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The End of Discipline in the Classroom

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Originally published in TEACH Magazine, January/February 2020 Issue

By Adam Stone

This is the article where you’ll read about the end of discipline—at least as you’ve always known it.

Sure, kids will still act out, and we’ll offer practical tips on how to deal with that, but the current thinking on discipline is preemptive, rather than reactive. Change how you run your classroom, experts suggest, and discipline issues will no longer be a problem.

“This is 2020. Why are we still talking about discipline?” asks Joanne Robertson-Eletto, a professor in the Master of Science in Teaching Literacy program at Touro College’s Graduate School of Education. “Even the word—discipline. That sounds like the paddle they gave my mother when she started teaching in the 1930s.”

What does Robertson-Eletto offer instead? “It might sound soft and fluffy, but when you approach students with a focus on respect and dignity, there just are no discipline issues. They will do whatever you ask them to do,” she says.

She’s not alone. There is a growing consensus among experts in the field that teachers who take the time to build stronger relationships with their students can markedly reduce the classroom disruptions that too often mar the school day. This approach can also make teachers more effective in dealing with any acting-out behaviors that do occur.

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Adam Stone is a seasoned journalist with 20+ years’ experience. He covers education, technology, government, and the military, along with diverse other topics.

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Adam Stone
Adam Stone
Adam Stone is a seasoned journalist with 20+ years’ experience. He covers education, technology, government, and the military, along with diverse other topics.

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