First, Wong’s pragmatic approach in the classroom emphasizes that teachers should start before the first day of school to carefully prepare their classroom and class procedures for maximizing student success. Wong’s pragmatic approach helps teachers to become proficient in the area of classroom management and organization and it helps them establish a productive working environment. According to Harry and Rosemary Wong, effective teachers must establish a positive climate, organize their classroom, develop rules, routines, and procedures, assign and manage work, prepare for instruction, manage for behavior, and maintain momentum. In addition, Wong’s pragmatic approach is very effective with very young students and for the elementary school. Moreover, Wong’s approach to managing a classroom for high-level student learning and achievement encourages critical thinking in students. Teachers must ask students to respond to their classmates’ answer in a positive way. Also, teachers must build on students’ answers to promote critical thinking and make connections. And at the end of the lesson, effective teachers should ask students to state or write in a journal what they have learned and help them make connections with past and future learning.
Second, Kagan, Kyle, and Scott have developed the Win-Win discipline which enables students and teachers to work together closely to find acceptable solutions to behavior problems. Win-Win discipline is a powerful approach which helps students to “become able to manage themselves, meet their needs through responsible choices, and develop life skills that serve them well in the future.” The Win-Win discipline works well for middle school or junior high school students. The classroom teachers can follow the five basic steps for establishing and maintaining discipline: (1) developing a discipline plan, (2) establishing classroom rules, (3) determining consequences for violating rules, (4) recognizing and celebrating good behavior, and (5) involving parents in their children’s behavior. For example, if teachers have a student who rarely completes his/her assignments, they would encourage the student to be involved in the process of finding solutions to the problem. In addition, the Win-Win approach encourages critical thinking in students. The focus of the Win-Win discipline theory is to develop critical thinking through cooperative learning. Dr. Kagan explained that “students who participate in the learning process and help create their own discipline solutions become more likely to make responsible choices in the future.” Teachers should provide emotionally supportive environments in the classroom by maintaining students’ dignity and they should provide social-learning environments such as those inherent in peer-group and small group activities to allow students to see and respect other points of view.
Third, the classroom strategies called Discipline through dignity and hope for challenging youth is a practice developed by Curwin and Mendler and this approach works very well with middle school and high school students who are particularly difficult to manage. Teachers should work toward long-term solutions to behavior problems instead of short-term solutions by focusing on student responsibilities, not obedience, as the primary goal of discipline. Teachers must always make sure that their students’ dignity will be always preserved. Schools must be a place where faculty, staff, students, and parents work together to set up a core of values. Then, it is imperative that teachers model behaviors that are in accordance with the school values. Curwin and Mendler think that teachers must help students become decision makers and critical thinkers. These two important skills will help them regain hope and dignity. Teachers must help them feel that they are an important part of the society and that they can contribute to its development. In fact, Discipline with Dignity offers many ways to involve students in making classroom procedures. Therefore, students basic psychological needs include needs of belonging, safety, and respect will be fulfilled by making them interact with teachers. Also by emphasizing responsibility rather than obedience, teachers are encouraging critical thinking in students. Discipline through Dignity and Hope teaches the students self-discipline and responsibility. Curwin and Mendler asserted that critical thinking skills are sacrificed when the teachers humiliate and punish the students. For example, in the classroom, Curwin and Mendler’s suggestions is to make students wonder what might happen next. It will develop on the students a sense of greater responsibility and self-control.
Fourth, William Glasser’s theory called Discipline guided by choice theory emphasizes that schools must provide quality teaching by providing a warm, supportive classroom climate and teachers must use ‘lead teaching’ rather than ‘boss teaching’. Based on the choice theory, which acknowledges that teachers cannot control anyone’s behavior except their own and cannot make a student do anything, Glasser created specific conditions that schools must follow: (1) a warm, supportive classroom, (2) school work that is useful, (3) encouragement for students to do the best they can, (5) opportunity for students to evaluate work they have done and improve it, and (6) quality school work (Charles 2008, p. 75). Glasser’s theory would work perfectly for the elementary level. All the students want a school where the basic needs (to survive and be secure, to belong and to be loved, to be respected, and to have fun) are present. But for older students, Glasser thinks that teachers need to explain to students that they will be taught and tested for educational competence. In addition, Glasser’s quality and choice theory encourages critical thinking in students. He insisted that schools are responsible for helping students acquire knowledge and teach students thinking skills which are required to achieve the feeling of self worth.
Fifth, Kohn’s theories are quite similar to Glasser’s. Kohn stresses that reward and consequences do not help students become ethical people and they feel no commitment to what they are doing. Students are likely to become enthusiastic life long learners if they get to choose which questions they want to explore. Teachers should emphasize a curriculum that appeals to students and encourages critical thinking in them. Kohn asserted that students learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following directions. If teachers ask students (“What do you think we can do to solve this problem?”), then they are encouraging critical thinking in the classroom. For example, if Kohn or Glasser has a child who does not want to complete an assignment, they would suggest that the teacher will have to reconsider the lessons and try to communicate with the student.
Effective teachers should borrow and steal ideas from different classroom management strategies in order to concoct one which is more appropriate for their specific developmental levels. We are role model, leader and facilitator and we should use classroom management strategies which encourages critical thinking in students. We must encourage students to pursue topics which are relevant in their lives and involve the students in the process of choosing them.
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