Positive discipline essay

The researcher hypothesizes, based on previous research that implementing the positive discipline approach in these classrooms will increase the respect between the teachers and students, limit the rigid definition of acceptable behaviors and foster a healthy learning environment that students are happy to be in. The results of the proposed study are of great importance for the education world today. Keywords: Positive Discipline, Student’s behavior, Attitudes, Mainstream classrooms Implementing positive reinforcement in a classroom Introduction   Educators today are being faced with a challenge on how to properly manage a classroom. There has been an increase in the number of students who are struggling with significant emotional and behavioral problems. Teachers need simple and effective tools to maintain a peaceful, effective, and positive classroom environment.

Many times, the word discipline has a negative connotation. It has come to be equated with control and punishment; new research now shows that effective discipline is constructive and positive.  Positive discipline involves setting goals and finding solutions in challenging situations that may arise. When teachers make a positive discipline a part of their classroom, they build students self-esteem, create an environment that is welcome to learning and growing, they instill in their students a love for learning that can last a lifetime.    The positive discipline approach shows teachers how to listen to their student’s needs sincerely. Implementing positive discipline in the classroom helps teachers and students to be on the same page in a non-threatening way, it promotes respect, empathy, helps students tackle tough challenges, builds confidence, accomplish great things, and behave accordingly.

(Lewis, 2008) The Concept of Positive Discipline The positive discipline uses education for teachers to provide kindness and firmness rather than leniency and strictness. A key factor in positive discipline is reciprocal respect. Every behavior has a reason; positive discipline helps identify why students behave a certain way. Once a teacher can identify the reason for the student’s behavior, she can change the opinions of the student and not just the behavior. Conroy et al. , (2009) pointed out that the teachers can decrease and eliminate the aggressive behavior among their students through some activities and efforts. It is imperative that teachers have the knowledge, skill, ability, experience, and character to offer the expected services appropriately properly. The Characteristics of Positive Discipline The positive discipline approach is holistic, a holistic approach to education recognizes all aspects of students learning and developments (Stevens, 2018).

When you understand the way children develop, we can better understand why they behave in certain ways. The positive discipline approach concentrates on students’ efforts and improvements, mistakes are not seen as failures, but as openings to learn and improve the student’s skills. Mistakes and challenges are not weaknesses but are springboards for learning. The Present Study The proposed experimental study will focus on two interventions. Two teachers will be brought into a two mainstream classroom that is not aware of the positive discipline method and runs a more negative and “old school” style discipline. These two teachers will take what they know and apply it to these classrooms to see if they can make an alteration in the way the students behave and learn.

(See appendix A for a full checklist) The teacher will measure by checking off: very poor, poor, okay, good, or very good. Procedure An experimental study will use convenience sampling to measure the outcome of two teachers trained in positive discipline to be in a classroom of students who are not familiar with this teaching method. Positive discipline teachers will over a period of time observe classrooms which have a conventional teacher and through a behavior checklist from the internet; monitor how their behavior is without the positive discipline approach. Once they have that data collected, the teachers will begin there experiment. Two teachers who are experienced with using the positive discipline approach will be divided to work with a total of 64 students.

Teachers will test if students are able to learn better, knowing that they will not be using punishments or rewards. Most problems in the classroom can be dealt with positive discipline. A longitudinal study will be done to observe if the student’s behavior and view towards learning changes due to the implementation of the positive discipline approach. Data will be collected to see how the students changed throughout the course of the year. Teachers will keep a record of how the students were when they were in a rigid classroom structure, with negative enforcement, punishments, and scolding, to how they are with the new method. Further between-subjects ANOVA tests will determine the significance of the mean academic and the respect between the two groups.

A significant change will be determined a P˂ 0. 5 DISCUSSION The researcher hypothesizes, based on previous research that implementing the positive discipline approach in these classrooms will increase the respect between the teachers and students, limit the rigid definition of acceptable behaviors and foster a healthy learning environment that students are happy to be in. Implications The results of the proposed study are great for the education world today. Students who struggle behaviorally, are used to physical and emotional punishments, teachers running a rigid classroom with no room for individual attention can now flourish with the implementation of the positive discipline approach. Charles, C. M.  Today's best classroom management strategies: Paths to positive discipline. Pearson/Allyn Bacon. Conroy, M.  Teaching with love and logic: Taking control of the classroom.