Definition and Purpose of School Discipline
School discipline
is the system of rules, punishments and behavioral strategies appropriate to
the regulation of children and the maintenance of order in schools. Its aim is to create a safe and
conducive learning environment in the classroom.
School discipline has two main goals: (1) ensure the safety
of staff and students, and (2) create an environment conducive to learning.
Serious student misconduct involving violent or criminal behavior defeats these
goals and often makes headlines in the process. However, the commonest
discipline problems involve noncriminal student behavior (Moles 1989).
It is important to keep
the ultimate goal in mind while working to improve school discipline. As
education researcher Daniel Duke (1989) points out, "the goal of good
behavior is necessary, but not sufficient to ensure academic growth."
Effective school discipline strategies seek to encourage responsible behavior
and to provide all students with a satisfying school experience as well as to
discourage misconduct.
The word “discipline’ is derived from the Latin root
“disciples” meaning a pupil or disciple. Naturally, the problem of discipline
was taken to consist in bringing the conduct of the pupils into conformity with
ideas and standards of the master. The pupil had to develop the virtue of
docility and plasticity so that the teacher might impress his personality on
them and mould them in his own image. This was the conception of the
relationship between pupil and teacher everywhere. Its modern concept is very
broad and inclusive one. It does not recognize difference between mental and
moral behavior for the purpose of control, nor, in fact for any other purpose.
In fact, the individual mind is conceived of “as a function
of social life-as not capable of operating by itself but as requiring continual
stimulus from social agencies and finding its nutrition in social purpose”.
Modern view of discipline is to bring the same unity in the
educative process and educative material as we find in real life. School must
be a social organism in which social situations should be provided to stimulate
and direct the impulses of the pupils in the pursuit of the common purposes
through cooperative or shared activity. To obtain good result is also another
view. Cooperation should improve the intellectual, moral, social and physical
activities of the students in school environment and these must be directed
towards the realization of the certain goals.
Purpose of the discipline is also develop the attitudes,
habits, ideas, and code of conduct through the medium of the social life of the
school which should be organized on a cooperative basis and inspired by higher
ethical teaching of religion.
The purpose of discipline is to help the individual to
acquire knowledge, habits, interests and ideals which conduce to the well being
of himself, his fellows and society as a whole. It gives realization to the
school that it must be reconstructed on the lines of the development and
conscious pursuit of common ends in a cooperative spirit, each member
contributing to the common good in accordance with special gifts. Life in the
school thus organized becomes similar to the, and continuous with, life in
democratic society, and discipline becomes co-extensive with the whole of
school life.
Main
points
· Discipline gives children a feeling of security by telling
them what they may and may not do.
· It helps children to avoid from frequent feelings of guilt
and shame for misbehavior-feelings that inevitably lead to unhappiness and poor
adjustment.
· Discipline enables children to live according to standards
approved by the social group and thus to win social approval.
· Through discipline, children learn to behave in a way that
leads to praise that, they interpret as indications of love and acceptance
which is essential to successful adjustment and happiness.
· Discipline serves as an ego-bolstering motivation, which
encourages children to accomplish what is required of them.
·
Discipline helps children to develop
a conscious the “internalized voice” that guides them in making their own
decisions and controlling their own behavior.
A modern example of
school discipline in North America and Western Europe relies upon the idea of
an assertive teacher who is prepared to impose their will upon a class.
Positive reinforcement is balanced with immediate and fair punishment for
misbehavior and firm, clear boundaries define what is appropriate and
inappropriate behavior. Teachers are expected to respect their students, and
sarcasm and attempts to humiliate pupils are seen as falling outside of what
constitutes reasonable discipline.
Whilst this is the consensus viewpoint amongst
the majority of academics, some teachers and parents advocate a more assertive
and confrontational style of discipline. Such individuals claim that many
problems with modern schooling stem from the weakness in school discipline and
if teachers exercised firm control over the classroom they would be able to
teach more efficiently. This viewpoint is supported by the educational
attainment of countries -- in East Asia for instance -- that combine strict
discipline with high standards of education.
It's not clear, however that this
stereotypical view reflects the reality of East Asian classrooms or that the
educational goals in these countries are commensurable with those in Western
countries. In Japan, for example, although average attainment on standardized
tests may exceed those in Western countries, classroom discipline and behavior
is highly problematic. Although, officially, schools have extremely rigid codes
of behavior, in practice many teachers find the students unmanageable and do
not enforce discipline at all, while others impose brutal standards of
discipline, backed up with beatings and whippings.
Remembering that typical class sizes are 40 to
50 students, maintaining classroom order under these conditions can take so
much effort that there is simply no time for learning, so it is common for
teachers to simply ignore disruptive students and concentrate their attention
on motivated students. The result of this is that motivated students, who must
pass extremely difficult university entrance exams, receive disproportionate
resources, while the rest of the students are allowed, perhaps expected to,
fail. Given that perceptions of school quality are heavily weighted towards the
proportion of students passing university entrance exams, this approach diverts
resources to where they are most efficient from the perspective of
administrators.
The problem, however, is that many students
graduate high-school with very unrealistic expectations and little in the way
of useful skills, leaving it up to employers or vocational colleges to teach
the basic social expectations needed for employment or higher education.
Frequent complaints of teachers at the university and college level are that
students lack the concept of punctuality, consider that attendance to class is
sufficient for a passing grade so use class time to catch up on sleep or email,
and lack the self-discipline and motivation needed for effective study.
Students frequently refuse to complete homework or class work, or even bring
books and paper to class, on the assumption that high-school standards of
behavior will be accepted and that an automatic pass grade will be awarded
provided they do not actively disrupt classes. University administrators
frequently pressure teachers to issue passing grades despite poor achievement
due to constraints imposed by the Ministry of Education in relation to funding.
What School
Characteristics Are Associated with Discipline Problems?
When Johns Hopkins
University researchers Gary D. Gottfredson and Denise C. Gottfredson analyzed
data from over 600 of the nation's secondary schools, they found that the
following school characteristics were associated with discipline problems:
Rules were unclear or perceived as unfairly or inconsistently enforced;
students did not believe in the rules; teachers and administrators did not know
what the rules were or disagreed on the proper responses to student misconduct;
teacher-administration cooperation was poor or the administration inactive;
teachers tended to have punitive attitudes; misconduct was ignored; and schools
were large or lacked adequate resources for teaching (cited in Gottfredson
1989).
After reviewing dozens
of studies on student behavior, Duke agreed with many of the Gottfredsons'
conclusions. Orderly schools, he noted, usually balance clearly established and
communicated rules with a climate of concern for students as individuals, and
small alternative schools often maintain order successfully with fewer formal
rules and a more flexible approach to infractions than large schools typically
have.
How Can Schools Decrease
Disruptive Behavior?
Working to change the
above-mentioned characteristics may decrease disruptive behavior. First, rules
and the consequences of breaking them should be clearly specified and
communicated to staff, students, and parents by such means as newsletters,
student assemblies, and handbooks. Meyers and Pawlas (1989) recommend
periodically restating the rules, especially after students return from summer
or winter vacation.
Once rules have been
communicated, fair and consistent enforcement helps maintain students' respect
for the school's discipline system. Consistency will be greater when fewer
individuals are responsible for enforcement. Providing a hearing process for
students to present their side of the story and establishing an appeal process
will also increase students' and parents' perceptions of fairness.
The Gottfredsons suggest
creating smaller schools or dividing large schools into several
schools-within-schools (cited in Duke). This has been done in several Portland,
Oregon, middle schools that have large numbers of at-risk students. For
example, as Director of Instruction Leigh Wilcox explained, Lane Middle School
has been divided into three minischools, each with a complete age range of
students taught by a team of teachers (telephone interview, July 10, 1992).
Discipline policies
should distinguish between categories of offenses. Minor infractions may be
treated flexibly, depending on the circumstances, while nonnegotiable
consequences are set for serious offenses. Actual criminal offenses may be
reported to the police as part of a cooperative anticrime effort (Gaustad
1991).
1.
Teachers have no respect
as they had in the past.
2.
Students do not show
respect the teachers
3.
Teachers get involved in
the cesspool of politics and self-interest
4.
Teachers loose their ideals and do not pay
their intentions for the development of the students
5.
Teachers usually excite
the students and use them as tools of private tuitions.
6.
Miserable economic
condition is also one of the main reason for lack of leadership
7.
They are incapable of
giving the guidance to the students
The Current Education System
1.
Current education system
is always being criticized
2.
Students came to know
that education given to them is not good
3.
Students have no regard
for education
4.
Students just consider
the education for the sake of their earning
5.
In present, primary aim
of educational system is to get good position in the annual examination
6.
Students use their
unfair means for achieving their objectives
Lack of Sustaining Ideal in the Students
1.
Society has pitiable
condition now a days
2.
Social changes are going
to be changed
3.
Moral values have shaken
our society
4.
Individual have no
security of his life
5.
Lack of healthy ideals
among the students
Economic
Difficulties
1.
Our economic condition
has its deplorable degree
2.
Increased population
created many national problems
3.
Less resources
Lack of Communication
1.
Between staff
2.
Between students
3.
Between parents
Disruptive behavior of the teacher
1.
No interest toward the
students
2.
No new methodologies
3.
No interest in the
curriculum
4.
No interest in the
development of the students’ personalities
