Assertive in Classroom

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Copyright 2009-2013 by Bill Alexander, classroom-management-success.org Accessed on March, 27th 2013.
Assertive Behavior By Teachers Reduces Discipline Problems And Makes Effective Learning Possible
Assertive behavior management is often the key to success in the classroom, and it's worth learning how to use assertive discipline techniques with students. Let's get rid of a common misconception: assertive does not mean aggressive. Teachers who use assertive techniques are not hostile or threatening, they don't use sarcasm, and they are are not excessively demanding or overbearing: instead, they take control and use techniques that meet students' behaviour needs. Assertiveness means stating clearly what you want to happen, while respecting the rights of both students and teacher.
The principles of assertive behavior management

The concept of assertive discipline as it operates in classrooms owes a lot to Lee Canter who developed classroom based programs in the 1970s. Before then, the stereotypical model of classroom discipline was autocratic in which the teacher paid little attention to the real needs of students, indeed teachers were often hostile to students, and often relied on fear among students to establish and maintain control. The opposite end of the spectrum was occupied by so-called permissive teachers who were ineffectual in getting students to behave appropriately. Lee Canter suggested the middle way of assertive discipline, characterized by a clear structure and organization of the way classroom business is conducted, which focuses on a repertoire of common-sense techniques that are easy to learn and put the teacher firmly in charge by reinforcing teachers' right to expect that no student will stop them from being able to teach and the right students have to be able to learn without interference from other students. Assertive teachers are in control of everything that happens in the classroom. They decide what's best for students, in this sense they 'lead the learning'. Students are expected to comply and assertive teachers ensure this by creating and maintaining a climate in the classroom that
promotes effective learning, they act quickly and decisively in calm, well-rehearsed ways that encourage compliance.
Features of assertive behavior management

1.Teachers act quickly and with confidence to manage student behavior at all times and in all phases of classroom interaction. 2.Assertive behavior management depends on a few well chosen rules that are clear and easily understood - crucially, teachers both explain and model these rules so that students can be in no doubt about how the teacher expects them to behave. Experience shows that it's best to have a small number of rules that students follow consistently, and that teachers enforce these rulesconsistently and persistently. Some examples of rules might be: 'Everyone listens in silence whenever the teacher is talking to the whole class' 'Students stay in their seats until the teacher asks them to move' 'Students listen respectfully when other students are answering the teacher's questions' Notice that assertive behavior management has rules that are stated positively - in other words, what students will do rather than negatively, in other words what students won't do. 3.Teachers give clear and precise directions to students, telling themexactly what they need to do to comply with the teachers assertive instructions. For example, saying 'Pay attention' is not assertive enough to be effective. Better to say. 'I want you all to stop what you're doing, to look at me, and to listen in silence while I explain this important point to you.' 4.Assertive teachers see their clear instructions as guidance to help students behave well in class. 5.Those students who behave well receive acknowedgement and praise for complying with the instruction. Those students who behave inappropriately receive consequences that lead to
punishment. It's worth saying here that punishments are not disrespectful, hostile or humiliating. They are designed to inconvenience and discomfort students, and focus on showing students that they have made the wrong choices that have affected their own and other students' learning. 6.In an assertive behavior management program teachers offer students choices - either to comply or not - and follow through with the consequences of the students' choice, positive for those students who comply, negative for those who don't. The concept of choice is key because it makes students take responsibility for their actions.
7.Assertive teachers are not out to 'score points' off students - they don't lie in wait trying to catch students out in order to punish them. In fact , the opposite is true: assertive behavior management programs encourage teachers to 'catch their students being good', in order to be able toacknowledge and reinforce positive interactions and remind students how positively they contribute to their own learning. In this sense, assertive teachers want to show students that they are equal partners in learning, not adversaries, although it is the teacher's job to lead the way. 9.Assertive behavior management programs promote student safety and security, both in the physical and psychological sense. Learning cannot take place in a climate of insecurity or fear. Students feel higher levels of personal security when their teacher is competent at directing the workings of the classroom. 10.Assertive behavior on the part of teachers also promotes social responsibility. Parents have the right to expect that their children will be allowed to learn in peace when they are in school, and it is in nobody's interests to allow some students to behave inappropriately when that affects the rights of others.
Assertive Discipline: How To Use It In The Classroom

Assertive discipline techniques have a proven track record of success. Teachers who use assertive discipline in the classroom as part of their classroom discipline plan tend to have more success than teachers who don't. In this article I explain 5 specific strategies teachers can use to manage student behavior in positive, respectful and effective ways.
Assertive Discipline Strategies For The Classroom

1 Don't accept any excuse for bad behavior
Sometimes students may experience difficult times at home or with peers, and while the teacher must act with understanding and compassion, the assertive discipline program provides mechanisms to help students make the right choices consistently, by judging the students' actions, not their character. It may be necessary to work individually outside the classroom with some students, but this does not negate the expectation that all students will comply with all classroom rules.
2 Choose your rules carefully

Choose only a few that cover all the behaviors you want to manage - no more than five or six and make sure you explain and model them with students. It's often a good idea to involve students in establishing what the rules will be in the first place, as this gives students a stake in their own behavior.
3 Decide on the consequences for non-compliance.

Typically, consequences are designed to remind students that they have not behaved in an appropriate way, and to give them choices to change their behavior so that they do comply. The consequences must be stepped into a hierarchy. The teacher may for example write the student's name on the board and say that if the poor behavior continues the name will be written a second time, then if the student still repeats the behavior the consequence might be to move to another seat, and so on, each consequence escalating in severity until the student eventually has to be taken from the classroom to work in isolation under the supervision of another teacher or administrator.
It's really important that the teacher follows through with the consequences every time. The whole system depends on the teacher being in control of a clearly understood sequence, and failure to follow through will devalue the system in the eyes of the students, and diminish the teacher's position.
4 Reward positive behavior as well as penalising negative behavior

Decide what rewards to give to those students - usually the majority- who do comply with teacher instructions. Verbal praise is often the most powerful form of reward because it reinforces quickly and efficiently the act of compliance.
Some students, especially as they get older, feel uncomfortable with public praise, so it may be wise to find ways to praise students privately, perhaps after the lesson.
Even those students who are uncomfortable with praise do appreciate acknowledgement. So for example, assertive teachers can communicate their appreciation to students by saying things such as: 'I see that all the students in the back row are listening and are ready to learn thank you - and the students to my left are almost ready - thank you.' This acknowledgement reminds students thay have met the teacher's expectation, and the teacher respectfully expresses appreciation.
Rewards other than verbal praise are more problematic because there is the risk that students
will associate doing as they are told because they receive a tangible reward, rather than behaving because it's the right thing to do.
It's a fine line, but most students respond to modest tangible rewards, such as, stars, stickers, phone calls and letters home, letters of commendation etc. I worked in one school where each teacher was required to give out 5 'Fantastic Student' cards each lesson, these cards could be cashed in for small prizes such as school stationery, free cinema tickets and iTunes tokens etc. The students and parents liked this system, and the school was complimented by government inspectors on their use of the scheme.
5 Develop your skill at using assertive discipline techniques

Rehearse and practise them until you become competent and confident.
In particular, teachers need to practise giving instructions assertively. So, if a student is misbehaving, you can express respectfully your displeasure, but you must then state clearly what you want the student to do: eg 'Jack , I don't appreciate you not listening to me - I want you to stop talking, and then I want you to listen to me in silence and then answer my question if I direct it at you.'
Another effective assertive discipline technique is sometimes referred to as the 'broken record' technique: you repeat the instruction several times to make the instruction clear to the student and also to let the student see that the teacher is giving the student a choice either to comply or not. Three times is probably enough for the instruction to be repeated, and sometimes there is a powerful phrase you can use before you reach the final repetition - 'I've asked you twice now to......, if you don't follow this instruction I will have to...[whatever the consequence is...], is that really what you want? - this final phrase often lets the student see the decision to continue to misbehave really is their choice

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http://www.classroom-management-success.org/assertive-behavior.

The principles of assertive behavior management

Features of assertive behavior management

Assertive Discipline: How To Use It In The Classroom

Assertive Discipline Strategies For The Classroom

2 Choose your rules carefully

3 Decide on the consequences for non-compliance.

4 Reward positive behavior as well as penalising negative behavior

5 Develop your skill at using assertive discipline techniques

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