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Exploring the Theories of Democratic Teaching: Rudolph Dreikurs

by Kerry Barth on 2 June 2011 1240 3

Transcript of Exploring the Theories of Democratic Teaching: Rudolph Dreikurs

Exploring the Theories of Democratic Teaching: By: Kerry Barth & Jackie Giacobetti The Key concepts of Dreikurs Theory: Identify and address mistaken goals of misbehavior Act as democratic rather than autocratic or permissive Use logical consequences rather than punishment Understand the difference between praise and encouragement In order to commit to a democratic classroom, a teacher must commit to several beliefs: Attention getting- should provide student with more attention on a more one-on-one level Power seeking- avoid power struggle by giving options such as "pick up your books now or after class" Revenge- already have established rules in place so all rules apply to every student, have private talk with student to discuss their behavior Feelings of Inadequacy- talk to student, parents and guidance counselor to help improve selfesteem and socialization skills and encourage student to participate in learning activities Rudolf Dreikurs Biography Born February 8, 1897, Vienna - Died May 25, 1972, Chicago Trained as a doctor American psychiatrist and educator (Alfred Adler based) Founded the North American Society of Adlerian Psychology. (http://www.alfredadler.org) Key concepts of Dreikurs's Theory The school becomes a primary setting for the development of social interest, with adults helping students to belong, feel valued, develop positive self-worth, and not feel discouraged. (Pryor & Tollerud, 1999) Mistaken goals All misbehavior results when students have one or more of the following "mistaken goals" for their behavior: Democratic teaching Teachers should be democratic, rather than autocratic in their classroom procedures and social interactions with students. Encouragement Teachers should encourage students rather than praise them. Logical consequences Teachers should establish classroom rules and implement logical consequences rather than punishments for broken rules and misbehavior. Punishment should seldom be used and, then, only when all logical consequences have been exhausted. Teachers roles and responsibilities Belief in the worth and dignity of every person Belief in equality of all people

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Belief in freedom of decision making Belief that people can be trusted to make wise decisions Teachers can develop a democratic classroom by: Teachers need to view students as social beings who want to belong and to find an accepted place in society. Instead of simply reacting to students behaviors by imposing punishments or rewards, they need to identify goals and misbehaviors. I.e. Attention getting, power seeking, revenge, and helplessness. Teachers must allow and even encourage students to take an active, participatory role in developing classroom procedures. Teachers need to use instructional strategies and build a sense of community within the classroom. Identifying and addressing mistaken goals of misbehavior: Using logical consequences: Teachers must establish simple, specific classroom rules After establishing rules, teachers can establish consequences All misbehaviors seem to fall under one of the four mistaken goals. Teachers must identify the mistaken goal, then provide logical consequences andimplement them. This emphasizes the importance of developing understanding, judgment, and responsibility in students by involving them in resolving classroom management problems. Teachers need to forego rewards and punishments in favor of logical consequences that result from misbehavior. Using encouragement Rather Than Praise Teachers should use more encouragement to boost confidence and self-esteem and less praise, because students can become dependent on the praise. Practical Applications of Dreikurs's Theories As a class we will now break into groups for a class activity. Evaluating Democratic Teaching and Management Advantages Promotes respect and communication among teachers and students Allows students to take responsibilities for their own actions to help establish class rules, and to influence instructional practices Compliments good teaching by providing a caring classroom community using student centered instructional techniques and promoting collaboration between teacher and student. Can contribute to making schools safer for students and teachers. Disadvantages Might be difficult for teachers to identify and understand students reasons for misbehaving Teachers may not be able to respond properly and to provide logical consequences for all misbehaviors Some deep emotional problems that lead to serious feelings of inadequacy or to elaborate palns for revenge might require professional counseling skills Teachers who are inherently autocratic or permissive might have difficulty adopting democratic perspectives A final summary Next, we have a short video clip that illustrates how classrooms need to change dramatically because students currently act-up in an educational system that is not keeping up with student learning and desires. Although it doesn't directly address democratic teaching, we believe that the subtext of the video does relate to democratic teaching. Enjoy.