Strengths of

Assertive Discipline

 It is simple to use.
Rules are clear.
The personal desires of the teacher
can be enforced.
It involves parents and administors
in the discipline process.
First efficient discipline system.

 Emmer and Evertson (1980) found

that effective managers clearly laid
out expectations on the first day of
class and that the best teachers were
observed explicitly teaching their
rules early in the year.

 The use of Assertive Discipline by

teachers have proven beneficial in
both decreasing the number of
referrals and as an effective means
of increasing on-task behavior of
students

State whether the theory

appeal you and provide the
reasons.

If YES..
Assertive Discipline provides an
outline and a systematic approach
that emphasizes consistency in
handling classroom behavior.
It is a two-way approach in which it
affects the behavior of the teacher
and the students alike.

 The key to Assertive Discipline is

catching students being good and
letting them know that you like it.

 Effective teachers master the skills of

positive reinforcement and only use
firm and consistent negative
consequences but only as a LAST
RESORT.
Assertive discipline is positive
discipline.
Canter wanted to eliminate the
teachers need to stop the lesson just
to point out one students misbehavior
while the whole class looks on.

POSITIVE DISCIPLINE
Teach specific behaviors.
Use positive repetition to reinforce
the students when they follow the
directions.
If a student is still misbehaving ,then
the teacher can use the negative
consequences accordingly.

Effective teachers are always

positive first. Focusing on negative
behavior teaches students that
negative behavior gets attention,
that the teacher is a negative
person, and that the classroom is a
negative place.
- Lee Canter, 2012

 Assertive Discipline is not a negative

program, but it can be misused by
negative teachers. (Canter,2012)
The consequences should never be
psychologically or physically harmful
to the students.
-often misunderstood by parents &
teachers

 Students should never be made to

stand in front of the class as objects
of ridicule or be degraded in any
other way.
Canter is strongly against the
administration of corporal
punishment and that there are more
effective ways of dealing with
students than hitting them.

 Assertive Discipline has a good

balance of establishing rules and
developing a positive, respectful
learning environment.
Good behaviour is encouraged and
rewarded, and bad behaviour is
punished, instead of ignored like in
Behaviour modification by Skinner.

 The balance of both rewards, rules,

and punishment is the KEY to
creating a positive learning
environment.
Students learn self-discipline and
responsible behavior by being given
clear, consistent choices.

 I want teachers to learn that they

have to take charge, explain their
expectations, be positive with
students, and consistently employ
both positive reinforcement and
negative consequences.
- Lee Canter,2012

 Within the same school system,

elemantary school classroom
teachers trained in and implementing
Assertive Discipline during one
academic year displayed significant
positive differences with regard to
focus control, pupil control idealogy,
and higher mean scores with respect
to self-concept and assertive teacher
personality characteristics.

Bibliography
Canter, L, & Canter, M. (1976).
Assertive discipline: a take-charge
approach for todays educator. Los
Angelos, CA: Canter and Associates
INC.
Charles, C.M. (2008). Building
classroom discipline (9th ed.). New
York, NY: Pearson Education INC.

 Assertive Discipline: More than

Names on the Board and Marbles in a
Jar
Author(s): Lee Canter Reviewed
work(s): Source: The Phi Delta
Kappan, Vol. 71, No. 1 (Sep., 1989),
pp. 57-61
Published by: Phi Delta Kappa
International Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20404058