Luissette’s Philosophical Approach to Classroom Management
Philosophical Approaches to Classroom Management and Influencing Students (Teacher Authority Bases/Power Bases)
- Referent Authority – Students behave as the teacher wishes them to because they like the teacher as a person and want a positive relationship with him/her. Teachers and students maintain a good relationship and communicate that they care.
- Expert Authority – Students behave because they view their teacher as skilled, knowledgeable, competent, and well-prepared to teach. Students value learning from an expert authority.
- Legitimate Authority – Students behave because the teacher is an authority figure who must be respected. Teachers and school administrators work together to enforce school policies.
- Reward/Coercive Authority – The teacher uses rewards and punishment to control student behavior.
- Assertive Discipline (Canter)
- Cooperative Discipline (Albert)
- Beyond Discipline (Kohn)
As far as the discipline approaches, I maintain that the most important principle is to provide students with supportive feedback and positive reinforcement. It is my belief that students want and need to have their efforts recognized, which fits perfectly into any discipline philosophy a teacher may use.
Charles, C. M. Alfie Kohn’s ‘Beyond Discipline’. In Building classroom discipline. Boston. Allyn and Bacon. 2002. Ch. 12. pp. 189-204.
Levin, J., & Nolan, J. F. (2014). Principles of classroom management: A professional decision-making model, (7th Ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Wolfgang, C. H. (unknown). Chapter 4: Assertive Discipline, pp. 79-99.