Transcript Lee Canter Assertive Discipline

Lee Canter
Assertive Discipline
Amanda Cahill
Biography
• Lee attended California State University, then completed
a master’s degree at the University of Southern
California. In 1970 he began serving as a psychiatric
social worker for children in southern California.
• Assertive Discipline has sold more than 1.5 million
copies and trained more than a million teachers.
• Has been a guest on the Today Show, Oprah, and many
other talk shows. He has over forty best selling books.
Basic Tenets
• The classroom has a well developed and meticulously
followed behavior management plan.
• Consequences, both negative and positive, are
predetermined and immediately awarded.
• No student’s behavior is allowed to distract from the
learning of another.
Teacher Responsibilities
• The teacher must have a well formed behavior
management plan before students ever step in the door.
Consequences should be predetermined and fair for all
students.
• Teachers must explain and make sure all students
understand the plan and the consequences.
• Teachers should reward good behavior with immediate
praise to encourage other students to be well behaved.
• Teachers must help their students understand that the
students have a choice to follow the rules, but will face
the repercussions for not doing so.
Student Responsibilities
• Students must learn what is expected of them, and the
penalty for not following the rules.
• Canter believes that students make the choice to
misbehave and should be held responsible.
• Students should encourage each other to be well
behaved, because some teachers use a whole
classroom behavior approach where rewards are given
when the class behaves well as a whole.
Key Vocabulary
• Assertive- a teacher must run her classroom in a firm,
but positive manner.
• Compliance- Students must make a choice to follow the
rules that have been set for them.
• Consequences- Immediately follow a behavior, whether
good or bad. They can consist of time out or a treat
given to a well behaved student.
Pros
• The classroom has fair, well established rules, which
makes students feel safe.
• Students know the consequences for misbehavior and
are held responsible.
• There is no room for argument about punishment , which
can be distracting to other students.
Cons
• Many teachers only follow the negative consequences.
• Some teachers take assertive discipline too far and
create a negative environments.
• Teachers may see physical punishment as an
appropriate form of discipline.