Unit 6
Discipline and Punishment

Overview

This unit focuses on the issues of discipline and punishment in the school. In his book, Freedom and Discipline, R. Smith (1985) points out, and as many teachers know from experience, student autonomy is fine as a theoretical concept, but in the real classroom situation, discipline is much more important. And classroom discipline problems may be more pronounced with special needs children. However, teachers also know that the legal and ethical dimensions of discipline and punishment are complex and manifold.

As most educators know, student misconduct and school indiscipline are growing problems. Violence in Canadian schools, although nowhere near the level that it is in the US, is a worrying situation. According to Flynn and Evenson (2003), many recent examples of violence in schools are “symptomatic of both societal change and an underlying crisis of authority in today’s schools” (p. 194).

Objectives

After completing this Unit, you will be able to

  1. describe the complexity of the ethical dimensions involved in classroom control.
  2. distinguish between the power of teachers and the requirement to show consistent justice and consideration in the classroom.
  3. describe the ethical considerations that must be taken in to account when teachers responsibly exercise authority.
  4. discuss Section 43 of the Criminal Code and the case law under it.
  5. summarize the provincial legislation, and the school boards’ and teachers’ associations’ rules regarding the touching, hitting, or spanking of any student.
  6. analyze the moral concepts needed to discuss punishment intelligently.
  7. determine if punishment is an acceptable means of maintaining proper order, thereby eliminating conditions that may be incompatible with learning and a safe classroom environment.
  8. define the terms “due process,” “capricious decision,” and “arbitrary decision.”
  9. explain ethical and moral issues and the due process perspectives of punishment using references to several case studies.
  10. outline the concepts and methods involved in a teacher’s decision to use punishment.
  11. analyze the ethical questions that a teacher must answer before a decision to punish is made.
  12. explain various rules and methods of classroom management and the encouragement of facilitative classroom climate.
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