THEORIES OF DEMOCRATIC TEACHING (RUDOLF DREIKURS)

By

Gabriel Lance Anak Maling

Muhammad Farid Akmal Bin Adam Muhammad Nazmi Bin Salim Richard Rao a/l Soorianarayanan Wan Hakimi Bin W Hamzah

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION RUDOLF

DREIKURS Born in Vienna, Austria in 1897 Graduated from medical school at the University of Vienna Moved to Chicago in 1939 and studied under psychiatrist Adler Adler believed that that all humans wanted to belong and be accepted by others Died in 25th May 1972

THEORY OF MISBEHAVIOR
Students misbehave in order to seek attention, power, revenge or sympathy Not necessarily aware of the reasons for their misbehavior

Dreikurs states that "his goal may occasionally vary with the circumstances: he may act to attract attention at one moment, and assert his power or seek revenge at another" (Dreikurs, 1968 in Kohn, 2006).

ATTENTION AND POWER

Attention seeker

get up during class frequently, disrupt other students, blurt out answers or ask repeated questions. teacher should decide when to give attention e.g. read out loud, class demonstrations, present information to class

Power seeker
Challenge authority e.g. might call teacher names to be respected by peers Dont enter a power struggle! Keep cool. It helps to say to yourself Im in charge here Make them discussion leaders, run errands, role playing, monitor other students during field trips

REVENGE AND SYMPATHY

Revenge seeker
May ridicule or taunt in order to humiliate the teacher, will expect you to get flustered and defensive Respond with humor and demonstrate that you understand and care build a relationship with the student, let the students see you as a humane person, positive attention reduces the urge for revenge

Sympathy seekers

Students avoid work, complain and always ask for help Dont pity, sympathize or criticize Make sure the assignment is at the proper level, use praise, prompt and leave strategy

DEMOCRATIC CLASSROOM
Students and teacher formulate rules and consequences together Teachers responsibility to follow through with consequences Believed in logical consequences as opposed to punishment

E.g. If a student writes on the walls of the school and the teacher keeps them after school is that a logical consequence or a punishment? Why?

MAIN ARGUMENTS ABOUT DEMOCRATIC TEACHING.

Classrooms are democratic with appropriate teaching styles. Mutual respect motivates pupils to behave constructively. Constructive behaviour occurs out of their heightened sense of social interest.

Three types of teachers: autocratic.(harsh boss), permissive (uninvolved and no expectations), and democratic (support internal motivation and responsibility). Pupils who do not feel a sense of belonging will resort to: attention gaining, power seeking, revenge, or displaying inadequacy.

Praise supports completion. Encouragement supports the process. Logical consequences produce better results than punishment.

STRATEGIES IN DEMOCRATIC TEACHING.

Provide lessons with social interest in mind. Provide a teaching environment that supports pupils sense of belonging. Come up with a set of classroom rules as a group. Support responsibility through freedom of choices in lesson plans.

Avoid power struggles and encourage pupils who display inadequacy. Encourage pupils rather than praise them. Provide pupils with logical consequences to mistaken goals to support responsibility and avoid punishment.

USEFULNESS OF DEMOCRATIC TEACHING.

ESL classes allow pupils to work in small groups and as a large group to support social group belonging. Social groups can take place in criticism, aesthetics, and production. Encourage pupils who seem discouraged in the process of a product, rather than praising them for their completion.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Classroom_Manageme nt_Theorist_and_Theories/Rudolf_Dreikurs http://www.metu.edu.tr/~e133376/project/The%20S ocial%20Discipline%20Model%20of%20Rudolf%20 Dreikurs.htm http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Rudolf_ Dreikurs Classroom Management Theorists handout prepared by Professor J. McNair (from our vista page) Sparks-Langer, G., Starko, A., Pasch, M., Burke, W., Moody, C., Gardner, T. Teaching As Decision Making: Successful Practices for the Secondary Teacher. Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2004