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Two sides--One: is very confident that a teacher can take control, perhaps must take control in order for there to the learning.  [See annual crime rates in schools chart, below.]  Discipline is not questioned or doubted.  The other side: authority may be causing all the trouble in the first place.  Discipline must be questioned.  Rewards and punishments are harmful.

Both sides have truth to them.  Depending on the student, and their reactions to the events taking place throughout the days in school, it is possible to say both that teachers must take control, and their control is causing trouble.  As no one is perfect, we will never have error-free days.  Yet in some cases we can come very close.

In my experience teaching English conversation in a private Chinese schools, in some classes with over 40 students, I never had to request any change of unpleasant behavior.  In nearby classrooms, perhaps even with only 12 students, there was great conflict between my desires and the students' behaviors.  It is a truism, but a useful point to remember, that the behavior of a group is based on the actions of the individuals in that group.

There are students who admire teachers, the school, education in general, and who view their behavior as important to regulate.  They want to benefit from the overall culture (though of course their views can vary day to day..).  Other students may not enjoy the strictures of academic life, the need to stare at papers, produce on demand, limit their self expression and get along with others peacefully, and so on.  Hopefully we need to move these students forward into self-discipline and have them realize the difference between correction and punishment.  We must learn the role that increasing population density and negligent parents are playing as well.  (Stoops & King-Stoops, 1995.)  For example they may be refering to how, as we move from places where population density is low and thus contact and conflict less frequent, we find higher interpersonal conflict in dense, (often low-income) urban areas--also places where playing and letting off steam outdoors can be difficult or dangerous.  Parents, now about half of which are single parents, clearly do not spend the time with children they did in the past ages, when a mother usually needed to cook and even farm/garden at home, and a father needed to work outside the home in the traditional way.  Now with fast food, high divorce and 'deadbeat dad' rates, we have increasing numbers of children who are not as exposed to reasonable adult behavior in the home.  We have many students who have free rein and lack of supervision in the house, and who may thus lack comfort with guidance in the school.  To avoid overly restrictive or permissive classroom management, the question must always be, 'Does this behavior interfere with other's rights and learning?'  While this will allow room for the eccentric in our schools, yet we want to encourage actions beneficial to such students in the long run.

Then there are those students who seem to enjoy the anger of adults.   [Canter (1982) accounts  another teacher's experience about a student: "..he likes it when I yell and scream at him" (p. 59)]  For those who are burdened in this way, the birds in the cages of our schools, we could benefit from learning a variety of ways to respond to their needs for greater freedom of expression.  We should do this while still protecting those who could benefit from school.  And certainly, if our discipline combined with lesson planning, materials, activities, and subject matter are appropriate with the burdened students, they may even become less burdened and burdensome.

To know what to do..  That pondering many thoughtful teachers go through, get headaches over, lose sleep from..  Should we be the authoritative teacher, the listening teacher..?  How can we know which tactic to attempt, with which students?  How can we diagnose the problems, so we can prescribe the right medicines?  We're lucky there are others to turn to.  [Note, see also Resources page in this website, link below.]  As we each have our own styles, beliefs in consonance or contrary to educational administration and policy, we may find ourselves at odds with accepted practices.  With an increase in student autonomy, we increase a need for constant unique discipline, and may see-saw toward greater authority and uniformity.  As we experiment with our unique mix of students and changing personal growth, our path is most likely to feel unconventional.  A team process of education, where teachers meet and discuss, is an appropriate rescue from this dis-ease.  (Wolfgang & Glickman, 1986).

Differentiation, in education, normally refers to tailoring our planning, instruction, assessment, and other activities for the needs of specific students.  This is done with their particular needs, learning styles, prior knowledge and abilities in mind.  When it comes to discipline, we can also a tailor our plans and actions differently for different students or groups of students.  But how? Behavioral scientists and educational researchers help us with this.  We might turn to Fox, Luszki and Schmuck and their work "Diagnosing Classroom Learning Environments" (1981).  These research associates gathered data and provide methods and materials for educators to diagnose negative influences among students.  We must remember or learn that we may operate in a system with difficult classroom social structures, related to students' hierarchies and norms in opposition to learning and the perceived educational establishment (very often due to social-economic and ethnic differences).

If the reader finds oneself to be in a position of cultural conflict, the questionnaires, forms, and other diagnostic tools in their work may be a benefit.  With them, students can rate the influence of their peers, and respond to the atmosphere and experience in the classroom and school.  A teacher may also diagnose and analyze their own use of praise and criticism, social control or classroom management, and interactions with the students (Fox, Luszki & Schmuck, 1981).  One may find that a teacher may work to appear enthusiastic and motivating, yet induce perceptions in students as being disgruntled and controlling, dimming their educational excitement (Stoops & King-Stoops, 1995).  Perhaps this is a reminder to focus on the subject, developing a 'community of truth' rather than acting as a teacher with a mental spotlight focused on oneself.

Here are some common causes/recommendations for particular problems often seen in classrooms, with a view on focusing on improving the 'truth community' and returning to our subjects:

"Discipline is not just about finishing your homework on time. It is also about leading a good life, with principles."  --Simran Kurana, internet philosopher

Though these are the most serious issues in the class, if they are less common (and we hope so) we may spend more time with less serious concerns that cause great distraction from the central focus of learning. 

There are certain students that pull spotlights over onto themselves...dropping things, making distractive noises, tossing things towards the trash.  How can we focus on what we've come to school for?  Our classrooms can be filled with students so easily taken away from the subjects: with up to 20% of students in some classrooms diagnosed with education-related labels: attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, functional mental retardation (FMR), to name a few (French & Andretti, 1995).  If we accept these labels as useful, it is important to differentiate among various types of students, properly assess, and assist them.  There are typical behaviors we can anticipate, and useful responses.  [Please refer to the resources page.]

Regarding students with inability to maintain focus, whether ADD or not--their ability to comprehend may be quite high (French & Andretti, 1995), and physical interventions such as Brain Gym (see Hannaford, 1995) or medical assistance can free them from unwanted physical disruption of their own bodies.  Here a note about why some students move 'excessively': a need for digestion, blood flow, and bathroom breaks.  Let students do what they need to do.  Encourage nutritionally sound practices and physical programs in your school, including research-supported daily art, music, and gym.  In the class, some students need more standing and stretching than others.  If it is distracting to you, seat them in a place you don't always have to look.  Medication might be a last resort, as drugs affect on developing brains is a serious issue (Hannaford, 1995).  A teacher is not charged with making medical diagnosis nor carrying out treatment in these cases, but may initiate exploration into professional evaluation.  Medically, a person can suffer from thyroid diseases, sensitivity to caffeine, and a wide variety of other factors.  Some considerations: 

• Improper diet / eating habits (and soda, not only a problem for overweight children)
• Allergies including food
• Poor classroom atmosphere: lighting, furnishings, noise, air quality
• Disrupted sleep
• Exercise
• Neglect or psychological abuse
• Television and video gaming on weekdays

Other then correcting these factors, various accommodations can benefit students as long as they are not too distractive to others.  Allow freedom in the classroom except during critical instruction times; accept/encourage their energetic body movement ("Why not do 10 pushups if you like?"), and refrain from interrupting quiet individual seatwork with teacher updates/reminders (Hannaford, 2005).  Other 'disorders' can be dealt with in their own unique ways.  School psychologists and social workers are also a resource to partner with no matter how smoothly classes go.  The teacher must take the responsibility to learn about our typical culture's labels describing ongoing patterns of behavior, perhaps through library research, workshops, even Internet sites available to us about those particular topics.

To get a start, there are many resources linked below, and the annotated bibliography in references.  And don't forget the videos!

Resources/Links            and            References