Curwin & Mendler: Discipline through Dignity and Hope

A presentation by Suzanne Denihan

Who is Richard Curwin?

• Born in 1944• Earned a doctorate from the University

of Massachusetts Amherst in 1972• Began his teaching career in a 7th grade

all-boys classroom• These boys’ behavior was out of control• This teaching experience led Curwin

into a career that focused on school discipline

Who is Allen Mendler?

• Born in 1949• Earned a PhD in Psychology

at Union Institute in 1981• Over his career, he has

served as a school psychologist and a psychoeducational consultant

The Breakthrough• Curwin and Mendler

attracted national attention when they co-authored a book in 1983 titled, “Taking Charge in the Classroom”

• In 1998, they revised and republished the book as, “Discipline with Dignity”, because it more accurately reflected their approach

Contributions to Discipline• Strategies for improving classroom behavior through

maximizing student dignity and hope• Their ideas have been especially helpful to teachers

who work with chronically misbehaving students• These students (about 5% of the student population)

typically disrupt instruction, interfere with learning, and make life miserable for teachers

• Curwin & Mendler describe these students as “students without hope” that are doomed to fail, unless treated with special consideration and care

• Curwin & Mendler provide strategies to teachers to reclaim these students

The Central Focus

• The central focus of the Curwin & Mendler model is on improving students misbehavior, while preserving their dignity and providing them with a sense of hope

• In the model, there are suggestions for motivating students, ensuring success, and helping students to learn how to behave responsibly

Curwin & Mendler’s Vocabulary• Behaviorally at risk: this phrase describes students whose chronic

classroom misbehavior puts them in imminent danger of failing in school. Most chronically misbehaving students have lost hope of encountering anything worthwhile in school. The teacher’s responsibility is to help these students believe that school can be of benefit and that they have some control over their lives.

• Dignity: indicates the value of human life. Students will do all they can to prevent damage to their dignity, to their sense of self-value. Misbehavior occurs as students attempt to avoid this damage.

• School professionals and clients: Curwin and Mendler agree that school exists for students, not for teachers. Teachers are professionals placed in schools for the benefit of their clients, the students. The teacher’s role is simple: to do all they can to help students learn and behave responsibly.

The Underlying Principles of Effective Discipline

1. Discipline is a very important part of teaching2. Short-term solutions are rarely effective3. Students must always be treated with dignity4. Discipline must not interfere with motivation

to learn5. Responsibility is more important than

obedience

Short-Term Solutions

• Short-term solutions to discipline problems, such as writing students’ names on the board, often turn into long term disasters because they damage students’ dignity, reduce motivation, increase resistance, and promote desire for revenge.

Responsibility VS. Obedience

• Responsibility, which involves making good decisions, almost always produces better long term behavior changes than does obedience to teacher’s demands.

Dimensions of Discipline

To create a long-term discipline plan, it should include 3 dimensions:

• 1) Prevention – steps taken to stall misbehavior

• 2) Action – steps taken when rules are broken• 3) Resolution – arrangements for improving

misbehavior of out of control students.

Dimensions of Discipline: Prevention

Prevention Dimension: The teacher formulates class rules and consequences. Rules need to specific, so that students know exactly what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in the classroom. Consequences must be established in advance to any misbehavior and must also be specific to the violation. Consequences should not be seen as a punishment but should be logical, which usually involves doing correctly what was done wrong.

Dimensions of Discipline: Action

• Action Dimension: What teachers do when rules are broken. They need to identify the consequence that best fits that situation. They believe that it is an opportunity to interact productively with the student. They are encouraged to be aware of the method of implementation and teachers are encouraged to be mindful of student’s dignity.

Dimensions of Discipline: Resolution

• Resolution Dimension: This is used to formulate plans of positive actions for students who misbehave chronically. As already noted, these students have given up hope and are immune to consequences. When teachers interact with these non-cooperative students, they should find out what is needed to prevent the problems from occurring again, work out a mutually agreeable plan with the student, implement and monitor the plan, and use creative approaches as they are necessary.

Consequences

• Consequences are pre-planned actions used when classroom rules are broken.

• Consequences are planned by the teacher, with student input and agreement.

Insubordination Rule

• This is a bottom line rule in the social contract. • It states that whenever a student refuses to

accept the consequences for breaking a rule, they will not be allowed back into the room until they have accepted the consequence.

• This rule requires the support of the school administrator.

The Social Contract

• When class rules and consequences have been formulated they are written and agreed to by students and teachers.

• This agreement is called the social contract.

Other Methods for Improving Classroom Discipline

• Creative responses: These are unexpected responses to misbehavior that teachers can at times use effectively (exchanging roles with students, taping the class’s behavior, throwing the occasional tantrum)

• Preventing escalation: Wise teachers de-escalate arguments by actively listening to the student, using I-messages, and keeping the discussion private.

• Motivating the difficult-to-manage student: Providing these students with interesting lessons on topics of personal relevance that permit active involvement and lead to competencies that students value.

Creative Responses to Chronic Misbehavior

1) Role Reversal2) Humor and Nonsense3) Agreement with Putdowns4) Improbable Answers5) Paradoxical Behavior6) Teacher Tantrums7) Taping Classroom Behavior

What Not To Do:• Traditional methods of discipline are not

effective for students who are behaviorally at risk.

• They are immune to: scolding, lecturing, sarcasm, detention, extra assignments, isolation, names on the chalkboard, or trips to the principal’s office. It does NO good to tell these students what they did wrong – They already know.

A Steady Decline…• What begins with academic failure, leads to the

repeated damage of a student’s dignity, and students may feel good when they lash back at others.

• As they continue to act out, they find themselves systematically removed from opportunities to act responsibly.

• When they misbehave in class, they are made to sit in isolation. When they fight, they are told to resolve the dispute and make amends. In such cases they are taken out of the very situations in which they might learn to behave responsibly.

Why At Risk Students are difficult to Discipline

• They usually have a history of academic failure• Unable to maintain dignity through

achievement, they protect themselves by withdrawing or acting as if they don’t care.

(Refer to scenario)

Students who are Behaviorally at Risk

• “It is what students do under the conditions they are in, not who they are, that puts them at risk” (Curwin, 1992, p. xiii).

Characteristics include: • 1) They are failing • 2) They have received, and do not respond to, most of the

punishments and/or consequences offered by the school • 3) They have low self-concepts in relation to school• 4) They have little or no hope of finding success in school • 5) They associate with and are reinforced by similar students.

Students who are Behaviorally at Risk Continued…

The number of behaviorally-at-risk students is increasing steadily and results in the loss of hope in the young. The reasons for this increase are many:

• Failure of the family unit to provide emotional, social, and intellectual security

• Increased violence in society• Birth of infants addicted to alcohol or cocaine• Reemergence of racial tensions• Lack of admirable models for children to emulate• Replacement of a sense of right and wrong by personal

gratification

Hope

• Hope is what inspires us – we need it to live meaningfully. It provides courage and incentive to overcome barriers. When hope is lost, there is not reason to try.

• Curwin & Mendler believe that children who are Behaviorally-at-Risk have lost hope.

Helping Students Regain Hope

• Students can be helped to regain hope and as they do so, their behavior will improve.

• This can be accomplished by making learning more attractive and provide students with success.

• To ensure success, teachers can explore ways to re-design the curriculum and encourage different ways of thinking, provide various learning styles, allow for creativity, provide encouraging feedback without damaging the student’s willingness to try.

Quote from Curwin

• “For students who are alienated, are fearful, or believe that school offers them nothing of importance, we must alter conditions to create hope”

Dignity

• Dignity refers to life and respect for self.• Students with chronic behavior problems see

themselves as losers and have stopped trying to gain acceptance in normal ways.

• They tell themselves that it is better not to try, than to fail yet again, that it is better to be recognized as a trouble maker than to be seen as stupid.

Dignity continued…

Teachers should recognize all students as human beings. They come to school as whole people – not simply as brains waiting to be trained. We must understand that their negative behaviors are based on protection and escape. They do the best they can with the skills they have under the adverse conditions they face. When students are acting they out – they are defending themselves from attacks on their dignity.

Supportive Teachers

• Many teachers become cynical and give up on these defiant students. As professionals, teachers are there to help their “clients” – the students. They should enter the profession with that understanding. They need to accept that they can and will make a difference in their student’s lives – even though that difference may not be apparent for a long time.

Case Study: Joshua

• Joshua, larger and louder than his classmates, always wants to be the center of attention, which he accomplishes through a combination of clowning and intimidation. He makes wise remarks, talks back (smilingly) to the teacher, utters a variety of sound-effect noises such as automobile crashes and gunshots, and makes limitless sarcastic comment and put-downs of his classmates. Other students will not stand up to him, apparently fearing his verbal and physical aggression. His teacher, Miss Pearl, has come to her wit’s end.