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ENCOURAGEMENT • The process of encouragement is paramount in building the child’s learning ability and developing his commitment to the learning process. All children need approval, regardless of their status in the group. Lack of appreciation may discourage even a gifted child, and cause a withdrawal from participation.
Encouragement v/s Discouragement • Every misbehaving or deficient child is discouraged. • Confidence is the key to their finding a constructive place in school or home. • He deviates only if he finds himself blocked in his endeavors.
Discouragement • Discouragement is at the root of mistaken approaches. • Children want to be good and are “bad” only when they see no chance to succeed.
The Teacher • The teacher is in a crucial position in the child’s life • Teachers are often the first person besides the parents who exert deliberate educational influences. • Teachers are the first to emphasize work, duty, and responsibility
The Teacher (con’t) • If a teachers influence is discouraging, they may permanently block a child’s function in a social relationship or in some field of endeavor. • A realization of the importance of encouragement, and a knowledge of the methods of its implementation, are an absolute prerequisite for any teacher who wants to exert constructive influence on their pupils. Unfortunately, teachers have misconceptions about how to encourage children (Dreikurs, 1951). • It is difficult to define the exact method of encouragement, as everything depends on the child’s reaction.
What Is Encouragement? • Encouragement is a complex process. • An action that informs the child that the teacher respects, trusts, and believes in them and thinks that their present lack of skills in no way diminishes their value as a person. • An effective process of encouragement demands continuous alertness for the right moment, tone of voice, and choice of words. • Recognition must be given for real trying, even if there has been no visible accomplishment • Teachers can encourage a child without using any words.
When to Begin Encouraging the Child • Encouragement is most effective if it starts at the beginning of the school year. • Teachers need to be sensitive to the feelings of each class member • The effect of the teachers encouragement will depend on the child’s relationship within the group.
The Overambitious Teacher • Do not become easily discouraged • A teacher has to develop techniques and abilities together with patience and self-confidence in order to help the child overcome difficulties. • The act of hovering is discouraging itself. • One of the most frequent means of discouraging a child is pointing out how much better he could be.
The Danger of Competitive Encouragement • The teacher must be very cautious in using the term “better than others.” • Many children get the impression that they are important only if they are better than others. • Example: “I like the way you sharpen my pencils” rather than “You’re the best pencil sharpener I have ever had.”
Sibling Rivalry as Discouragement • What a teacher can do if they realize a child is discouraged because of a who is better in school. • Help the child through discussions with the entire class about differences among people. • Stress that all of us have problems and we are not alone in our difficulties and feelings of inferiority. • Speak to parents and point out mistake of comparing the two children. • Most important is the teacher’s constant alertness to situations that present chances to raise the child’s self-esteem.
Encouragement Versus Praise • It is crucial that teachers recognize the difference between praise and encouragement • Praise is given to the child when a task or a deed is well done, or completed. • Encouragement is necessary when a child fails. • Encouraging the child during the task or for trying is as important as giving the child recognition upon completion of the task.
Dinkmeyer and Dreikurs (1963) • What a Teacher Can Do • Place value on the child as they are • Show faith in the child and enable him to have faith in himself • Recognize a job “well done” and give recognition for effort • Use the class group to enhance the development of the child • Integrate the group so the child can be sure of their place in it • Assist in the development of skills • Recognize and focus on strengths and assets • Utilize the interest of the child to energize constructive activity
Chapter 12Logical Consequences vs. Arbitrary Punishment A society cannot function without basic rules that include respect and consideration for others. These rules can be a valuable ally in getting a person to see the relationship between his own actions and the results of those actions. The social order consists of a body of rules that operates on an impersonal level and must be learned and followed in order for the child and the adult to function adequately. Without such social order, we have chaos and anarchy.
NATURAL CONSEQUENCES • Natural consequences represent the natural flow of events in which a person is faced with the unexpected effects of his behavior. • These consequences are not arranged or imposed by anyone; they just occur. • It is not advisable for parents and teachers to add punishment to a child once he has experienced the natural consequences of his behavior. Punishment would only add insult to injury.
APPLIED LOGICAL CONSEQUENCES • Applied logical consequences are those consequences that the teacher applies when a child provokes her, another child, or the class. • The consequence is logical in that it relates to the behavior but is decided upon by the adult. • They are usually a one-time procedure. At a later time, the misbehavior is discussed and agreement is met concerning the consequences. In this way, the same application to such a situation that before was an applied consequence now becomes a logical consequence.
LOGICAL CONSEQUENCES • Logical consequences are guided and arranged. They must be discussed with, understood, and accepted by the child, otherwise the child may consider it punishment. When used, the child is motivated toward proper behavior through his own experience of the social order in which he lives. • A good relationship between adult and child must exist. • Consequences will be effective only if they are applied consistently.
LOGICAL CONSEQUENCES APPLIED UNIVERSALLY • Sometimes the teacher may have to face the consequences of her own behavior. If a democratic spirit is to prevail in the class, the teacher must take such consequences graciously.
Logical Consequences Involve Choices 1. The consequences must be related to the misbehavior. 2. In using logical consequences, the child must be given a choice. “You have the choice to walk down the stairs without pushing or I have to hold your hand until we walk down the stairs and the class is dismissed. You choose.” 3. Do not use logical consequences where you cannot, for example, in the the following cases: A. Where safety (life or death) or danger is involved. B. When the child uses power, revenge, or displays inadequacy. 4. Understand the goal of the child. A. Logical consequences work best on attention getting behavior. B. When a child is seeking power or revenge, the child is so busy asserting his superiority over the adult or in getting even with the adult that he often does not care what results his actions incur.
WHAT IS PUNISHMENT ? • Punishment is imposed by adults with no direct relationship to the misbehavior. • Arbitrary punishment makes no sense to the child and the child may begin to fantasize retaliatory actions.
Logical Consequences vs. Traditional Punishment • Children propose punitive measures. • The teacher needs to help the children to understand the subtle differences between logical consequences and traditional forms of punishment. • Children of all ages can learn this within a short time.
REWARD • Rejected by the Adlerian point of view because of its connotation of bribery. Through bribery we reinforce the terror tactics of the unmanageable child, which clearly puts him in control of the situation. • Rewarding the child for a task that the situation requires is an indirect admission that the child is being asked to do something that is so unpleasant that it merits a reward. • Children who are constantly rewarded do not develop a sense of responsibility; they feel entitled to receive pay-off for everything they do.
A Correctional Method • The concept of consequences is only a correctional method for dealing with the immediate situation; it is not an end in itself. In every case, the child must be helped to understand why he is behaving as he does, how this kind of behavior has brought him “success” (from his point of view) until now, how it affects other people, and finally, how he can obtain status through more acceptable methods of behavior. • Logical consequences must be used with no strings attached.
