Beyond the WHAT of Discipline: The Road to Effective Policy and Discipline Model Implementation
As a school administrator there are many things that you look forward to when you first get the position. You want to make a difference in the world of education. You want to create culture and a place where students can learn and grow. But, when you get into the actual day to day interactions, one thing that you may dread but you cannot avoid is student discipline. I have to admit, I didn’t so much dread dealing with the students, it was dealing with parents who were not bought into our systems or who didn’t want to deal with their own children that was really the bane of my existence.
I saw discipline as an opportunity to get to know students. Some of the students that I remember most from my years in schools (classroom and the office) are those students who lived on the left side of the rules and expectations for some time during their tenure. The idea of using times of discipline to get to know students did not arise the first year of my educational career. But, when the ah ha moment of making that time productive in relationship building with the student and potentially their families, discipline became much easier to approach and handle effectively.
Now I know that sounds very unicorn and rainbows, but know that in relationship building though discipline opportunities does not mean that all I did was talk to kids and that there were no real consequences. I understood that there were some actions that showed that students were not school ready for the day or a few days and they needed to go home or at least be removed from their regular classroom. It was in those moments where the building of relationships really paid off because it would help me explain to the child in the way they could understand why I chose the consequence that was being applied. It would also help get the parent on my side, even if it meant leaving work to pick up their child.
The relationship helped me get beyond what the child did and get to why they did it. Understanding the why of student actions will not result in the student not receiving consequences, but the consequences that are given will have more meaning and potentially result in a higher likelihood of reformed behavior. The need for the discovery of the why of negative behaviors should be incorporated into the school policies and procedures for dealing with student discipline concerns. “School discipline policies and rules are mainly used to regulate all aspects of behavior. They are not only supposed to prohibit misbehavior but rather to provide for a prohibition of specific negative occurrences.” (Wyk and Pelser, 2014) These policies can only be created through knowledge of the school, the culture, the students, and all other stakeholders.
“It appears that the leadership behavior of principals is related to school climate and school violence.” (Linda, 2008) The leader of the school has a massive effect on the school culture and the culture drives how student misbehaviors are redirected.
School climate refers to the school’s effects on students, including teaching practices; diversity; and the relationships among administrators, teachers, parents, and students. School culture refers to the way teachers and other staff members work together and the set of beliefs, values, and assumptions they share. (ASCD, 2017)
Both of these, when properly planned, can reduce the amount of discipline issues in a school and provide more opportunity for students to learn and grow in a safe environment. School leaders must remember that schools are a subset of the world and the problems that prevail in it. (Linda, 2008) There must be an understanding of the different lifestyles that students, staff, and families are dealing with to put measures in place to help them deal with their personal lives so that they can function in the school environment. This is the importance of the school leader understanding the “why” behind actions in addition to the “what” so that consequences can be effective and corrective. The misassignment of disciplinary measures can cause a negative cycle of misbehaviors that can result in the loss of time on task, trust, and potential growth for the student. The cycle can also cause the disengagement of the family in the partnership of student direction and discipline. Disengagement can turn into lack of trust in the organization, opposing messages from the parents, and negative publicity in the community.
The school climate and culture are reflected in the policies and procedures created and followed in the organization. These should not be done solely by the school principal.
It is important that individuals who occupy official positions as school leaders…as well as others who have leadership responsibilities from within and outside the school… work together as teams. To get successful policy implementation in the long run, policies have to be co-owned by all parents and even by community members who have no direct interest in the school. (Wyk and Pelser, 2014)
In order for the team members to know that their voices are heard and their opinions matter, there has to be effective communication and evidence of listening and consideration of ideas from all parties. But, it is the school leader, the expert on the organization, who can help to steer the conversation and provide information that shares the views of all stakeholders since he or she will have regular interaction with them all on a regular basis. The school leader also can provide the origin and contents of policies which is also important for stakeholder ownership and buy-in. (Wyk and Pelser, 2014) It is also the part of the school leader to gather new understanding so that if policies need to be revised or even eliminated it is done through clear communication from those who are a part of the village of the children.
I found the best way to get all parties together to discuss these issues was through the use of a School Leadership and School Improvement Teams. Both the composition of the team members and the selection of topics to discuss helped to make the teams effective. The structure of speaking opportunities and subset representation helped a small group of individuals to foster buy-in from the larger stakeholder groups. Having that buy-in encouraged families to support discipline decisions made at the school and make appropriate measures at home. It also encouraged parents to tell their children to be honest and open with school officials and know that the whole child would be considered in consequence assignment. It also helped to spread the message of consistency in consequences through the policy implementation. Though each case was considered separately, there was a clear structure to how and why consequences were applied. Parents were also able to participate in the discussion of the situation and understanding of the discipline measures applied.
Getting beyond the WHAT of discipline is more than talking to a child, it covers all the ground from knowledge of happenings in the building to happenings in the community. It involves connecting teachers to parents to administrators to community members. It takes conversations and alterations and explanations. It takes time and intentional effort. It is possible and necessary.
References
Linda, W. M. (1998). Leadership theory and student violence: Is there a relationship? National Association of Secondary School Principals.NASSP Bulletin, 82(596), 50-55. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/216039064?accountid=36783
School climate and culture. Assocation of School Curriculum and Development. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/research-a-topic/school-culture-and-climate-resources.aspx
Wyk, C., & Pelser, A. M. (2014). Leadership’s role in effective implementation of school discipline policies. The International Business & Economics Research Journal (Online), 13(4), 833-n/a. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1551368690?accountid=36783