Recently our education department held a brief training session on Positive Discipline. The main aim of this initiative is to end the curse of corporal punishment completely in our schools and replace it with a more efficient and effective technique. Many of our lecturers, masters, and teachers were (wittingly or unwittingly) already aware of this technique and were practicing this nonviolent and fruitful technique wholeheartedly. n However, some of us might not be aware of the definition and the features of positive discipline.
Positive Discipline is a program designed to teach young people or learners to become responsible, respectful, and resourceful members of their communities. Positive discipline is a more effective way to manage misbehaving students in the classroom, rather than using punishment or rewards. It allows students to learn and adapt their behaviors to meet expectations in the classroom, while simultaneously teaching them how to make better choices in their path to adulthood.
Many of our teachers have already given up the habit of corporal punishment which they had learnt from their elders influenced by the traditional methods of teaching. Although, some teachers even nowadays think that corporal punishment must be an integral part of a successful education system due government’s ban on it they hardly dare to practice it anymore now. Nowadays we don’t see any sticks or other punishment tools in our schools which have been a norm while we were learning in the schools in the recent past.
Many teachers are bewildered about the dearth of discipline among the students and they are unable to understand how they can make their students behave properly in the classrooms in the absence of any kind of corporal punishment. The contemporary education system does not allow even a teacher to scold a student violently in the school. Some teachers even feel such a system is more derogatory for themselves. But that is mainly due to the lack of proper training of these teachers. Those teachers who are not aware of the great features of positive discipline or lack their belief in these features still hope to bring back that outmoded system which was only devastating for the learners physically, mentally as well as emotionally.
Positive discipline is a brilliant strategy. It believes in the following features mainly for a perfect classroom situation. It gives importance to Mutual respect in classrooms. Both the teacher and the learner must respect each other for ideal learning to prevail. Positive discipline teaches the teachers particularly the main skill of identifying the belief behind the behavior. The teacher has to take each learner as a proper case study a ponder deeply to decipher the complex behavioral pattern of any learner. Positive discipline also gives importance to effective communication and problem-solving skills properly and skillfully. Proper communication between the teacher and the learner can solve all the learning issues properly.
Positive Discipline is the discipline that teaches focusing on solutions instead of punishment. It is neither permissive nor punitive. It is rather progressive in its approach. Positive discipline believes in Encouragement instead of praise. Praise can be a sheer flattering often which may lead to dangerous consequences in the long run. Encouraging a learner keeps him or her on the right track. Positive Discipline is not aimed at creating better classroom and school environments only. It is an approach that may help us in better parenting. We have to practice it everywhere to get the better results. When we learn it wholeheartedly we understand our mistakes while nurturing the tender minds of our children and learn how to take care of them in a proper manner.
In a nutshell, we have every right to believe that if all the basic features of positive discipline are applied properly in our homes and schools we shall be able to bring revolutionary results beneficial for the whole society and the nation for sure. The main thing is that the parents and the teachers must believe that this technique is going to help everyone in the long run. We must learn to change our rigid attitudes and embrace the changes wholeheartedly which are necessary to bring revolutionary results in our education system particularly.
The author can be mailed at bukhari.hilalahmad5@gmail.com
Discussion about this post