Major Misconceptions About Classroom Discipline

(Originally titled “Five Myths About Student Discipline”)

In this Educational Leadership article, Kansas principal Laurie Boyd says educators need to challenge five common myths about student discipline:

• Myth #1: If your lessons are engaging, you won’t have discipline problems. Of course good teaching helps, but no learning activity is guaranteed to engage all students all the time. Besides, boring instruction is only one reason students misbehave; others include disliking the teacher, negative peer dynamics, hunger, thirst, depression, sleep deprivation, fears and worries, and how successful they feel with the subject matter. And keep in mind, says Boyd, that being able to learn from less-than-stellar teaching is an important skill for future success.

• Myth #2: Teachers need to find their own discipline style. Teachers who are highly effective “naturals” can use their own style and even ignore parts of schoolwide policies, says Boyd. But for others, finding their style may be an excuse for avoiding confrontations and not being the adult authority figure in the classroom. These teachers tend to address the disruptive behavior of a few students by making general comments to the whole class, overlook side conversations and interruptions, joke about bad behavior, and discipline the whole class for the actions of a few. Boyd asks these teachers, “What exactly is your style, and is it the best approach for all kids?”

• Myth #3: Effective teachers do not have power struggles with students. Nonsense, says Boyd. Teachers have to be prepared to be unpopular and even hated at times. “Expert teacher-disciplinarians do not fear conflict or avoid confrontation,” she continues. “Teachers should convey the attitude that they have such relevant and meaningful truths to impart about the academic content, as well as about how to succeed in life, that they and the class have no time for foolishness.” But they are also skillful at handling misbehavior and preventing escalation.

• Myth #4: A school leader’s attention needs to be on instruction, not discipline. On the contrary, this is a core leadership task, says Boyd: “It is a school leader’s responsibility to ensure a consistent, schoolwide system for preventing misbehavior, for responding to misbehavior in the classroom and elsewhere on school grounds, and for removing chronically disruptive students from the classroom.” It’s also important for principals to clarify what the office should handle and what teachers are responsible for, and to train all teachers to deal with their part of the job of student discipline.

• Myth #5: The school code of conduct is an adequate building discipline system. Not true, says Boyd. The schoolwide code is what administrators use to deal with serious offenses, but teachers and other staff must be empowered to discipline students for the bulk of misbehavior that falls below this threshold – with the backing of administrators.

“Five Myths About Student Discipline” by Laurie Boyd in Educational Leadership, October 2012 (Vol. 70, #2, p. 62-66), www.ascd.org; Boyd is at laboyd@sunflower.com. 

From the Marshall Memo #456