CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE


CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE
(Dated 7 March 2017)





http://online.isentialink.com/theaustralian.com.au/2017/02/20/b2a62ea0-e267-44d7-8344-c07b687576b0.html




Just couldn't let this article in The Australian from a couple of weeks ago bounce through to the keeper.
 
The gist of said article proceeds like this-
 
1. Egg heads find a 'massive' correlation between classroom discipline and student achievement.
2. Discipline outstrips financial investment as an influencer of academic performance.
3. 'Lighthouse' Oz schools have recognised and implemented classroom discipline strategies.
4. Coded message to the masses? Activate 'discipline' and we'll attain educational Nirvana by the Easter holidays.
 
Well fuck me dead. Have these 'researchers' ever ventured into a real classroom like those that exist in Sydney's south-western and western suburbs, or those in regional New South Wales? How come Brisbane Girls' Grammar School and Melbourne's Mount Scopus Memorial College are referenced as being in the vanguard of this bold new direction?
 
And the pedagogy! Oh, the pedagogy!
'Teachers are told they need to create a culture in every classroom by enforcing standards and defining acceptable behaviour.'
 
Shit, I must have been inhabiting a parallel universe when I was teaching. I can't say that I ever knew, or worked with, a single teacher who didn't understand the need for- and strive towards- an effective discipline regime in his or her classroom.
 
Good classroom discipline and management are operational imperatives in every classroom. Teachers are fully aware of discipline's efficacy in facilitating a positive climate for learning.
 
But there is one important question that's still left unanswered. Who pays these researcher 'long hairs' to come up with this trite crap?

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