Course Description

Discipline With Dignity is a flexible program for effective school and classroom management that teaches responsible thinking, cooperation, mutual respect and shared decision-making. This approach was developed by Dr. Richard Curwin and Dr. Allen Mendler, internationally acclaimed authors of the book DISCIPLINE WITH DIGNITY.

Discipline With Dignity equips educators with classroom skills, techniques and structure that enables them to spend less time dealing with behavioral problems and more time on positive interactions with students and on instruction. It presents educators with the framework, tools and skills for being effective within their own style of classroom management, and furnishes administrators, teachers, parents and management teams with information and a basis for setting school-wide policy. This approach helps children develop their self-esteem, while giving them the tools and encouragement necessary for making responsible decisions in their lives, both within and outside the classroom. The underlying belief of this discipline approach is that all students' dignity must be enhanced and preserved, regardless of their behavior.

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Course Purpose

The purpose of the Discipline with Dignity course is to provide the tools, structure, skills and understanding required by educators so that they are best prepared to deal effectively with a variety of disciplinary situations they will encounter. The approach is predicated on the fact that students can learn to be responsible for their own behavior and for their own learning, but these skills must be taught. The skills and methods of Discipline with Dignity show educators how they can prevent many discipline problems from occurring. It also teaches how to successfully handle challenging, "button-pressing" behaviors presented by individuals or groups in school/classroom situations while maintaining personal and professional dignity. Finally, rational methods are provided in helping educators deal effectively with chronic problem children who frequently misbehave. Discipline with Dignity is therefore a "three-dimensional" approach to behavior management: prevention, action and resolution. Course participants become knowledgeable and skilled in the use of strategies connected to these three dimensions.

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Course Objectives

Participants will develop skills to:

1. Maintain each individual's dignity in the discipline process.
2. View discipline as an integral part of instruction.
3. Apply specific strategies for teaching responsibility to students.
4. Enhance self-esteem through developing responsible behavior.
5. Understand the four goals of the Discipline with Dignity approach.
6. Understand the three dimensions of discipline: prevention, action and resolution.
7. Identify and use strategies compatible with the four goals and three dimensions of discipline.
8. Develop classroom rules that promote appropriate behavior while teaching students responsibility.
9. Understand the key differences between consequences and punishments and why consequences are more effective.
10. Use classroom proven strategies for effectively managing the behavior of disruptive students.
11. Recognize ineffective methods and understand why they fail.
12. Become confident and skilled at defusing potentially explosive classroom situations.
13. Identify the basic needs which motivate problem behavior and match strategies based upon basic need(s) responsible.
14. Learn the connections between motivation, effective teaching practices and discipline.
15. Develop an effective discipline plan that integrates components of Discipline with Dignity.

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Curriculum Design

The Discipline with Dignity course was developed by the creators of the approach, Dr. Richard Curwin and Dr. Allen Mendler, assisted by a team of course designers, writers and practitioners associated with the National Educational Service who have had experience in this specialized area. The ten course modules provide a comprehensive synthesis of the highly effective method. Participants are provided with a sound theoretical basis followed by an exploration of personal values, attitudes and beliefs so that participants understand their beliefs and biases pertaining to behavior management. Practical application with an emphasis on specific strategies followed by participant practice is a frequent sequence of instruction. Special emphasis is placed on the role of educator belief and attitude as essential in working effectively with challenging students. Methods of instruction include lecture, role-play, demonstration, class discussion, experiential activities, case study and participant practice. Assignments require participants to do outside reading and to apply material to their real situations on a regular basis. They are encouraged to bring real situations into the course. Participants will be expected to develop a comprehensive Discipline with Dignity plan that they will apply to their actual classroom/school situation.

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Course Materials

A participants workbook which includes materials needed for each module will be included. The course text will be Allen Mendler's What do I do when...? How to Achieve Discipline With Dignity in the Classroom. Participants will be encouraged to supplement their readings with Curwin and Mendler's Discipline With Dignity, and Richard Curwin's Rediscovering Hope. Several related articles will be provided as well as a comprehensive bibliography.

Module 1: Discipline With Dignity Framework

Goal: Participants will become more aware of in-school factors and identify or create school-based methods that will address each one.

Content:

1. In-School Causes of Misbehavior
2. Times Have Changed (Obedience - Responsibility)
3. Discipline With Dignity Goals
4. Criteria for an Effective Discipline Method
5. Ineffective Methods of Discipline
6. Building Blocks of Responsibility

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Module 2: Three-Dimensional Discipline: Prevention Dimension

Goal: Participants will learn several methods of discipline prevention other than rules and consequences.

Content:

1. Methods of Welcoming Students
2. Teaching Students Methods of Self-Control
3. Acceptable Substitute Outlets in the Classroom
4. Instructional Methods that Engage Students

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Module 3: Developing Classroom and Schoolwide Social Contracts

Goal: Participants understand the social contract process.

Content:

1. Developing a Framework of Values and Principles
2. Developing Effective Rules
3. Options for Student Involvement
4. Developing Effective Consequences
5. Ensuring Knowledge of the Social Contract
6. Practice in Creating a Social Contract

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Module 4: Three-Dimensional Discipline: The Action Dimension

Goal: Participants learn how to defuse problem situations in a manner that protects the offending student's dignity, the educator's authority, and the class' integrity.

Content:

1. Choosing the Best Consequence
2. Developing an Attitude of Professionalism When Provoked
3. Avoiding Power Struggles
4. Handling Confrontation
5. Using Privacy, Eye Contact, Proximity
6. Using the Insubordination Clause

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Module 5: Three-Dimensional Discipline: Resolution - Dimension Methods

Goal: Participants learn strategies for working with difficult students.

Content:

1. Attitudes and Beliefs for Working with Difficult to Reach Youth
2. Developing an Attitude of Professionalism When Provoked
3. Negotiating Methods
4. Behavior Modification
5. Unconventional Methods of Discipline

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Module 6: Basic Needs and Behavior

Goal: Participants will identify the five basic psychological needs and see how they are related to the child's behavior.

Content:

1. Identifying Basic Needs

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Module 7: Basic-Needs Strategies Part One: Resolution - Dimension Methods

Goal: Participants will understand school and classroom practices that make students feel welcome and important in class.

Content:

1. Belonging/Significance Strategies
2. Student Survey

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Module 8: Basic-Needs Strategies Part Two: Competence/Mastery

Goal: Participants will understand how acting-out behavior is a cover for feelings of intellectual and academic inadequacy.

Content:

1. Competence/Mastery Strategies
2. The Relationship Between Discipline and Motivation
3. The Relationship Between Discipline and Instruction

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Module 9: Basic-Needs Strategies Part Three: Power/Autonomy; Virtue/Generosity; Fun/Enjoyment

Goal: Participants will understand three basic needs and identify school/classroom activities that address each one.

Content:

1. Power/Autonomy
2. Virtue/Generosity
3. Fun/Enjoyment

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Module 10: Schoolwide Discipline

Goal: Participants will understand issues as networking with community resources, involving parents meaningfully in the discipline program, and guidelines for developing a school-based Discipline with Dignity plan.

Content:

1. Developing a School-Based Discipline with Dignity Plan
2. Networking with Community Resources
3. Meaningful Involvement of Parents

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Student Requirements

1. Attend all class sessions for the requisite number of hours (45) and participate in all class activities.
2. Complete all reading assignments.
3. Develop a personal discipline plan that includes key elements of Discipline with Dignity. Each participant will present a detailed plan to the course instructor.
4. Successfully complete all case-study materials that demonstrate an integrated understanding of relevant course concepts.
5. Maintain a learning journal that specifies an actual or anticipated discipline situation that is classroom or school-based. The participant will record a weekly summary of course material that is being applied to the identified situation along with a personal evaluation of how things are going. Each participant is expected to provide a final summary of his/her weekly experiences to the course instructor.

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Grading

The quality of the participant's work products as well as attendance and participation will be evaluated by the course instructor in determining a grade. In addition to the above, course instructors have discretion to either add or substitute expectations. For example, they may ask for a paper which requires participants to compare and contrast Discipline with Dignity with other programs of behavior management. They may opt for a final examination that tests both conceptual understanding and application skills.

DISCIPLINE WITH DIGNITY is a servicemark owned by Discipline Associates in Rochester, New York . Use of the title is strictly forbidden without the express, written approval of Discipline Associates.

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