THEORIES OF INSTRUCTIONAL

MANAGEMENT
Jacob
Kounin

Prepared by:
Joanne Lian Li Fang
PISMP Sem 5
TESL (SJKC)

JACOB KOUNIN
Founder

of the theory
An educational theorist
Best-known work was done in
the 1970s, where he conducted
two major case studies
Testing his theories over twenty
years of work
Analyzed thousands of hours of
tapes of classes on a variety of
grade levels and in a variety of
neighborhoods and communities

Books
Kounin presents his
novel Discipline and
Group Management in
Classrooms(1977),
which is based on the
integration of
instructional and
disciplinary aspects of
the classroom.

KOUNINS PRINCIPLE
TEACHINGS
Teacher need to be more attentive to all aspects
of classroom.
Effective teacher keep students attentive and
actively involved.
Teacher should be able to attend to two
event/activities at the same time.
Activities should be enjoyable and challenging.

INSTRUCTIONAL MANAGEMENT
Focused

on a teachers ability to affect

students behavior through instructional
management
Incorporated both the instructional and
disciplinary aspects of the classroom
together.
Teachers who use effective instructional
management keep their students focused
on learning tasks and minimize behavior
problems.

KEY CONCEPTS OF KOUNINS

MODEL OF DISCIPLINE

Ripple effect

Overlapping

Withitness

KEY CONCEPTS OF
KOUNINS MODEL
OF DISCIPLINE
Movement management
Momentum
Smoothness
Transitions
Maintaining group focus

Satiation

RIPPLE EFFECT
By correcting the
misbehaviour of one
student it can
positively influence
the behaviour of
another students.
E.g. :
Teacher gives
encouragement or
reprimands can
continue or stop
students' behavior.

WITHITNESS
The teacher should have the skills
to be able to know what is going on
in the classroom at all times.
In a sense the teacher should have
eyes in the back of their head.

Exp:

If students are off-task

and fooling around, the
teacher needs to send a
clear
message
that
communicates
to
the
students that the teacher
sees that they are not
working and they need to
get started.
The effectiveness of
withitness is increased
when the teacher can
correctly identify the
student who is the
instigator of the incident.

Ability to attend to two or

more issues / students at the
OVERLAPPING
same time.
- Has the ability to
multitask.
- Students are more likely
to stay on task if they know
that the teacher is aware of
what they are doing.
e.g. : Teacher monitor
students
behavior at the
same time continue
teaching process.

MOVEMENT MANAGEMENT

Transitions:
- Keeping lessons moving with avoiding abrupt
changes.
Smoothness:
Smooth transitions between activities.
Avoid going off topic.
Momentum:
Appropriate pace and progression through a
lesson
At a consistent flow
Teachers must be well prepared.
Maintaining Group Focus:
Students are prepared for the content of the
lesson.

Momentum

Teachers should be able to

make easy transitions from
one activity to another.

Momentum must be at a
consistent flow.

The teacher must be

prepared and know the activity
well because the teacher must
be prepared for any changes
that may occur that effect the
activity.

Smoothness

The teacher sets a direction and does not lose focus on

their lesson. The teacher avoids going off topic.
The teacher lets the students know what is going on
throughout the day and they stick with that schedule.
The teacher is able to transition the students from one
activity to another without having too many disruptions.

MAINTAINING
GROUP FOCUS

The teacher sets a

direction and does not lose
focus on their lesson. The
teacher avoids going off
topic.

The teacher lets the

students know what is going
on throughout the day and
they stick with that schedule.

The teacher is able to

transition the students from

SATIATION
Being satisfied and unable to
take on more
Students start to get bored.
Solutions :

Offering

challenges
throughout the lesson
Being enthusiastic
Adding variety to the
lesson

INSTRUCTIONAL MANAGEMENT
THEORY

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES

STRENGTHS

Teacher affects the students behavior positively

and negatively

Behavior problems are reduced to a minimum

Smooth teaching and learning processes

Create a positive classroom environment

WEAKNESSES

WEAKNESSES

Overdwelling

Overlapping loses effectiveness when withitness

is overlooked

It is almost impossible for a teacher to know

everything that is happening in the class at all
time

Teacher can lose control over a destructive

students

DEALING WITH DESTRUCTIVE

BEHAVIOR STUDENTS

SOME OF THE
STRATEGIES THAT CAN
BE APPLIED IN THE
PRIMARY ESL
CLASSROOM
EXAMPLE OF SITUATION:

RIPPLEEFFECT

PROBLEMS..
Dona

was not paying attention in the

class. She always disturbed her friends
and loved to play around in the class.

Mr. Jake managed that behavioral problem by punishing

her. She was asked to go in front of the class and recited
a poem aloud. The other students who make a lot of
noises in the class tend to behave well because they
did not want to be punished by Mr. Jake.

WITHITNESS

PROBLEM..
Mr.Jake

taught English to the Year 4

students. While Mr. Jake is teaching they
were making a lot of noises.

Mr. Jake called them by names. He was able to call the

names of the students who make those noises even
without facing their face. Plus, he always make
eyes contact with all of the students in the class. He
told them that he got eyes on his back.

HOW INSTRUCTIONAL
MANAGEMENT THEORY IS
PRACTICLE IN LOCAL
PRIMARY ESL
CLASSROOM

It is seen that the strategies suggested by

Kounin is working in both situations, the
students negative behaviors are put to stop
almost immediately to ensure the teaching and
learning processes runs smoothly.
The problems mentioned above happened in
most of the local primary ESL classroom.
It arises due to the
Misbehavior of the students
By applying the Instructional management
strategies in the local primary ESL classroom it
helps the teacher to solve the problems
effectively.

Teacher should take charge of the class

be aware and control the situation
ensure the behavioral problems
of the students can be avoided

CONCLUSION

The techniques advocated by Kounin for class control

are all intended to create and maintain a classroom
atmosphere conducive to learning. By keeping
students busily and happily engaged, behaviour
problems are reduced to a minimum.
Kounin does not believe that teachers' personality
traits are particularly important in classroom control.
What is important, he insists, is teacher's ability to
manage groups and lessons.

REFERENCES
Andrius , J. (2011).Teacher matters: The Kounins model of
discipline. Retrieved on June 9, 2012, from
http://www.teachermatters.com/classroom-discipline/modelsof-discipline/the-kounin-model.html
Kounin, J. (1977). Discipline and group management in
classrooms. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company
Scarpaci, R. T. (2007). A case study approach to classroom
management. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.