Current behaviour policies, which focus around reward and deterrent, have only limited long-term effectiveness. They assume that students can exercise self-control and follow rules, when motivated to do so. Students with special educational needs and disabilities typically have many intrinsic challenges to self-regulation, due to executive…

Responds to the previous article by rejecting arguments that the relevance, arbitrariness, or external origin of disciplinary policies have any significant impact on those policies' effectiveness in building student character or promoting self-disciplined learning. Proposes focusing instead on observable conduct and providing encouragement for…

The major themes of three books based on behaviorist psychology are examined critically, noting that behavior modification has significant limitations. Four of these limitations are identified and briefly discussed. Teachers must realize that discipline approaches must increase the transfer value of behavior learned in school and foster…

Although prepackaged curriculum and training program materials can save precious time, they can also negatively affect efforts to improve school and classroom discipline. Obedience models often yield quick results at the expense of developing responsible students who understand the important principles underlying school rules. (MLH)

The act of disciplining children cannot be based upon merely "putting a stop" to negative actions by means of reactionary techniques of control. If educators begin to consider discipline as a major aspect of the educational aim of socialization of children, significant contributions toward their moral and social development will take place.…

Teachers of students exhibiting behavioral deficits and excesses should focus on direct teaching of acceptable behavior, but this often does not occur because of teachers' feeling more comfortable teaching academic skills, paucity of curriculum materials, and such trends as minimum competency testing. Behavioral and cognitive approaches to…

The shift at the beginning of the year from the summer at home to the fall at school can be both an exciting and an anxious time for young children. Often, there is a fine line between the two emotions, with one considered positive and other negative. Awareness of how to manage these feelings in a teacher's group is essential to creating the right…

To counteract influences which encourage children and adolescents to smoke, schools can provide smoking prevention and cessation education and a supportive nonsmoking environment. This article suggests resources to develop such programs through student education, school and district policy, and/or governmental regulation. (Author/JL)

Comments on Etzioni's claim that student self-discipline is crucial to learning. Agrees that discipline policies and motivation are related but contends Etzioni fails to consider effects of cultural and class differences and ignores the fundamental issue of balancing rewards for individual effort and rewards for excellence among peers. (PGD)

Interview with H. Jerome Freiberg discusses the Consistency Management and Cooperative Discipline program, which encourages students to become "citizens" of their classroom and take responsibility for its academic and social environment. Recommends ways to improve the environment in urban schools and describes Freiberg's work with…

Discipline alone is not enough to make a school a better teaching and learning environment. Like punishment, discipline applied as control can cause more difficulties than it remedies; continual emphasis on discipline with constant surveillance by the teacher for infractions may produce more problems than it solves. By clearly connecting learning…

Claims that students' self-discipline is the key factor in learning and that the structure of the school is the key factor in developing self-discipline in students. Suggests ways schools can develop awareness of the effects of their structures on student behavior and learning and make appropriate improvements. (PGD)

Most criticisms of American schools are too broad and are off-base. The first criterion in evaluating education should be its contribution to character formation. Students cannot cope with authority figures, rules, and routines; a school structure that teaches them to regulate themselves is needed. (PP)

Argues that a high priority should be placed on creative expression in early childhood settings, including the visual arts, music, dance, poetry, and drama. Stresses that creative potential must be nurtured and carefully cultivated, and argues that there can be no true artistic expression without freedom, and there can be no true freedom without…

Introduces several papers that provide information about the U.S. Department of Education Comprehensive School Health Education Program (CSHEP). After describing the CSHEP and summarizing the three papers, the article presents emerging themes for the future (student needs-driven, outcomes-based, coordinated, comprehensive, and school- and…