Effective Discipline

There is an article--"How Other Countries 'Do Discipline' " by Richard Arum and Karly Ford in the October 2012 edition of ASCD's Educational Leadership that is of particular importance to Esperanza because of the learners we are targeting. Some excerpts:

School Discipline, Achievement, and Poverty

Nations with higher than average school discipline problems--such as the United States, Israel, and Chile--consistently show lower test score performance. 

Although the socioeconomic background of a school's populations was indeed related to the level of challenging student behaviors within that school, we also found that the greater the differences among students' backgounds within a school, the higher the level of discipline problems.  ...when there's greater economic inequality and social distance in a school--or a nation--discipline problems occur more frequently.  [Highlight added]

Teacher Authority and Zero Tolerance

The degree of authority that a society grants its teachers is a key factor in how the country's schools maintain good learning climates.  Countries in which teacher authority is the strongest, like Japan and Korea, tend to rely on informal ways of imposing order, such as regulating students' dress. 

In U.S. schools, formal policing is common.  [Bold added]

Many U.S. schools have adopted zio tolerance policies--rigid guidelines requiring suspension or expulsion for a range of offenses.

Canada also widely adopted zero tolerance in the 1990s.  As research demonstrating the bias and ineffectiveness of such policies has surfaced, however, Canadian schools have slowly dismantled them. 

Cultural Norms and Laws

Although it's important not to overgeneralize, case studies revealed that the norms and values inherent in a society affect how its schools cope with discipline.  For example, Israelis idealize sabra culture which values defiant, independent, daring behaviors.  Such traits were considered necessary for survival in the early years of Israel's founding. ...the norms of Confucian culture in South Korea that emphasizes hierarchical relationships and values collective needs over individual ones may have an opposite effect. 

Some research has found fewer discipline problems in sex-segregated schools. 

U.S. students are afforded explicit legal rights to a signifcantly great extent than are students in any other country. ...Although students as individuals are protected in America, teacher authority and traditional forms of school discipline are contrained.

Social Controls versus Rules

Some countries keep student behavior within guidelines by enforcing social controls and show less need for explicit rules and punishments. 

Lessons for the United States

We would expect discipine problems in the United States to be relatively high because of the nation's level of economic inequality and diversity.  But rather than addressing underlying causes of discipline problems, recent reforms have done the opposite.  Education reforms have focused on organizational management, school personnel, and curriculum.  Relative little policy attention has focused on problems associated with school discipline, and what attention has gone to the issue has often been counterproductive. 

As our findings illustrate, reducing discipline problems in schools will not likely be accomplished by relying on greater formal sanctions and stricter enforcement. [Highlight added] For discipline to be effective, students and others need to perceive it not just as strict, but also as fair.