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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE: AN INQUIRY MODEL EXAMINATION.

Classroom management and discipline is a major concern of administrators, teachers, and parents at all levels of formal education. In response to this concern, a variety of classroom management systems have been presented as remedies to this dilemma. There is, in light of the attention afforded classroom management, a need for a model by which the discipline systems can be examined. A structured examination of these programs, via the "Inquiry Cube", will be of assistance in the evaluation of the discipline programs of William Glasser, James Dobson, and Lee Canter. In this study, the philosophic basis for theoretical models was outlined, criteria of adequacy for "good" theoretical formats discussed, the models used to examine and evaluate the selected classroom management systems were presented, and a discipline checklist for teachers was proposed. The major thesis of this study was that values and goals act as legislative agents in the determination of the organization or structure of discipline systems and programs. The structures of discipline programs are then constructed according to a definite set of rules which, in turn, determine and signify the relevent date of the discipline systems. In examining the programs it was demonstrated that the systems suffer the weakness of the reductionist fallacy. Care must also be taken to insure student and support staff involvement at a meaningful level. Another concern is the possibility that any given classroom management program may become mechanistic and imposingly uniform, thus eliminating many student options. Classroom management and discipline, being comprised of its own universe of discourse and categories, is educational subject matter and, as such, is educative. The discipline checklist concluding this work is comprised of notions included in many of the programs studied and, aside from some structural additions, is not entirely unique. Yet, if this study is helpful at all, it should serve the function of bringing attention to theoretical models as vehicles which can be used to examine and evaluate classroom management systems. The discipline programs of the future will only be as good as the tools used to determine and inform their adequacy.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/187741
Date January 1984
CreatorsWILLIAMSON, RONALD EMORY.
PublisherThe University of Arizona.
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic)
RightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

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