8. Assertive Discipline

This is traditional limit setting authoritarianism. When executed it will include a good mix of praise. This is high profile discipline. The teacher is the boss and no child has the right to interfere with the learning of any student. Clear rules are laid out and consistently enforced [11, p.99].

9. Assertive I-Messages

A component of Assertive Discipline, these I-Messages are statements that the teacher uses when confronting a student who is misbehaving. They are intended to be clear descriptions of what the student is suppose to do. The teacher who makes good use of this technique will focus the child’s attention first and foremost on the behavior he wants, not on the misbehavior. “I want you to...” or “I need you to...” or “I expect you to...”

The inexperienced teacher may incorrectly try “I want you to stop...” only to discover that this usually triggers confrontation and denial. The focus is on the misbehavior and the student is quick to retort: “I wasn’t doing anything!” or “It wasn’t my fault...” or “Since when is there a rule against...” and escalation has begun [11, p.100].

10. Humanistic I-Messages

These I-messages are expressions of our feelings. Thomas Gordon, creator of Teacher Effectiveness Training (TET), tells us to structure these messages in three parts. First, include a description of the child’s behavior. “When you talk while I talk...” Second, relate the effect this behavior has on the teacher. “...I have to stop my teaching...” And third, let the student know the feeling that it generates in the teacher [11, p.101].

A teacher, distracted by a student who was constantly talking while he tried to teach, once made this powerful expression of feelings: “I cannot imagine what I have done to you that I do not deserve the respect from you that I get from the others in this class. If I have been rude to you or inconsiderate in any way, please let me know. I feel as though I have somehow offended you and now you are unwilling to show me respect.” The student did not talk during his lectures again for many weeks [11, p.102].

11. Positive Discipline

Use classroom rules that describe the behaviors you want instead of listing things the students cannot do. Instead of “no-running in the room,” use “move through the building in an orderly manner.” Instead of “no fighting,“ use “settle conflicts appropriately.” Instead of “no gum chewing,” use “leave gum at home.” Refer to your rules as expectations. Let your students know this is how you expect them to behave in your classroom.

Make ample use of praise. When you see good behavior, acknowledge it. This can be done verbally, of course, but it doesn’t have to be. A nod, a smile or a “thumbs up” will reinforce the behavior [11, p.103].

Part 2. The problem of classroom discipline in ukrainian secondary schools

2.1. Analyzing the problem of classroom discipline

Sigmund Freud was the founder of the psycho-analytical approach from which the psycho-dynamic model is derived. Freud’s theory was based on the assumption that the experiences people have during their early childhood years have a decisive and lasting effect on their behavior [8, p.15]. According to Santrock, bad experiences arising from the unresolved conflicts in the unconscious mind determine the behavior of adolescents. According to Gerdes, learner misconduct results from environmental factors such as the family, which may cause delinquency. According to the ecological system approach, delinquency may be caused by the lack of family cohesiveness and by parental rejection. Learner misconduct may also originate from child abuse within the family. Child abuse includes physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse hurts the child, the parents and the community. The child is in a situation that is very confusing. She may feel both guilty and responsible for what was happening. Learner misconduct is usually the result of a problematic home-background, be that of a single parent-situation, unemployment, or the divorce of the parents [18, p.15-16].

Learner misconduct, although it manifests in different ways, is experienced in learners of all ages. Montgomery says that learner misconduct is more common amongst secondary school learners than in primary school learners. He further says that boys are more frequently involved in misconduct than girls. According to him, juvenile delinquency, and violent and criminal activities are manifestations of adolescents rejecting authority within the community. He further indicates that certain forms of behaviors are associated with one another (for example, aggressive behavior is associated with truancy), as interdependence among behavior problems [18, p.16].

Attention-seeking behavior and disruptive behavior are clearly the most common behavior problems encountered in the classroom.

I had a consultation with my school teacher of English. She has indicated that the making of unacceptable noises, laziness and unpunctuality are among the most common forms of misconduct. She felt that the she spends more time in dealing with problems of order and control than she ought to,so she totally agreed with the views of Lekganyane S.A. According to her, talking out of turn, disturbing others, non-attendance and disobedience are the major categories of disruptive behavior. In the following section the more frequently occurring forms of learner misconduct will be looked at. These will include:

• aggressive and anti-social behavior;

• disruptive behavior;

• theft;

• telling lies;

• juvenile delinquency;

• the use of additive substances;

Aggressive behavior is said to be the means of outward reaction or the acting-out of an inward emotional state. Aggressive behavior manifests in bullying, vandalism, and assaulting others. According to my English teacher, children acquire an attitude of aggression in order to express their deep-seated feelings of dissatisfaction. Parents are usually upset when they discover that their child has stolen something. Often they need guidance or the help of a counselor on how to handle the matter objectively and effectively.

Disruptive behavior includes any behavior or conduct that interferes with or disrupts the learning process in the class. This form of behavior includes noise-making, the refusal to cooperate, showing off, uncontrolled behavior, storming out of the classroom, taking alcohol school, calling-out while the teacher is speaking, abusive language, and making improper noises. My English teacher says that the learners who demonstrate disruptive behavior make it impossible for the teachers to teach properly or to pay the necessary attention to learners, and it affects the entire environment in the classroom.

During adolescence the assumption is that by the time children enter high school, they will no longer tell lies. Adolescents are able to distinguish between fantasy and fact, and have at this stage already developed moral values.

My English teacher defines juvenile delinquency as the “…willful and deliberate behavior of a juvenile in violation of the law and social norms that will bring the youth under legal or social judgment”. It refers to the transgression of the law by the youth, such as taking alcohol at school, or the sexual harassment of other learners. She points out that juvenile delinquency may include truancy, running away from home, drinking, drug-taking, sexual misconduct, lying and other anti-social acts, such as hostility and aggressiveness. Delinquency is both a psychological and a sociological problem.

Depression in adolescents usually manifests itself in different ways. Depressive conditions may range from relatively undamaging, temporary states of sadness in response to a genuine loss (e.g. of a loved one), to severely disturbed psychotic conditions that involve mental as well as emotional impairment.

Adolescents may commit suicide as a result of precipitating events, such as the break-up or threatened break-up of a relationship, pregnancy, school-failure, conflict with parents, rejection by a friend, and the loss of a parent or other beloved persons.

Addiction is a state of periodic and chronic intoxication, detrimental to the individual and society, and brought about by the repeated consumption of a drug. He further indicates that addiction to drugs or alcohol means that the learner’s body can no longer function without these substances.

My ex-teacher states that behavior problems stem from a variety of causative factors, which may include the environment and family background. In the literature, there is a great deal of speculation about which factors cause learner misconduct. The environment and family background are the primary causes of learner misconduct. For example, environmental factors such as the family as a system may cause delinquency. Child abuse within the family may also cause learner misconduct. Child abuse includes physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Child sexual abuse hurts the child, the parent and the community. The child is in a situation that he or she finds confusing. She may feel both guilty and responsible for what is happening, as indicated before.

All the factors causing misconduct could be divided into:

1. Intrinsic factors

Various intrinsic factors may give rise to learner misconduct. Intrinsic factors are factors that are situated within the adolescent himself/herself.

2. Extrinsic factors.

It could be argued that intrinsic and extrinsic factors are intertwined and they interact. They have an impact on one another as the learner develops. Resilience in children is likely to develop from both internal and environmental factors”. However, neither extrinsic nor intrinsic factors can be pinpointed as the only cause of learner misconduct as they are always in interaction with one another”.

Teachers and parents should understand the causative factors of learner misconduct so that they can be in a position to offer appropriate assistance to those learners with behavior problems [18, p.17-20].