from materials. We recall those subjects in which we acquired a knowledge base that was fleeting - about as long as each testing situation demanded. We know, too, that students learn at different rates and that being ready to teach something does not assure readiness by students to learn. Teaching becomes obfuscated because our need to "pass on the torch of knowledge" is charged liberally with demands to evaluate, to grade, to meet assumed expectations from authorities and community. Such images suggest that changing instructional methods can seem intimidating and stressful.

We do know that knowledge is important. We know that content, particularly in our area of expertise, can be exciting and rewarding. We also know that human beings cannot learn as fast as knowledge is exploding. No one can learn all we know today. None of us can keep abreast of all that is being learned. Though the notion of being a "renaissance person" is appealing, we now realize that even exceptionally intelligent students cannot grasp it all. At the same time we do know that knowledge is power. Sharing that power, that information highway with students is critical.

Thus the question of educating moves from the role of instilling and evaluating for a global base of information which rapidly becomes obsolete to determining how to best utilize school time to encourage students to help in determining what will be important in the future. This is critical despite our lack of ability to envision what students might be involved in doing. Thus, content moves from the purview of scope and sequence, from acquisition of knowledge, to reflective, intuitive multi-dimensional search for questions more than the reaching of solutions. The roles of teacher and student become enmeshed and the process of setting goals, developing lessons and documenting learning become shared. This kind of classroom calls for a different kind of discipline and a different kind of teaching presence.

Developmental Discipline provides four developmental levels of management:

K-3 4-6 grade 7-10 grade High School At each level, student philosophical development provides the key for determining the amount and type of structure that will assist students to move toward self management. The procedures are outlined, student self management materials are provided and sample lessons are detailed.

Current authorities in classroom management are discussed and their special techniques and practices are highlighted. Through the blending of 1) well researched practice, 2) personal taste and expertise, 3) the necessary format for disseminating content, and 4) the needs of students, a discipline program is initiated. As teaching experiences deepen and broaden understanding, the program can enhance and strengthen classroom practices. This material is meant to illuminate and assist novice teachers with the initial phases of interning and student teaching and to strengthen and enrich the master teachers' resolve to enhance best practice.

The authors, Dr. J'Anne Ellsworth and Dr. Alicia Monahan, hope that exploring these ideas feels a little like an excursion to Disneyland . . . so much to see, so much to learn, so much to try. Like Disneyland, this discipline program promotes respect for youth and human nature, an understanding of the importance of choice, a belief that we learn best when we are excited about the subject, can gain hands-on experiences as part of the process, and that a large group of people can have a good time together if structured correctly.

To complete this Topic successfully, please complete the following activities in the order shown below:

ONLINE READING 1: Developmental Discipline - Level 1

ONLINE READING 2: Developmental Discipline - Level 2

ONLINE READING 3: Developmental Discipline - Junior High and Middle School

ONLINE READING 4: Developmental Discipline - Capstone Level

ONLINE READING 5: Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Reasoning

SAMPLE 1: Student Constracts

ASSIGNMENT 1: Hallmark Practices

Once you have completed the activities in this topic you should:

Go on to Topic 4: Techniques
or
Go back to Developmental Discipline

E-mail J'Anne Ellsworth at Janne.Ellsworth@nau.edu