EdPsy 399OL Lesson 12

Lesson 12: Wondering about Glasser and Dreikurs

20 Wonderments

William Glasser -- Reality Theory, Control Theory, and the Quality School

1. I wonder if mediation procedures are based on Glasser's reality theory...

2. I wonder if our government should study Glasser. He clearly defines why tests are not a true assessment of schools -- "The use of standardized tests--especially when comparative scores are reported school by school or teacher by teacher in local newspapers--would be akin to reporting how many hubcaps were used in the Theory X factory, with no mention of that the factory was not making a quality product. Such a school reporting system would easily disregard the fact that little learning was actually taking place." (Wolfgang, pg. 152) ...

3. I wonder if Glasser is more of an authoritative disciplinarian where as Dreikurs is more of an empathetic disciplinarian ...

4. I wonder if my principal model's his administration after Glasser. He often is not looking for reasons for behaviors and when behaviors becomes repeatedly extreme goes looking for some kind of alternative education ...

5. I wonder what Glasser would say about some of our parents who insist on being told the minute their child is disciplined in any manner--"Not until the teacher has to resort to out-of-school isolation is it essential to involve the child's parents." (Wolfgang, pg. 157) Don't get me wrong, parents should be kept informed of their student's behavior in school. But some parents take this concept to the extreme ... whereas Glasser seems to be extreme on the opposite end of the spectrum ...

6. I wonder -- "The child needs to learn to live appropriately in a classroom and to deal with the immediate consequences of her behavior in that room" (Wolfgang, pg. 157) -- why do parents/government keep tying the hands of teachers where discipline is concerned. Everything we try to do is put down by parents saying that it is unfair and taking away a student's rights ...

7. I wonder ... from what I know of Freud, he focused a lot on feelings, so is that why Glasser left Freudian's circle, because he did not focus things on feelings and finding excuses for behavior ...

8. I wonder if "the only person whose behavior we can control is our own" (Schneller), why do so many people try to control others ...

9. I wonder if Glasser is one of the first theorist to factor "love" into his theory; it is one of the important aspects of life ...

10. I wonder if it isn't acceptable to pool the most effective elements of the different management strategies to form my own classroom management plan. I can understand and easily implement some aspects of each theory, but the theories, as written don't seem all that plausible ...

Rudolf Dreikurs -- Social Discipline -- Adlerian Theory

1. I wonder if you need to research a student's past before disciplining, how long must the student wait before receiving the discipline. Doesn't discipline lose its effectiveness the longer the waiting period ....

2. I wonder, I have a student who responds with "chill out" comments. Do such comments annoy all teachers, or just me ...

3. I wonder if praise leads to dependence, does that mean that we are not supposed to give a child a "Good Job" comment every once in a while ...

4. I wonder if isolation is used until a child feels he/she can participate appropriately, whose to say that they child won't immediately return to the activity, saying that he or she is ready to behave ... do we just let the child return to the activity until he or she does something else ...

5. I wonder how Dreikurs would respond to the "gang" of girls calling Julie a "teacher's pet," or worse, because she is chosen to be the chairwoman ...

6. I wonder how class meetings work when students' main concern is their own enjoyment and not theirs, or their classmates' education and safety. I have attempted discussions about behavior and such, but students don't seem to be willing to listen to what is beneficial and appropriate ...

7. I wonder how Dreikurs would respond to the total lack of respect and responsibility that seem to be so prevalent in today's schools ...

8. I wonder if Dreikurs would consider a lower grade to be a logical consequence if the child is in isolation and unable to complete a class activity ...

9. I wonder what would be the natural or logical consequence of students hitting each other--isolation ...

10. I wonder if we should not find some natural of logical consequence for the presidential candidates who seem to put all of the other candidates down just to make themselves look good ...