Kounin Model 1

Kounin Model of Classroom Management

Lesson Movement

Kelly Reid

EDUC 561
Summer 1
Professor Rosemary Parmigiani
6/23/09

Kounin Model 2
You are the teacher of a 5th grade class. Two students finished their assignment
early, one student arrived late, and one student is not attempting the assignment. Being
able to have the skills to handle situations like this takes practice and experience. The
skills that are required are the ones that complete Jacob Kounins Classroom
Management Model, Lesson Movement.
Kounins theory on classroom management was the first to integrate instructional
and disciplinary aspects of the classroom. The basis of the model is for teachers to be
organized, prepared, and use proactive behavioral management combined with high
student involvement with the goal of leading to a more effective classroom while
minimizing disruptive behavior. Kounin coins his theory as Lesson Movement,
comprised of techniques called: withitness, overlapping, momentum, smoothness, and
group focus (Classroom Management Theorist and Theories/Jacob Kounin, 2009).
Withitness is the ability of a teacher to know everything that is going on in his/her
classroom at all times to prevent discipline problems before they occurred. However, as
important as it is for teachers to achieve this skill, it is just as important for students to
believe they their teacher is withit. Students will still act disruptively if they feel the
teacher does not notice them. Some ways that teachers can display this technique are:
consistently suppress misbehaviors of exactly those students who began the problem;
dealing with the more serious of two discipline problems occurring simultaneously; and
decisively handling off-task behavior before it gets out of hand or imitated by other
students(Whom are We Talking About: Jacob Kounin, 2008).
Similar to withitness, overlapping involves the ability to attend to multiple
classroom events at one time, and avoiding fixating on one event at the expense of all

Kounin Model 3
other classroom activities. For example, if a teacher is conducting small group
assignments, and a pair is off task, a teacher may address them from a distance while still
conducting the activity. (The Kounin Model, 2008).
Momentum is keeping the lesson moving briskly, requiring the teacher to plan
effectively to avoid slow downs. Kounin believes that teachers should not lecture for a
long period of time to allow students to gain knowledge by moving around and
maximizing their allotted time. By minimizing delays and interruptions, causes students
will not lose interest and misbehave. (Charles, 1989).
In conjunction with momentum is smoothness. While lecturing, a teacher must
maintain direction and not drift off on tangents, be diverted with irrelevant questions and
information or fall victim to flip flops, dangles, or truncation. Otherwise, students
will be confused and act out from loss of interest. (Classroom Management Theorist
and Theories/Jacob Kounin, 2009)
Lastly, Kounin refers to group focus as the ability to engage the whole class.
Some techniques he offers are: building suspense or ask community questions Though
community questions may appear random, it draws the groups attention and intrigue.
The teacher must incorporate procedures to handle multiple situations at once to maintain
group focus. For example, if a student completes an assignment early, he/she must have a
back up plan such as providing another assignment or enrichment activity while he/she
helps other students that are struggling (Classroom Management Theorist and
Theories/Jacob Kounin, 2009).
Kounins Model of Classroom Management is an important topic for teachers
today, because it is one of the most difficult skills to acquire. Student-centered classrooms

Kounin Model 4
and discovery lessons are becoming much more popular in our classrooms, leading to a
more active learning environment. Being able to handle multiple situations at once,
keeping students engaged, maintaining momentum and smoothness in your lessons and
transitions takes experience. These are the most difficult techniques for a first year
teacher to learn; therefore, making them a habit during that year will allow for mastery of
these skills to occur. I believe that Kounins Model is important to develop an effective
classroom environment; however, discipline problems will occur, no matter the amount of
preventive planning a teacher makes. Kounin does not address his procedures for
disciplining, if he would or would not discipline children differently, nor does he address
misbehaving as a response to some factor that is outside of the teachers control. As a
teacher, I would incorporate Kounins theory in my teaching planning and practices,
though remembering that each student may require different accommodations.

Kounin Model 5
References
Charles, C.M. (1989) Building Classroom discipline: from models to practice. New York
City, New York: Longmans Inc..
Teacher Matters, (2008). The Kounin Model. Retrieved May 31, 2009 Teacher Matters
http://www.teachermatters.com/index.php?
option=com_content&view=article&id=9:kounin-model&catid=4:models-ofdiscipline&Itemid=4
WikiBooks, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2009). Overview/History of Jacob Kounins
Work. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Classroom_Management_Theorist_and_Theories/Jacob_
Kounin
WikiEd. (2008). Whom are we talking about: Jacob Kounin. Retrieved June 8, 2009 from
http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Kounin,_Jacob