7 Models of Discipline (page 189)

For our most challenging students, approaches beyond what we have presented in the Discipline Chapter of the TST7 may be necessary. For these students one of the seven therapeutic models of discipline developed in the 20th century may be called for. These are students who continue to resist and disrupt despite clear expectations and consequences and despite the teacher’s best efforts at creating ownership and building community in the class. These children bring significant emotional issues through the door with them every morning and act out their needs in disruptive behavior that is resistant to standard measures of behavior manage-ment. Fortunately, there are not too many of them. Most of the students who initially appear to be in this category just need more clarity, conviction, and tenacity about expectations and consequences.

This article explores these seven models in some detail and presents an important matching framework for how to choose from among them to match the apparent psychological needs driving the student behavior.