The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion (REFLECTION)

The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion.

            William Glasser introduces the difference between a boss-manager and a lead-manager. The book begins with a brief description of failing boss-managers and successful lead-managers.

There are four essential elements of lead-managing tackled in the book. First, the lead-teacher engages in discussions with students of quality work while making an effort to fit the job to the skills and needs of the learner. Secondly, the lead-teacher models high expectations of work while gaining input on the assignment or project. Thirdly, the lead-teacher asks the students to evaluate their work for quality while understanding the high quality work may be different for each student. Lastly, the lead-teacher must provide a classroom atmosphere that is non-coercive and non-adversarial.

The Quality School is an extension of William Glasser’s book Choice Theory (P. 39). The choice theory involves self-control of our own behavior so that what we choose to do is the most need-satisfying thing we can do at the time. Choice theory is the explanation of this constant attempt to control both ourselves and others, even though in practice we can control only ourselves. Choice theory contents that all human beings are born with five basic needs built into their genetic structure: survival, love, power, fun, and freedom.  In all of our lives we must attempt to live in a way that will best satisfy one or more of these needs. As a teacher this knowledge will be essential to the success of students. If what we ask to our students to do in school does not satisfy one or more of their needs or if they do not care about us, then they will do the task poorly or maybe not at all. This has tremendous application for me as a teacher. In order to practice this theory, I must be a good teacher by teaching survival and caring skills, becoming a good friend, sharing a few laughs, and giving students/colleagues the freedom to learn as they see best. These essential elements will carry on with me after reading this book as well as the message that the essence of good managing is caring and hard work (Glasser, 1990, p. 39).

            In a Quality School according to Glasser, relationships are based upon trust and respect, and all discipline problems have been eliminated although some incidents may still occur. Quality of work is stressed than the quantity of work. Students must be asked only to complete useful work – need satisfying work. This has huge help for me as a teacher. This changes the entire system of school success and failures. As a teacher, I must explain what I mean by quality work and post quality papers for students to inspect. This also applies in giving works as model to my students. Although, I do not think I can assume the grading system of Glasser’s Quality School approach I do want to offer some power to the students in the scoring process to give emphasis in self-evaluation. I will encourage students to be the judge of their quality work as much as I am. After sharing examples, guiding and modeling I believe I can encourage a marking system for students to convey their opinion on the quality of the project. This will be a good means of communication regarding whether I am challenging them enough.

Glasser also suggested five conditions so that quality becomes part of the work habits in an organization.

1.      Quality is always a product of warm, caring human relationship.

2.      Quality is always useful in many ways. It never destructive either to individual or to society.

3.      Quality is the best that everyone in the organization, working both separately and together, can achieve at any particular time. A quality organization never settles for less.

4.      Quality can always be improved no matter how good it is at any time. A quality organization is always alert for ways to improve what it does and how it does it.

5.      Quality always feels good, and greater the quality, the longer the good feeling lasts.

If organization’s leaders have the goal of producing quality products or services and they agree to include the conditions that Glasser gave, then success in reaching quality will depend on how well these conditions can be put into practice.

Another thing that I admire to Glasser is his thinking that students must be taught that they are responsible for all that goes on within their school. For example, the students must be taught how the school is maintained and asked to figure out ways in which they could aid not only in maintenance but in the improvement of the physical plant. Students must be asked to take responsibility for each other. If we have responsible students, they must be given the chances and experiences to do all they can to make their school the best possible place it can be. They will learn good citizenship through studying and assuming their responsibilities as part of the school community.

            Lastly, Glasser discussed several strategies and activities that encourage quality work from students. Cooperative learning is already part of my classroom, yet incorporating self-evaluation of quality work is not. I envision every student making a visual representation of their future occupation and using it as a constant reminder of why to participate in quality work.  I hope that these additions will help me to obtain quality work from those around me by eliminating coercion from my class room and school. Glasser’s book has tremendously impacted my outlook on teaching and leading.

Glasser And Other Contemporary Books

According to David Perkins in his book, Smart Schools: From Training memories to Educating Minds, learners must be exposed in school that are full of thought.  These schools are focus not just on schooling memories but on schooling minds. These schools, as he say it, is called “smart schools”. Today, we need educational settings with thinking-centered learning, where students learn by thinking through what they are learning about (Brown in Perkins, p.7).

Smart schools, as described by Perkins, exhibited by three characteristics:

• Informed. Administrators, teachers and indeed students in the smart school know a lot about human thinking and learning and how it works best. They know a lot about school structure and collaboration and how that works best.
• Energetic. The smart school requires spirit as much as information. In the smart school, measures are taken to cultivate positive energy in the structure of the school, the style of administration, and the treatment of teachers and students.
• Thoughtful. Smart schools are thoughtful places, in the double sense of caring and mindful. First of all, people are sensitive to one another’s needs and treat others thoughtfully. Second, both the teaching-learning process and school decision-making processes are thinking centered.

Dr. Cristy Folsom in her TIEL (Teaching for Intellectual and Emotional) 

Learning)model provides  educators with a map that guides them in developing curriculum, instruction, and a learning environment that better prepares students with complex skills they will need in the expanded educational and vocational landscape (Folsom, 2009).

Complex teaching and learning, according to Darling-Hammond (1997, as cited by Folsom) involves conscious integration of intellectual and social-emotional processes (p. 32). This will help learners have awareness in their own thinking and learning by giving them opportunities in developing their self-management skills of decision making, planning and self-evaluation in the classroom. Dr. Folsom said that by using the TIEL framework, teachers could create lesson plans that would help students retain knowledge longer while developing their thinking skills and social-emotional characteristics.

Traditionally, the principal leads the school much as the captain of a ship commands the crew. Contemporary lessons from the business and school communities alike suggest that a strongly hierarchical, non-participatory process of governance misses opportunities. Significant teachers, parents, and indeed student’s participation in school governance can boost motivation and involvement and harvest everyone’s intelligence toward the good of the enterprise. It means that the smart school needs to foster a thoughtful involvement not just for students in their classrooms but for the adults committed to the school as well. With this research the school administration will become more aware to energize the whole school community to establish a thoughtful environment among its members.

William Glasser is a psychiatrist who for many years has consulted and spoken extensively on issues related to quality education. He was first trained to be a chemical engineer, but later turned to psychology and then to psychiatry (Glasser, 1977). Glasser soon extended his ideas from reality therapy to the education. His work with juvenile offenders further convinced him that teachers could help students make better choices about their school behavior. Glasser insisted that teachers should never excuse bad student behavior. Poor background or undesirable living conditions do not exempt students from their responsibility to learn and to behave properly in school. This point of view, together with practical advice for carrying it out, was set forth in Glasser's book Schools Without Failure (1969). In 1985, Glasser published a book entitled Control Theory in the Classroom, in which he gave a new emphasis to his idea that “If students are to continue working and behaving properly, they must "believe that if they do some work, they will be able to satisfy their needs enough so that it makes sense to keep working." Glasser thus has put much greater emphasis than before on the school's role in meeting basic student needs, as a prime factor in discipline and work output. This theme is furthered in Glasser's 1990 book, The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion. 

REFERENCES

Perkins, David (1992). Smart Schools: From Training Memories to Educating Minds. The Free Press. New York.

Folsom, Christy (2009). Teaching for Intellectual and Emotional Learning (TIEL): a model for creating powerful curriculum. Rowman and Littlefield Education.

Glasser, W. (1990). The Quality School: Managing Students without Coercion. New York: Harper and Row.

http://www.donpugh.com/Psych%20Interests/discipline/The%20Glasser%20Model.pdf