Ineffective Classroom, a Personal Perspective.

Disciplinary incidents are central to moral development because disciplinary practices assist to

inculcate moral standards and values that form the basis for self-controlled behavior and in the

process resolve the salient conflicts between self and societal interests within the child (Brody &

Shaffer, 1982; Hoffman, 1983 as cited in UKEssays, 2018). This article further indicated that,

amongst the various disciplinary methods, physical punishment is widely practiced across

different cultures and countries and Sierra Leone is not an exception.

In my milieu, I have witness different forms of ineffective disciplinary scenarios. As a teacher,

how would you define ineffective discipline method in your class? In my opinion, the word

ineffective depends on its context and it can broadly define as not producing the desired result. In

every action I do in my classroom, I don’t want ineffective results especially when I implement

rules and regulations but I learned from experience that, no matter how I strictly enforced of

what I believe are “behavioral change” in the classroom they will turn out to be inappropriate

approach in achieving desirable outcomes.

For in instance, there was a time when I asked a pupil out of my class, to knees down and at the

end of the class I flogged his because of sleeping in class. The type of punishment administered

at that time by me was ineffective. The belief at that time was that children had to be physically

punished so they would learn to behave correctly, ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’. In the

beginning, I thought it was a deliberate act, but I was wrong. There are many factors for such

behavior to occur in class. It was my responsibility as a teacher to dialogue with the child instead

of punishing him as dialogue can impose confidence in the child. The other day when I tried to
further probe in to the matter, I figured out that the child was psychologically depressed from the

home which was having a negative effect on the school.

It is recorded in a research that, schools punishes learners for infractions of the rules, which often

involved using the cane, the strap, public humiliation and shaming. While we have moved away

from these draconian behavior modification strategies in our schools, some of the approaches we

call ‘consequences’ are still punitive in nature (Amaro, n.d.).

Beliefs in its positive disciplinary effects contribute to the widespread use of physical

punishment (Straus, 1994) and there are evidence-based studies that support the idea that

physical punishment suppresses undesired behavior (Gershoff, 2002; Larzelere, 2000; Paolucci

& Violato, 2004 as cited in UKEssays, 2018).

In my opinion, I have learned that punishment is not the best approach to correcting students’

behavior in class. In order to support my opinion claim, punishment does not teach alternative

behavior or give a student practice at using more appropriate behavior. When a student lacks

skills in reading, maths or science our response is not to punish them, but to provide additional

support so that they can achieve. Students who struggle to behave appropriately, need prompts

and scaffolds to learn how to relate to others and functions productively in the school (and later

work) environment (Amaro, n.d.).

One of the reasons why my disciplinary approach was not an effective means of shaping the

behaviors of my learners for quite some time is that, I did not put premium on giving positive

and encouraging comments, feedbacks and suggestions to my students to have a positive

classroom environment. Instead, my daily agenda was focused only on finishing the daily

academic goals because I need to finish the standards and I considered any form of noise (even
academic conversation between my students) as learning destruction. I did not think that I can act

silly to lessen the tension than deal on a negative event and that a positive teacher makes the

classroom, positive too (Choe, n.d.)

In conclusion, the experiences that I have acquired from ineffective discipline method has

transformed me into a more skilled teacher in transforming a negative classroom environment

into a compassionate and learners friendly classroom atmosphere, where learners are

development is holistic. As educators, we should be reminded that a conducive and learners

friendly environment should not have an authoritarian, autocratic, and self-centered teacher. We

should note that, a classroom is uniquely designed, with specific rules, where students’ heart is

captured. It should be student-centered rather than teacher-centered; it is designed to promote

equality among learners. The responsibility of the teacher is to discipline learners with

composure, considered consequences are not equivalent to punishment and positivity always

rules.

References

Amaro, M. (n.d.). Why Punishment Is Ineffective Behavior Management. Retrieved from

https://thehighlyeffectiveteacher.com/why-punishment-is-ineffective-behaviour-management/

Choe, Y. (n.d.). Becoming a positive teacher. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ascd-

express/vol4/405-newvoices.aspx
UKEssays. (November 2018). Effects of physical punishment on moral development. Retrieved

from https://www.ukessays.com/essays/psychology/effects-of-physical-punishment-on-moral-

development-psychology-essay.php?vref=1