Criticism+and+Defense



Criticisms of the Assertive Discipline theory abound. As a behavioral management theory that has been around for 35 years there has been much time to analyze and debate the techniques and question the effectiveness and potential backlash or negative impacts of such a structured system. Some of the main criticisms, questions, and misconceptions that have come up over the years include:


 * 1) Assertive Discipline’s emphasis is on providing only negative consequences when students misbehave ("Assertive Discipline: More Than Names").
 * 2) Assertive Discipline is a rigid approach that provides a “one-size fits all” system.
 * 3) Writing student’s names on the board and adding supplemental check marks as they continue to break rules, is humiliating to students and carries a lasting negative impact.

Lee Canter has had many opportunities to explain and defend some of the issues that are frequently raised about Assertive Discipline. In addressing some of these criticisms, especially those that are more difficult to support with empirical evidence from the research studies that have been done over the years, he has taken the opportunity to make revisions to his earlier techniques and to refine his theory. Following are some responses that Lee Canter has given to the specific issues mentioned above.




 * 1. ** “From the beginning, Assertive Discipline has been based on a balance of positive reinforcement and negative consequences.” (Canter, "Let the Educator Beware" 72) Assertive Discipline trains teachers to use both consequences for disruptive behavior along with consistent positive recognition of desired behaviors. (Canter, "Let the Educator Beware" 72) Positive recognition is not simply thanking students for good behavior, but rather an ongoing behavioral narrative provided by the teacher. This is a move past praise of individual student behavior that can be seen as judgmental and as a game for students of seeking approval points from the teacher. As a teacher describing the whole scene, and referring to groups of students exhibiting acceptable behaviors that you are seeing and hearing, you are giving positive and non-judgmental recognition that can provide positive motivation for all of your students. (Canter, “Assertive Discipline” 65)




 * 2. ** Assertive Discipline provides an outline and a systematic approach that emphasizes consistency in handling classroom misbehavior. “It is vital for classroom teachers to have a systematic discipline plan that explains exactly what will happen when students choose to misbehave,” and “without a plan, teachers must choose an appropriate consequence at the moment when a student misbehaves” (Canter, "Assertive Discipline: More Than Names"). Without a plan teachers tend to be inconsistent and in the heat of the moment often respond differently today then they might have the day before for the same rule infraction as well as differently to students from differing socioeconomic, ethnic, or racial background. There are many issues that have been addressed in the development of Canter's Assertive Discipline model, it is not based upon one type of student or one type of teacher. At the same time, “Assertive Discipline is not a cure‑all. It is a starting point. Every teacher should also know how to use counseling skills, how to use group process skills, and how to help students with behavioral deficits learn appropriate classroom behaviors. In addition, classroom management must be part of an educator's continuing professional development.” (Canter, "Assertive Discipline: More Than Names") Also, it is often overlooked that Assertive Discipline takes into account a variety of factors that can contribute to student’s misbehavior. Factors such as a student’s need for extra attention, their need for limits, or their need for extra motivation (Canter, “Assertive Discipline” 54) have been recognized during the development of the Assertive Discipline techniques and the basic concepts of providing great amounts of attention for appropriate behavior, providing firm and consistent limits, and focusing classroom behavior management efforts toward getting students to do their work, are aligned with the aforementioned student’s special needs.




 * 3. ** Names and checks on the board are often attributed as essential elements to the Assertive Discipline program, but this is inaccurate and has been altered along the way by Lee Canter in response to the fears that student names and checks on the board can be perceived as potentially humiliating to individual students. Canter, says he originally suggested this particular practice because he had seen teachers interrupt their lessons to make outlandish negative comments to misbehaving students. Comments like, “I’ve had it. You're impossible.” In an effort to eliminate the need to stop the lesson to reprimand a student, Canter felt that writing a students name on the board would act as a calm notification to the student that they were being warned. This would also serve to allow the teacher to keep teaching while recording and keeping track of the hierarchy of infractions by the students without continued interruptions to class instruction. (Canter, "Assertive Discipline: More Than Names") Subsequently, Canter has revised his theory stating, “I now suggest that teachers instead write an offending student's name on a clipboard or in the roll book and say to the student, “You talked out, you disrupted the class, you broke a rule. That's a warning. That's a check." ("Assertive Discipline: More Than Names")

Although Canter has refined his theory over the years and as recently as 2010 released a 4th edition of Assertive Discipline: A Take-Charge Approach for Today's Educator, he contends that his theory is only the first step in developing a personal system of classroom management. "Teachers who are effective year after year take the basic Assertive Discipline competencies and mold them to their individual teaching styles.” (Canter, "Assertive Discipline: More Than Names") Assertive Discipline is a starting off place from which teachers can develop their personal classroom management skills and help students with behavioral challenges to learn appropriate classroom conduct. This is just a part of the continuing education all teachers need in building their techniques in classroom management.

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