must address is the issue of how order will be
maintained. Will the teacher lead and maintain order
through "fear of punishment" which appeals to the
lowest level of moral development (Kolberg) or
through a process of developing a respectful learning
community? I John 4 reminds us that "There is no fear
has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has
not reached perfection in love." I John 4: 18. This
series is addressing the principles behind the
discipline plan described in our book, Discipline That
Restores, Strategies to Create Respect, Cooperation,
and Responsibility in the Classroom, written by my
articles I addressed the first three principles.
by the misbehavior and conflicts that underlie the
misbehavior. As soon as immediate safety concerns
are satisfied, DTR views the misbehavior and conflict
as a teachable moment.
classroom, they are at a crisis point, and a crossroads.
Depending on how each responds to that situation, it
may take them in the danger direction or in the
opportunity direction. The teacher, who guides the
response to misbehavior in a classroom, has a huge
responsibility. His or her response will determine if it
and/or all others impacted by the offense, emerge
from the response feeling disrespected,
disempowered, alienated, and feeling less safe and
less cooperative with the teacher, other students and
school officials.
are mutually recognized, equity is restored as much as
possible, and a plan is created to address the future so
that all participants, including the teacher, experience
respect, feel safer, less alienated, more empowered,
and more cooperative with each other and the whole
school community.
administrators about discipline. I often start by asking
teachers and administrators to identify what they
hope to accomplish with their discipline system,
responses are very similar. We want students to: learn
responsibility, learn to solve problems in a positive
manner, learn respect for self and others, learn what is
appropriate and what is not appropriate behavior,
learn self control, learn honesty, learn cooperation,
learn that their decisions affect others, learn decision
making skills, learn appropriate tolerance, learn to
advocate for change, learn to use good judgment,
learn respect for authority, learn that there are
consequences for actions, learn empathy for others,
learn not to hurt each other, learn appropriate ways
to express needs, learn when and how to ask for help, etc.
list, they are usually surprised to see that all of the
things they wanted to accomplish could be written
in terms of what they wanted students to learn. We
observe that whatever discipline plan each
preferred, all wanted the outcome of the discipline
to be a learning experience. We observe that while
we might argue over what would be the best
discipline plan, we agree that the things each
wanted students to learn were very similar. This
gives us hope that a discipline plan could be
developed that each could support.
recognize that each conflict or misbehavior is a
teachable moment.
misbehavior is a teachable moment report their
initial response to the student is different and their
stress is significantly reduced. Discipline is no
longer something off task, but an opportunity to
substantially increase the student's learning of
these very important concerns listed above. For
convenience, we might simply refer to increasing
the student's Emotional and Moral Intelligence
(Goldman and Coles).
experience is constructive (not a destructive
experience), they become more cooperative not
only in learning appropriate behavior, but also in
learning the other curriculum subjects.
point possible and with the maximum amount of
cooperation (as little coercive force as possible.) This
principle is about power and control. This principle says
that it is important for the teacher who has the ability
(because of positional power, verbal abilities, size, or
information advantage, etc.) to use coercive power (power
over), to choose not to use it except as needed for safety
and to prevent chaos and then only under carefully
monitored conditions (this will be expanded on in
Principle #7). We recommend using cooperation (power
with) as much as possible.
especially the very young student. They have positional
power, a size advantage, and a substantial information and
experience advantage. Coercive power is very easy to use
and appears successful in the early years. But, the power
advantages begin to disappear as the students get older
and bigger, etc. and the advantage may finally, in some
cases, be reduced to positional power and may even be
the opposite direction on some of the other items. This
same transition happens between parents and their
children.
power to choose to invite cooperation is a very pragmatic
and practical reason. If all discipline is handled by
exercising control and coercive power (power over) only,
the message received by the student/child is that when
the power is in your favor, it is ok and even expected that
you will use it. This approach, of course, eventually leads to
the classic power struggle (each trying to get power over)
that is very stressful, consumes significant energy, and
diverts attention away from the primary task of
learning/teaching. In extreme situations, when students
feel powerless and don't want to wait for the power
advantages to shift, a gun provides an immediate power
advantage, at least temporarily.
power with small children as the only or primary way of
responding to conflict or misbehavior. Even if the student
is taught cooperative skills and strategies, the modeling
has the greatest influence. The unintended message of a
discipline plan that is based primarily on coercion (power
over) is that cooperation (power with) is only for kids or
others who don't have the ability to coerce. The message
is, "the cooperation skills we are teaching you are for kids
only, when you grow up and have access to power, you use
`power over' and no longer use cooperation (power with)."
What we do always speaks louder than what we say.
value cooperative skills and strategies and believe that
students who use them will develop healthier
relationships at school, at home and later in their work and
family life, then teachers and administrators will model
learn.
Teaching is important!! Teachers must also use a
curriculum to teach cooperative skills and strategies. We
cannot assume that students already know the special
speaking and listening skills that are necessary for
cooperation. We cannot assume that they already know
cooperative strategies and how to invite others to join
them in using cooperative strategies to make a decision or
resolve a conflict.
Experience is important!! Schools need structures (like
peer mediation programs and cooperative discipline
strategies) to provide significant opportunities for
students to practice using cooperative methods to resolve
conflicts and repair damaged relationships.
DTR to teachers, administrators, or parents who have
positional power to use coercive power is the following:
moving from coercion (power over) to cooperation (power
with) often feels like being permissive, or just letting the
other have their way. But that is not what is happening. In
cooperation, the teacher/administrator/parent is not
agreeing to anything that they think is not appropriate.
The difference is that in cooperation the student is invited
to help decide what is appropriate. In the event that is not
possible or the student is not willing to cooperate, the
adult in authority then has the responsibility to explore
other process options. Finally it might be necessary to use
the positional authority that has been entrusted to the
adult. Our book, Discipline That Restores provides a series
of escalating cooperative strategies to increase the
likelihood that a student will choose to be cooperative.
who have received the Spirit should restore such a one
in a spirit of gentleness." Galatians 6:1a
Center for Peacemaking and
Conflict Studies at Fresno Pacific
University, professor in the MA
Peacemaking and Conflict Studies
Program and founder (1982) of the
Fresno County Victim Offender
Reconciliation Program, first in
California. Ron is a leader in the
development of Restorative Justice
principles, models and strategies.
He has served as a teacher, pastor,
consultant, trainer, and mediator
in church, business, and school
settings.