Focus:

-Improve student satisfaction
-Help teachers change to lead
-Applying principles of Choice Theory for quality teaching
-Emphasizing quality in the curriculum, etc.

Born 1926 in Cleveland Ohio. Was a psychiatrist and educational consultant.

First studied Chemical Engineering -> Psychology -> then psychiatry.

Relative therapy: focus in treating behavioral problems from past events to present reality.


Wrote:
-Schools without Failure (1969):
-Teachers Could help students make better choices concerning how they behaved in school

-Control Theory in Classroom:
-If students continue working and behaving properly they must "believe that if the do some work, they will be able to satisfy their needs enough so that it makes sense to keep working" (p15)

-Quality School: Managing Students without Coercion (1998a).
-Choice Theory in the Classroom (1998c).
-Quality School Teacher (1998b).
-Every student can Succeed (2001).

Glassners' Contributions to Discipline:

"First to insist that students are in control of their behavior, that no unseen factors are forcing them to do this or that, and that they actually chose to behave as they do."

Teachers have the power and obligation to help students make better behavioral choices.

Misbehavior = bad choices.
Good behavior = good choices

Central Contentions:
All human behavior is internally motivated and chosen by the individual - All our behaviors are the best attempt to satisfy one or more of five basic needs built into our genetic structure - All human behavior is purposeful - We make the best behavior choices we can, given the information we wave - We are responsible for our own behavior - Effective discipline is based on meeting students' needs for survival, belonging, freedom, fun, power - All students can do competent work and some quality work in school.

Central Focus:

"Improvement in education and discipline can only be accomplished by changing the way the classroom functions."


-Forcing students to learn/behave =no success
-Work focuses on providing a curriculum that is naturally attractive to students & on working with students in ways that encourage their making responsible choices that lead to personal success.

-Quality in curriculum, teaching, learning

GLASSER'S PRINCIPLE TEACHING: 1 All human behavior is internally motivated and chosen by the individual: True motives lie within the individual.
2. All human behavior is purposeful: Reflects our attempts to meet certain specific needs. 3. We are responsible for our own behavior: Any credit or blame goes to us. 4. All our behavior is our best attempt to control ourselves to meet 5 basic needs; survival, belonging, power, fun, and freedom: enable students to meet these 5 more easily. 5. Students feel pleasure when their basic needs are met and frustration when they are not: Needs not met = misbehavior. 6. At least half of today's students will not commit themselves to learning if they find their school experience being frustration or dissatisfying: There is no way teachers can make students commit to learning. 7. Few students in today's school do their best work: Many students don't do school work. 8 Today's schools must create quality conditions in which fewer students and teachers are frustrated: Students like to feel as if they belong, they enjoy certain amounts of power, and experience a sense of freedom in the process. 9. What schools require is a new commitment to quality education: Quality education occurs when the curriculum is attractive & students are encouraged. 10. The school curriculum should be limited to learnings that are useful or otherwise relevant to students' lives: Usefulness & relevance are hallmarks of quality curriculum. 11. Students should be allowed to acquire in-depth information about topics they consider useful or relevant in their lives: This increases the likelihood of quality learning. 12. Quality learning is evident when students become able to demonstrate, or explain how, why, and where their learning is valuable: Opportunities for making such explanations should be incorporated in the daily plan activities. 13. Instead of punishing, teachers should befriend their students provide encouragement and stimulation, and show unending willingness to help: Mark in quality teaching. 14. teachers who dictate procedures, order students to work, and berate them when they do not are increasingly ineffective: Boss teachers 15. Teachers provide a stimulating learning environment, encourage students, and help them as much as possible are most effective: Lead effective. 16. Motivation is key ingredient in learning. Students are motivated by what they find pleasurable at any given time: Up to teachers to make the curriculum & instruction pleasurable for students.

Analysis of Glassner's Noncoercive Discipline:
Boring lessons = students misbehave
Interesting lessons = students paying attention

Quality education = students engage willingly in curriculum

Interesting lessons = students paying attention

Choice theory helps teachers and students understand human nature and use it to an advantage.


Students don't want to do work.

Solution: Offer instruction in a different manner.

Since students don't want to work. The solution is to offer instruction in a different manner: One which majority of students willingly do high-quality schoolwork.

Provide instructions, support, & other conditions that meet students' basic needs: often significant change in way teacher works with students.

School isn't hard, it's boring.

3 Fundamental Propositions:
1. School curriculum must be organized to meet students' basic needs for survival, belonging, power, fun, and freedom.

2. Quality school work & self-evaluation by students must replace the fragmented and boring requirements on which students are typically tested and evaluated.

3. Choice Theory, which contributes to success and responsibility, must be given central attention in teaching, learning, behavior management.

Meetings Students' Needs:

Students experience fun when they are able to work and talk with others, engage in interesting activities, and share their accomplishments.

Quality Curriculum:

Dispose of old curriculum to something students will find enjoyable and useful.

Quality Teaching Steps;

1. Provide warm, supportive classroom climate: get students to know you & like you.

2. Use lead teaching rather than boss teaching: encourage students & draw them out rather than forcing information on them.

3. Ask students only to do work that is useful: developing skills that are useful in students' lives.

4. Always ask students to do the best they can: must occur slowly & must be nurtured.

5. Ask students to evaluate work they have done and improve it: quality usually comes from modifications through continued effort.

6. Help students recognize that doing quality work makes them feel good: occur naturally as students do quality work.

7. Help students to see that quality work is never destructive to oneself, or the environment: help students realize that it is not possible to achieve good feelings of quality work if their efforts harm people, property, etc.

More on Lead teaching:

Boss teachers:
-Learn South American countries
-Locate in blank maps
-Describe types of map terrain
-Name & locate rivers
*You will have 2 tests... ***

Lead teachers:
-Discuss curriculum with interest
-Encourage students
-Explore with students resource
-Demonstrate work
-Make evident that everything possible will be done to provide them good tools.

Choice Theory in the classroom:

Motivation is an extremely important contribute to academic and behavioral success.

-All students will do what is most satisfying to them at any given time, if they can.

Main Tenets of Choice Theory:

-We can control no one's behavior expect our own.

-We can't successfully make a person do anything

-All behavior is best understood as total behavior: acting, thinking, feeling, and physiology.

-All total behavior is chose, but we only have direct control over acting and thinking components: We choose how to act & how to think.

-What we do is not automatically determined by external causes, it's determined by what goes inside us.

-One way to improve behavior is through clarifying what a quality existence would be like & plan the choices that would help achieve that existence.

The Relation of Quality Teaching to Discipline:

-Work with students to establish standards of conduct in the classroom

-Begin with discussion of importance of quality work and explain in that you will do everything possible to help students learn & enjoy themselves without using force.

-If teachers can get students to see the importance of courtesy; no other rules may be necessary.

-Hold classroom meetings to explore alternative to inappropriate behavior: Agreements established and dealt this way show the teachers' main concern lies in quality, not power.

-Power struggles = main enemy of quality education

When Rules are Broken:

"If you will calm down, I will discuss it with you in a little while. I think we can work something out."

-Say without emotion. Anger on your part will only make the student defensive.

-If you treat students with respect & courtesy, if you show that you don't want to punish them or throw your weight around, and if you can talk to them as a problem solver, both their classroom behavior & quality of their work will likely improve.

Moving toward Quality Classrooms;

Glassner Quality Schools:

-Relationship based on trust & respect & all discipline problems have disappeared.

-Total learning competence is stressed, student work does not receive credit until it has reached B quality on traditional ABCDF grading.

-Students and staff are taught to use Choice Theory in lives and school.

-Students score significantly above average on proficiency tests and college entrance exams.

-Staff, students, parents, and administrators view school as a joyful place.

***teachers & administrators endeavor to have happy students***

Seven Deadly habits:

Criticizing, blaming, complaining, nagging, threatening, punishing, and rewarding students to control them.

-Prevent establishment of carrying relationships.

Seven Connecting Habits;

Caring, listening, supporting, contributing, encouraging, trusting, and befriending.

-Teachers must strongly connect with students.

Accomplished:
-By using 7 habits & giving up external behaviors.

Gaining the Benefits of Quality Classrooms:

1. Ways of relating: Avoid the 7 deadly habits

2. The basic message, "We are in this class together. I want to help you to be competent and go beyond..."

3. Befriending students. "I think part of my job is to do all I can to make sure you have a good time learning.

4. Rules for class. Rely on one fundamental rule of behavior - the golden rule.

5. Dealing with misbehavior. replace traditional discipline (external control) with talking and listening to students as soon as you sense impending trouble.

6. Selecting knowledge. Learn only information and skills that will be useful to them in school & life.

7. Competency - Everyone will make good grades, nobody will fail or receive a low grade.

8. Quality - Encourage students to work for still higher quality.

9. Teach, then test. Promise no student will fail or get a bad grade.

10. Understanding and using Focus on understanding and using the information and skills being taught.

11. For older students. Think about new knowledge being acquired and then using that thinking in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and problem solving.

12. After competence is achieved. Students after competent can help other students or move ahead.

For more details read Glassners' idea: Every student can Succeed (2001).

Strengths overall: Support & encourage overall success