Running Head: DR. WILLIAM GLASSER'S QUALITY CLASSROOM
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Dr. William
Glasser's Quality Classroom
Eliminates
Discipline Problems
Jeff Epstein (jeff_epstein@yahoo.com)
12/1/2004
EDUC506
Holy Family
University
Abstract
According to Dr. William Glasser, the classroom environment can be
changed so that discipline problems are eliminated. Emotionally, a
"Quality Classroom" is one in which choice theory is the foundation,
reality therapy is the method of communication for problem diagnosis and
solving, and emotionally connecting with students replaces discipline. Academically, Quality Classrooms teach only
higher thinking and are "Competency Based Classrooms." Competency Based Classrooms impose no time
limit on reaching subject competency (B, A, and A+) and eliminate labels
implying mediocrity or failure: C, D, and F.
Introduction
All of Dr. William Glasser's work is
based upon his psychological philosophy of "choice theory." Formally
called "control theory," "choice theory explains that, for all
practical purposes, [each of us chooses]
everything we do, including the misery we feel. Other people can neither make us miserable nor make us
happy. All we can get from them or give
to them is information" (1998a, p. 3).
The desire for many humans to force others to choose something different
-- this belief in "external control" -- and resistance to that force
"is, by far, the greatest source of human misery" (1998a, p. 4). The ultimate goal of choice theory is to accept
personal responsibility for everything in one's life.
Glasser's writing on implementing choice theory in the classroom focuses
on making the entire school into a "Glasser Quality School"
(GQS). Implementing choice theory in a
non-GQS classroom setting is addressed only secondarily in his work, and may be
essentially summarized as "implement as many aspects of the GQS as
possible, without conflicting with the policy of the school or
community." A Quality Classroom
may exist in or out of a GQS.
According to Glasser, implementing "choice theory" in the
classroom changes the dynamics of interaction between student and teacher so
much that the need for classroom management or discipline becomes
unnecessary. As with most of life,
focusing too much on a problem tends to make it worse. Choice theory instead promotes faith; to
diminish negative classroom behavior, one must completely forget discipline and
work only on improving one's self and the world -- or in this case, classroom.
Overview
A Quality Classroom is based upon choice
theory, uses reality therapy as the mode of communication for problem solving,
teaches only higher thinking, and implements the concept of the
"Competency Based Classroom" (CBC).
It requires choice theory to become an integral part of the teacher's
life, in and out of the classroom.
Choice theory is taught directly to students and indirectly to
parents.
Doing this, along with the other
emotional and academic aspects as described in this report, eliminates the need
for coercive discipline management: stickers, stars, points, dollar store toys,
"go to the principal's office!," timeout, "traffic light"
warnings, color flip charts, detention, staying in for recess, and so on. Coercive discipline systems (1998a, p. 269),
even those "kindly coercive," such as Lee Cantor's Assertive
Discipline and Glasser's own Ten-Step Discipline Program are ineffective
because they "focus on changing the student instead of the system,"
classroom, or teacher. Glasser created
the Ten-Step Discipline Program in the 1970s, and "unfortunately it is
still in use." "There is no
happiness in coercion and punishment."
Instead, from day one, the teacher connects emotionally with each
child. Once a child truly values
her/his relationship with the teacher, consistent inappropriate behavior is
unlikely. Inappropriate behavior will
occur, but will not be the systematic and relentless problem that plagues
inner-city schools. Incidents are dealt
with in isolation, through open and honest communication, using reality therapy
with the misbehaving student and those affected by the behavior. The purpose is to determine what is needed
to fulfill the basic needs in a more positive manner (see "five basic
needs" bullet under choice theory, in Analysis section). Students are taught how to solve incidents
on their own and to ask for assistance or mediation when necessary from another
student or the teacher.
Analysis
Choice Theory
For a definition of choice theory, see the Introduction section. Following are the main concepts in choice
theory:
·
Five basic needs: The five basic needs are innate desires -- genetic, according to Glasser
-- shared by all humans: survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and
fun. Absolutely everything one does is
in the interest of fulfilling one of these needs. Although all higher order animals share most needs, the need for
power is uniquely human and the root of external control. Understanding the need underlying a
student's behavior will aid the teacher in communication and in determining
what the student needs.
·
Quality World: Whatever we value and desire in the world is by definition in our
quality world. Ideally, students have
teachers, school, classmates, and school work in their quality world. A teacher being in their students' quality
world is almost a guarantee of continued positive classroom behavior. There may also be dysfunctional items in
one's quality world, such as drugs or pornography.
·
Total behavior: "There are four separate components that, together, make up the
'way' we conduct ourselves" (1998a, p. 72): activity, thinking, emotion,
and physiology. It is not possible to
do anything with less than these four components. The primary or most obvious component is the one referred to:
walking is most associated to activity; daydreaming to thinking; laughing to
emotion; a heart attack to physiology.
·
Most "mental illness" is actually
behavioral choice. Unless there is tangible evidence of damage to the
structure of the brain, there is unlikely to be a mental disorder. The medical industry does not have the
technology to definitively detect malfunctions in brain performance.
·
New language for expressing behavior. Because it
is only possible to choose behavior, the following statements are inaccurate:
"I am depressed," "I have depression," "you're making
me angry." Choice theory requires
they change to: "I am choosing to depress," "I am
depressing," and "when you do that, I choose to anger." This proves awkward when referring to words
originally created as a state of being, such as "anxiety" or various
phobia.
·
Solving Circle: When solving a problem, a group of school children (or couple) sit in an
area denoted by an imaginary chalk line, representing "the classroom"
or "the friendship" (or "the marriage"). When in the circle, the needs of the group
outweigh the needs of the individual.
Classroom meetings, or "Circle-Ups" (2004, pp. 60-64), are the
way to implement solving circles in a Quality Classroom.
Specifically, reality therapy is the use of
choice theory in a psychological setting.
More generally, it is a form of communication used to diagnose and solve
problems. It is often led by an
individual (psychologist or teacher) or may be a mutual effort (a married
couple or group of students). Reality
therapy "focuses on improving present relationships, almost always
disregards past relationships, and depends for its success" on getting the
leader into the "client's" quality world (1998a, p. 62). All staff, including teachers, at a GQS are
required to participate in two to three weeks of training in reality
therapy. This training is the same for
educators and psychologists; there is no training tailored for educators or for
the classroom (Hermance, 2004).
The following is a list of techniques and
guidelines for successful implementation of reality therapy. Each relates to keeping focused on the
problem, promoting personal responsibility, and making the client feel safe.
·
Realize almost all problems are with present
relationships, or lack thereof. Avoid discussing the past and
non-relationship issues. Unsuccessful
past relationships, particularly dysfunctional childhoods, do affect the
present. Discussing them is likely to
function more as a distraction to solving the problem of the current relationship,
than to teaching the client anything new.
Most difficult past relationships are well remembered and can be
considered as "evidence." The
only way to learn from that evidence and get resolution on a painful past is to
stop focusing on it directly and to feel success in a similar relationship in
the present or future.
·
Do not take the bait of misery or infinite confusion. Focusing on
suffering and confusion is the ultimate form of distraction from the problem at
hand. Do not deny or diminish suffering,
but do quickly move the conversation back to solving the problem. Do not
discuss food or physical image with an anorexic or overweight person. Do not discuss cutting with a
self-mutilator. Do not discuss
"how hard it is" with a student who whines or complains. For clients who are too comfortable with
dwelling on negatives -- and therefore not ready to deal with the problem, this
can prove difficult.
·
Frame all behavior in terms of personal choice (1995).
·
Client: "I just
get so tired, I can't get out of bed."
Therapist: "So you choose to stay in bed, rather than face the
problem. That makes sense to
me."
·
Client: "I'm so
depressed." Therapist: "Why
are you choosing to depress?"
·
Be respectful when given irrelevant information, and
guide quickly back to relevancy.
·
Client: "My
husband doesn't think I'm getting along well with the other
children." Therapist: "Well,
you're here now, and I'm kind of interested in what you think."
·
Client: "I used to
like cooking." Therapist:
"That's what you used to like, and it's interesting to know that. What is it that you enjoy now, in the
present?"
·
Create a safe atmosphere in which to discuss fearful
subjects. Therapist: "What if you left your husband, what would you
want to do? Of course, this is a big
deal, and may very well be impossible.
But it's just you and me here in this room, so there's no reason we
can't just talk about it, just the two of us."
Quality
Classroom
Beyond the details of choice theory and
reality therapy, a Quality Classroom has the following four characteristics:
·
Choice theory is practiced. Choice
theory is practiced in the teacher's own life and in the classroom, and is
taught directly to students and indirectly to their parents.
·
Connecting replaces discipline. "[N]o student
has the right to remain in class if he behaves in a way that is harmful to
others or disrupts the teaching. But as
long as a student is not in any way disruptive, the student should not be
removed even if he or she makes no attempt to learn... [T]hey are there. It is up
to the teachers to reach them and teach them" (2004, p. 151). Once the teacher, school, classmates, and
school work are established in a student's quality world, discipline
"incidents" may occur, but discipline "problems" are non-existent. Rather than putting energy into coercive
discipline programs, energy is daily put into emotionally connecting with
students. Glasser does not imply that
connecting is possible with every student.
It is implied that even the best traditional coercive discipline systems
are less successful than continually-failing attempts to connect with that
student. Students are taught to help solve their own problems by using reality
therapy.
·
The Competency Based Classroom (CBC). The CBC is
the foundation of a Quality Classroom's academics. The CBC eliminates labels implying mediocrity and failure (C, D, and F), and puts no time limit on reaching competency (B),
quality (A), or exemplary (A+). The CBC
is based on the concept that "success breeds success", and that being
labeled as mediocre or a failure distracts from success. Concepts taught in a Quality Classroom are
dictated by state educational standards.
·
Measure and assesses only higher thinking. Eliminate
measurement and assessment of memorization. As in real life, memorization is gradually achieved by applying it
in higher thinking activities -- or not at all, when proficient use of
reference materials is efficient and practical. The CBC's concept of "keep working until competent" is
not possible except with higher thinking.
Usefulness to the Classroom Teacher
The advantages of a Quality Classroom over traditional coercive
discipline programs are numerous. The
Quality Classroom is proactive and preventative, as connecting with students
from the beginning, and on a daily basis, avoids the need for a comprehensive,
reactive, coercive, and exhausting discipline plan. The Quality Classroom is predictable and positive, as energy is
consistently spent on emotional connection and ensuring everyone is getting
what is needed for success and further connection. In the traditional classroom, energy is spent doling out
warnings, rewards, and consequences, significantly in an effort to coerce the
student into behaving properly and completing school work. There simply is no time for emotional
connection.
Conclusion: Personal Perspective
The author is a believer in Glasser's philosophy and has observed
first-hand the advantages of the Quality Classroom. There are some concerns. First
is the difficulty in implementing all aspects of the Quality Classroom in a
non-GQS without causing unease for school administration or parents, simply
because it is a radical departure from traditional philosophy. Second, after doing this research and
observing a GQS and dialoguing with the staff for two days, Glasser's
philosophy of the GQS and Quality Classroom does seem to be as successful as
the author could hope. If the
philosophy is this successful, why is it not more popular (since 1969, the year
in which Glasser wrote Schools Without Failure, and as of 2004, fourteen
GQSs exist)? It may be attributable to,
first and foremost, that it is indeed a radical departure. Also, in the author's opinion, Glasser's
writing tends to be verbose and tangential, which at times can test the
reader's patience and distract from the astonishing underlying ideas. Finally, it seems that hiring a public
relations or advertising firm would be an advisable step in "spreading the
word" to the general public, and especially to those powerful enough to
make a difference in education, locally, nationally, and worldwide.
References
Hermance,
J. (October 19-20, 2004). Personal
observation of second/third-grade class at Campus Community School, a Glasser
Quality School in Dover Delaware.
Glasser, W. (1998a). Choice theory: A new psychology of personal freedom. Los Angeles: HarperCollins.
Glasser, W. (2000). Counseling with choice theory: The new reality therapy. Los Angeles: Quill.
Glasser, W.
(2004). Every student can succeed:
Finally a book that explains how to reach and teach every student in your
school. Los Angeles: The Glasser
Institute.
Glasser, W. (October
19, 2004). Seminar on reality therapy,
Loyola University, and Baltimore, Maryland.
Counseling Innovations.
Glasser, W. (1998b). The quality school: Managing students without coercion. Los Angeles: HarperPerennial.
Glasser, W. (1998c). The quality school teacher: A companion volume to the quality school. Los Angeles: HarperPerennial.
Glasser, W. (1995). Reality therapy with a simulated client
[training video]. The Milton Erickson Foundation (producer).
Glasser, W. (1969). Schools without failure: The controversial new book by the author of reality therapy. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
Magliozzi, R., Magliozzi, T. (2000). In our humble opinion: Car Talk's Click and Clack rant and rave. Boston: A Perigee Book.
Glasser, W. 2000 Reality Therapy and Choice Theory. Retrieved September 27, 2004, from spell http://www.wglasser.com/rtctart.zip
Lennon, B. (2000). From "Reality Therapy" to "Reality Therapy in Action". Retrieved September 27, 2004, from http://www.wglasser.com/fromrtto.html