Jacob Kounin
Discipline and Group Management
Overview
Kounin's focus is on group managerial techniques that create an effective
classroom ecology and learning environment. None of these techniques
call for punitiveness or restrictiveness. Neither do they focus on
such characteristics as "friendly," "warm," "patient," "understanding,"
"love for children," and similar attributes of people in general.
Jacob Kounin believes that these desirable attributes will not manage
a classroom.
Vocabulary
-
Accountability - Ability to keep
students attentive and actively involved.
-
Activity Movement - Psychological
and physical progression of lessons.
-
Challenge - The ability to hold
off satiation by making statements or questions that challenge students.
-
Desists - Remarks and reprimand
to stop misbehaviors.
-
Group Alerting - System for gaining
student attention and clarifying expectation.
-
Momentum - Refers to teachers
getting activities started promptly, keeping them moving ahead, and bringing
them to efficient closure or transition.
-
Overlapping - Ability to attend
to two or more events simultaneously.
-
Ripple Effect - Nature of desist
and the spread of their effects.
-
Satiation - Evidence of boredom,
resistance and misbehavior.
-
Smoothness - Teacher's ability
to avoid abrupt changes that interfere with student activities or thought
process.
-
Teacher Enthusiasm - Zeal used
to gain and keep students' attention.
-
Variety - Refers to teachers
implementing varied insructional techniques.
-
Withitness - The ability of a
teacher to know what is going on in all parts of the classroom at all times.
Teacher Behaviors
-
This model requires that teachers constantly
show "withitness." This requires that the students perceive the teacher
as being aware of what is going on in the classroom at all times.
The teacher communicates this awareness through behavior or verbal cues.
This model asserts that the following behaviors of teachers show evidence
of withitness: (1) Teachers select the proper student for correction.
(2) Teachers attend to the more serious problem first. (3) Teachers
have "timing," meaning that they address problems immediately without allowing
the misbehavior to spread without taking action.
-
Teachers should practice "group alerting."
Teachers speak to groups of students or the whole class in order to quickly
get students' attention as well as informing students of what they are
supposed to do.
-
Teachers prevent "satiation," because
students are more likely to misbehave if they are bored.
-
Teachers create lessons that have momentum
and smoothness.
-
Teachers should have the ability to
attend to two or more events simultaneously - "overlapping."
Instructional Implications
-
The teacher immediately addresses problems
as they occur, and singles out the correct misbehaving student to redirect.
-
The teacher keeps students active and
engaged. Accountability comes into play when the students recognize
that the teacher will hold them accountable, which keeps students motivated
and on task.
-
This model promotes enthusiasm, instructional
variation, challenging the students.
-
This model asserts that lessons and
educational activities should be started promptly and should be kept moving
ahead. Efficient closure and transitions are also a must.
-
The teacher is often seen working with
a small group of students at one table in the classroom, while addressing
problems arising at another area of the classroom, while also monitoring
students working at their desks.
Strengths
-
The model creates and maintains a classroom
atmosphere that is conducive to learning.
-
The model applies to all students, regardless
of emotional stability.
-
The model avoids punitiveness and restrictiveness.
-
The model is easily learned and performed
by teachers.
Weaknesses
-
The model is not a well-rounded approach
to classroom management.
-
Withitness requires students to be fully
convinced.
-
Withitness requires teachers to have
good hearing and eyesight.
Vignette or Role Play
Setting: The teacher, Ms. Shea,
is involved in a reading group with Group 1. The rest of the students
in the class (including Mike, Jennie, and Allison) are involved in seatwork.
Example of Target and Timing Mistakes:
Mike whispers to Jennie.
Jennie pokes Mike.
Mike pokes Jennie.
Jennie pulls Mike's shirt.
Mike pulls Jennie's shirt.
Allison whispers to Jennie.
Ms. Shea: "Allison, you should be
quietly doing your seatwork. Please get back to work."
Example of Correct Target and
Timing:
Mike whispers to Jennie.
Ms. Shea: "Mike, this is independent
work. Please get busy. Thank you."
(To the reading group) "Continue reading please."
References
-
Kounin, Jacob S. (1977).
Discipline
and Group Management in Classsrooms. Huntington, N.Y.: R.E. Krieger.
-
Kounin, Jacob S. (1970).
Observing and delineating technique of managing behavior in classrooms.
Journal of Research and Development in Education, 4(1), 62-72.
-
Kounin, Jacob S. and Sherman, Lawrence
W. (1979). School environments as behavior settings.
Theory
into Practice, 18(3), 145-151.
-
Kounin, Jacob S. and Patrick H. Doyle.
(1975). Degree of continuity of a lesson's signal system and the
task involvement of children. Journal of Educational Psychology,
66(4), 554-562.
-
Pennell, Allison, Susan Shea, and Michael
Tesh. Presentation entitled, "Discipline and Group Management in
Classrooms: Jacob Kounin," October 2001.
-
Charles, C.M. (1999). Building
Classroom Discipline. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc.
Links
More Models of Classroom Management
Return to Main Page