Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1958-04-10
What About Discipline in the Schools?


actually catch him in the act But she stiIl out
smarted him.
One afternoon she asked him to stay after
class. When he asked why she said Suppose you
sit down and think about it. I am sure that you
know the reason"
After period of silence he said, 81 suppose
it's because l turned the picture to the wall?"
She said Eyes and went on with her work A
while later he came up with the statement, Il
won't do it again." He didn't.
This teacher had used old method of dis
cipline to give him time to think over his action
and figure out that it was improbable. She had
also answered his need to know that someone
smarter than he was in charge.
1t would have hurt him to continue getting
away with the trick yet punishment could
have broken him down. He had to come to his
own realization of the Stiffness of his action.
The Master Teacher is trained through edu.
cational philosophy and psychology to understand
children and their needs, their patterns of learn
ing their "teachable moments" which in plain
language is recognizing the exact moment when
the child is ready to learn.
Again we turn to Pyle for an example. He
tells of helping a group of small boys fix a
bicycle Although he was stranger by helping
them he won their liking and confidence.
When the job was finished, one of the boys
the bushes. Later Pyle pointed out to them that
the wrench was valuable, that they had needed
it and might need it again.
The boys could understand this reasoning
They went and found the wrench and put it
where it belonged They were in other words
ready for the lesson that no amount of lecturing
on putting tools back in their proper place could
have taught them
The Master Teacher studies each of her chill.
the individuals needs.
Skippys teacher first discovered and then
used his desire for bicycle to teach him to read
and work with numbers.
Pyle cites boy, squirming ana restless who
was beginning to disturb his classmates working
a biology problem.
The teacher called her restless student to her
desk picked up an examination paper of his and
went over it with him. She ended by saying This
shows a big improvement 1 am sure you will be
able to keep it up" The boy went back to his
desk and settled down to work.
The teacher couldn't have fooled the boy if
she hadn't studied his work but pretended she
knew what he had done BY preparing ahead of
time she was able to fend off discipline crisis
before it arose.
The good teacher controls best by not allow.
ing situations to arise that call for disciplinary
action.
The result of these various techniques of
good teaching is that students with confidence
in and respect for their teacher will learn quickly
to control themselves
School people say that this is not the bugaboo
of wild license that parents fear. Teaching self
control is no "sink or swim" method of letting
children develop character and find out what is
acceptable behavior all their own.
Learning by doing" isn't something in a
vacuum. 1t is teaching method and in control
of the method is teacher
And the right kind of teacher, says assistant
superintendent Pyle, is expensive. This is where
the community enters the picture as too often it
isn't willing to pay the price.
Lack of discipline, cries the community,
rather than admit lack of good teachers.
MAN the corridors with police" they said in
New York City during the recent outbreaks of
violence.
But, say the educators, the schools are not
the only ones teaching discipline. 1t is given at
home at church, on the street, in the playground
in the library 'The child does not come to school
a zero" says one educator.
The blame for the New York trouble cannot
be laid on the schools doorstep. 1t is the result
of the complex social ills of a modern city
In the meantime the teachers hope that their
new concepts of discipline will raise generation
better able to cope with those ills
The parents hope so, too but probably will
continue to debate holly discipline, To Be or No
To Be" at their P!TA meetings whenever the
question is raised