Win-Win discipline

During a class observation of a Grade 7 social science lesson in my milieu, I had noticed the use of what we call the traditional classroom management technique. During one of the activities where students had to collaboratively work in a group to complete a task sheet, the students were randomly assigned. It was apparent that the groups were not happy with the grouping method. A student from one such dissatisfied group caused trouble to his group members by not contributing and being abusive. When the teacher intervened, she asked the student to go out of the class and not work. Such a reaction from the teacher enraged the student even more and aggravated the situation where the student started to retaliate. The student, when finally went out of the class, started to disturb the rest of the class. This method was ineffective because there was no restorative action taken for the child to learn anything out of the situation.

Dr. Spencer Kagan (2002) in What is Win-Win Discipline? outlines three probable ways in which basic students’ needs play out in the classroom. In the aforementioned situation, the student’s needs were probably unmet and thus paved the way to disruption. There could have been many ways in which the teacher could’ve handled the situation. Firstly, she could have given students the choice to make their groups. If the idea was to get students to not work with friends, still the students could have been given a choice or she could have made the group selection process transparent. This could have controlled the misbehavior to the extent that the students would have been aware of the logic behind the group distribution. Secondly, to manage group conflicts, she could have given asked the group to meet her separately to discuss the situation and figure out the problem. Richard Curwin et al. (2018) in Discipline with Dignity emphasize the importance of treating students with dignity and argue that “real change often means

sitting with the youngster who breaks rules to have a discussion”. The teacher could have had a discussion with the student separately to identify the problem and figure out a solution along with the student. Dr. Kagan (2002) argues that disruptive behavior can be seen as “an attempt to meet the needs associated with a position”. The seven positions are namely; Attention seeking, avoiding embarrassment, anger venting, control seeking, energetic, bored, and uninformed. Once a teacher identifies the position of disruptive behavior, the job of a teacher becomes clear. While there are 5 P’s as components of Win-Win Discipline, there are 3 Pillars that constitute its philosophy and goals. The three pillars are the Same Side, Shared Responsibility, and Learned Responsibility (Kagan, 2002). The teacher could have teamed up with the student to help the student learn more responsible ways to meet the needs associated with the position. This contributes to building a positive classroom climate as the teacher is perceived to be someone who wants the students to learn from mistakes so that they grow into independent individuals. Students like to be in classrooms where they have a choice and voice. Classrooms that support humor their mistakes and celebrates their success.

References 

Curwin, R., Mendler, A., & Mendler, B. (2018). Chapter 1: Core beliefs and principles. In Discipline with Dignity: How to Build Responsibility and Respect in Your Classroom, 4th ed. (chapter 11). Retrieved September 14, 2020, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/118018/chapters/Core-Beliefs-and-Principles.aspx

Kagan, S. (2002) What is win-win discipline? Retrieved September 14, 2020, from https://www.kaganonline.com/free_articles/dr_spencer_kagan/ASK15.php