Assertive discipline is a systematic behavior management procedure designed by Lee Canter to put elementary and secondary classroom teachers in charge of their classes. Combining tenets from assertion training and behavior modification, Canter (1979) believes that he has identified four discipline competencies that all teachers need to master to handle problem behaviors successfully. The competencies include:
- identifying appropriate behaviors that form the basis for classroom rules,
- systematically setting limits for inappropriate behavior,
- consistently reinforcing appropriate behavior, and
- working cooperatively with parents and principals.
In this cookbook approach to discipline the steps for acquiring these competencies are detailed, even to the extent of specifying the number of rules and the number of negative consequences.
As in assertion training, teachers make their wants and needs known by directly responding to both appropriate and inappropriate student behaviors. They respond to inappropriate behavior with ‘verbal limit-setting’ assertions and a limit-setting, follow-through” discipline plan. They use ‘I’ messages, verbal hints, and other assertive communication devices for verbal limit-setting. If their requests are not met, a limit-setting, follow-through plan consisting of negative consequences is consistently applied.
As in behavior modification, the teacher responds to appropriate behavior with positive reinforcers. The teacher first verbally praises the student and, if necessary, continues with some type of a positive follow-through. These same assertive techniques are used to elicit assistance from the parents and principals.
Rationale
The assertive discipline procedure was developed as a response to a perceived lack of discipline in the public schools. Students, teachers, and parents are all responsible for a lack of discipline. Though students today are more difficult to manage than in the past, the premise of assertive discipline is that all students-except those with organic problems can behave correctly, even though they may choose not to do so.
According to Canter, teachers expect and tolerate too much misbehavior, especially from students with emotional problems or from lower socioeconomic levels. He believes they do not know how to deal with these students because they do not know how to be assertive . Instead, they are usually either ‘wishy-washy’ and easily manipulated by the students, or verbally or physically hostile and hence disliked and feared by the students. Neither of these approaches makes for a well-managed, positive classroom environment. In turn, parents often do not support the classroom teacher and openly question the educational program.
In a classroom setting, both teachers and students have needs that can be met within the assertive discipline program. Students – no matter what age – need firm limits, discipline, and positive reinforcement. They also need teachers who care enough to stop their misbehaviors. Conversely, teachers need to keep students from manipulating them, and to feel free to request assistance from parents and principals. These teacher needs are given precedence over students’ needs because teachers must satisfy their needs and wants before they feel comfortable enough to provide a positive learning environment. Only when the needs of the teachers are satisfied will the needs of the students be fulfilled.
Implementation Phases
Assertive discipline is implemented in the following steps:
1. On the first day of class, the teacher will state the three expectations of assertive discipline:
• “None of you will stop me from teaching”.
• “None of you will engage in any behavior that stops someone from learning”.
• “None of you will engage in any behavior that is not in your interest or the best interest of others”.
2. Develop rules based on observable behaviors. These rules should tell the students exactly what you want them to do. They should be essential for learning and teaching but should not violate the students’ rights. Limit the rules to five or six. You may need different rules for various activities, such as recess, free time, reading groups, and so on.
3. Clearly communicate and explain to the students the rules you have selected. It is a good idea to display the rules in written form somewhere in the classroom. The rules may change as the year progresses, and you need to inform the students of these changes.
4. Practice being assertive in your responses to your students with verbal limit-setting. Use hints, ‘I’ messages, questions, and demands to make your wants known. Hints, such as “Remember everyone should be working”, are not directed to any particular student. ‘I’ messages, such as “I would like to see you working”, are particularly effective during manipulative situations. With questioning you simply say “Would you begin working now?”
Use demands (“Do your work now!”) sparingly, as they imply a consequence for noncompliance. For more assertive communication, many teachers also make eye contact and use gestures with touching and the students’ names. However, touching should be used cautiously with secondary students and those likely to react negatively to it. Some students, especially those with problem in living, have learned to manipulate nonassertive teachers in verbal interactions by crying, making angry statements, or accusing the teacher of being unfair. This manipulation can be avoided by prefacing each of your verbal limit setting statements with ‘I understand’, or ‘That’s not the point’. For example, if a student refuses to begin an assignment, as an assertive teacher you would first direct the student to begin with a hint, an ‘I’ message, or a question. If the student responds with an excuse in an attempt to engage you in an argument, you should ignore the excuse and continue expressing your wants by saying “I understand, and I want you . . . ” or “That’s not the point, I want you to begin the assignment”. This type of verbal limit-setting shows the student that you will not be diverted from the objective (the student beginning the assignment) and that you are in control of the verbal interaction.
These ‘want’ messages should be delivered only three times. If the student does not comply with the three messages, limit setting follow-through should be initiated.
5. Decide on the consequences. These consequences are administered when the students break the rules. Select consequences that you feel comfortable enforcing but that, at the same time, are unpleasant for the students. Do not use physical or verbal abuse. Canter (1979) suggests a maximum of five negative consequences. In addition, you must select consequences for severe behavior problems. These necessitate more severe consequences than those selected to punish rule violations.
Severe behavior is defined as willfully harming others, purposely destroying property, refusing to follow the teacher’s demands, or stopping the class from functioning.
6. Design a consequence plan. The five negative consequences are arranged in hierarchical order from less to more severe and then become part of the discipline plan. For example, if a student violates one of the rules, the first infraction may simply result in a warning while the fifth may result in a visit to the principal’s office. Another part of the plan involves administration of the consequences. Negative consequences will not work unless you use them immediately every time a student breaks the rules or displays severe behavior. Administer the negative consequence in a matter-of-fact tone without yelling or screaming and with a choice statement such as “John, you chose to shout out in class, so you will have to lose 15 minutes of free time (consequence)”, or “John, you have a choice to either stop shouting or lose 15 minutes of free time”, Before the plan is implemented you need to discuss it with the principal, especially if a visit to the principal is selected as the final consequence. If the plan does not work after one week’s application, either change the order of the consequences-for example, by eliminating the first two and beginning with the third–or change the consequences. If a student reaches a consequence in the plan three times, the plan is not working and needs to be changed for that student.
7. Incorporate positive consequences into your plan. Just as with negative consequences, positive consequences must be administered consistently. Praise, tangible reinforcers, and a class wide token system are useful positive consequences. Any type of praise is a powerful reinforcer for elementary students as long as it is genuine. Proceed in the following manner when praising elementary students: First, give the demand or instruction (“Open your book to page 25”). Second, praise at least two students who follow this demand and indicate what they have done (“Jimmy and Susie, you certainly can follow directions”). Third, enforce the negative consequence for those who do not follow the instruction (“Sam, you chose not to follow the directions so your name will be written on the board”). Every student should be praised at least once a day. Consider giving praise to secondary students in private. The praise may be nonverbal, such as a smile or a positive statement written on a student’s paper. The tangible reinforcer recommended for both elementary and secondary students is a progress note to be shared with the parents. A token system in which elementary students earn marbles and secondary students earn points is suggested for class wide reinforcement. The tokens are then exchanged for backup reinforcers, such as a party, free time, elimination of a homework assignment, or some other positive consequence. In using the marble system in the elementary classroom, give one marble per day to the regular students and three to five to the students with problems in living. In the secondary classroom, give one mark per student with problems in living per period. Avoid taking points or marbles away. A class-wide reinforcement system is not necessary in all classrooms, but positive praise and notes are. If Step 5 is not working, it may be because positive reinforcement is being presented too infrequently.
8. Actively involve parents and principals in the consequence plan. Send your discipline plan home and have the parents sign it. Communicate both positive and negative information about the student to the parents. Send notes home praising the student’s appropriate behavior. Plan to send notes home for each student during the first two weeks of school. Immediately call the parents whenever the student does not follow the rules. Before a conference with the parents, complete a sheet that contains the goal of the meeting (to discuss Jimmy’s biting behavior), the objective (administer a negative consequence at home), the rationale (it is in the best interest of the student), and the consequence that might occur from lack of cooperation (student suspended, parents called every day). Remember to be assertive in communications with parents. The parents should also be involved in the administration of positive and negative consequences. Bedtime is a powerful consequence, whether it involves staying up later as a reward or going to bed earlier as a punishment. Use these same assertive procedures when communicating the discipline plan to the principal. Be sure to discuss what you want the principal to do (help limit Mike’s kicking behavior), how the principal might help (ideas for consequences), rationales for asking for help without apology (student is not following the teacher’s limit-setting), and what consequences may result if you are not helped (Mike might hurt others).
In a school in which assertive discipline was in effect in all classrooms, the faculty and principal had met together to decide on the general rules and the discipline plan. The following five rules were selected:
1. Keep hands, feet, objects to yourself.
2. Whisper quietly when you are doing seat work so your voice cannot be heard by the teacher.
3. Raise your hand.
4. Follow directions the first time.
5. Do not use cussing or teasing.
These rules were discussed by the teacher with the students and were posted in all special classes and in Grades 1 through 5. Rules varied for recess time and they were posted on the playground wall.
The following five negative consequences were specified:
- a warning
- loss of free time
- isolation in another teacher’s classroom at least two grades above or below the student’s grade level
- call to parents
- visit to the principal’s office
These consequences were written into the discipline plan: the first time a rule was disobeyed the student’s name would be written on the board; the second time, a mark would be put next to the name and the student would lose 15 minutes of recess time; the third time, a mark would be placed and the student would be isolated in another teacher’s room; the fourth time, a call would be made to the parents; the fifth time, the student would visit the principal’s office. Each day the marks would be erased and the students would begin the next day with a clean slate. The severe clause in the plan provided for an isolation room monitored by the teachers on a rotating basis during their free time. All of the teachers decided to use praise and to send notes home as positive reinforcement, except for the special class teacher who would use points along with the other reinforcers. The discipline plan was sent home for the parents to sign, and the first PTA meeting was spent discussing the discipline approach.
All of the teachers followed the same format in implementation of the plan. If a student disobeyed a rule, two other students who were following the rule were praised. If the student continued with the inappropriate behavior, a negative consequence with a choice statement was administered. Each day the teachers tried to praise each student in their classes at least once; the mainstreamed special education students were praised more often.
The discipline plan did not work with a boy in the fourth grade. This student was a manipulator and often argued when the teacher administered a consequence for his inappropriate behavior. He was also frequently in fights. One day the teacher was taking the student to isolation (the severe clause) for fighting. The boy denied his part in the fight by placing the blame on others. Using assertive discipline the teacher responded to his comment with a verbal limit- setting statement: “That’s not the point, you were fighting!” The boy retorted: “They teased me and caused me to fight.” Ignoring the student’s attempt at diversion the teacher replied: “I understand, and you were fighting. You chose to break one of the rules.” The student spent 60 minutes completing his academic work in the isolation room. However, the fighting episodes continued, and the boy spent the next two days in the isolation room.
Since the isolation consequence was apparently ineffective, the classroom teacher, the special class teacher, and the principal conferred and decided on an alternative plan of suspension from school. The regular teacher also adopted the special class teacher’s point system to use with the boy in the classroom. They conferred with the parents, and the parents agreed to pick up the student when the principal called.
The new plan was explained to the boy, who responded: “They’ll never pick me up”; and he presented no problem the rest of the week. However, on Monday of the next week he exploded and kicked and bit a student. The alternative plan was put into effect. The boy was escorted to the principal’s office and the principal placed the phone call. The boy glared at the principal and said: “Mom is playing bridge today”. Evidently the boy had waited until the mother was not at home to explode. Sure enough, no one answered the phone. The principal then called the father at work, but the father refused to drive to school. The principal then drove the boy to his father’s office and left him there. The boy returned to school the next day, and two weeks passed before another fight. This time the mother was home and picked him up. After this, the boy rarely fought.
Advantages
The advantages of assertive discipline are:
- The procedure provides for a structured discipline program that is often found lacking in a regular classroom but is essential for successful mainstreaming of many special class students.
- Everyone in the classroom knows the rules and the consequences; this makes it less likely that the students will believe punishment is being administered at the whim of the teacher.
- The program is clearly outlined, even to the point of specifying the number of days for evaluation of the effectiveness of the plan. This facilitates its implementation by the teacher, a factor that may be especially helpful in the case of the beginning teacher.
- The emphasis on parent involvement recognizes that deviant behavior is due to the interaction between the student and the environment – a prevalent theory in the special education field.
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of assertive discipline are:
- There is no guarantee that the rules written by the teacher are healthy, rational, and humanizing for the student. Nor are there any provisions to ensure that the students’ needs and wants are being met. Furthermore, there is no research that proves that students’ needs can be met only when their teacher’s wants are satisfied.
- The cookbook approach may promote a lack of individuality in dealing with students. Some students may have a legitimate reason for refusing to follow a teacher’s demand, or at least a need to explain. Teachers may be so concerned about following the procedures that they ignore these legitimate exceptions.
- The procedure is in direct opposition to the current trend of teaching students how to manage their own behaviors. The teacher is definitely in control and makes all the decisions. [Editor’s note: this is not true. The teacher is merely being clear about the rules and expectations. The child remains in control and can choose to behavior in a manner which causes the consequences to happen. It is often the child’s failure to understand without ambiguity the rules that leads to trouble, which is then escalated by the child’s anger based on the belief (e.g., unfairness) concerning the events in question.]
- The verbal limit-setting procedures may unintentionally reinforce some students, especially students with problems in living who often crave teacher attention even though it is negative.
Although the approach specifically requires that a balance of limit-setting and positive consequences be maintained, the emphasis on negative consequences in the discipline plan may cause teachers to be more negative in their interactions with students.
Summary
Assertive discipline is a systematic approach to behavior management that requires that teachers set the rules, maintain a balance between positive and negative consequences, and be assertive in their verbal communication to make their wants and needs known to the students, parents, and principals. The procedure is used frequently in regular classrooms. In its implementation, the teacher makes the major decisions and expects the students to follow the rules without question. All of the procedures identified as essential competencies for effective discipline are specifically outlined for the teacher. (A book with copies of the discipline plan, parent conference sheets, reinforcement notes, and other necessary instruction is available from Canter and Associates, Los Angeles, California.)