Classroom discipline: theory and practice

Classroom discipline is a complex issue and a key concern for teachers, school administrators, students and parents. The issue also attracts significant attention from the public and from the media. Researchers in fields such as psychology, economics, school administration and sociology have provided numerous explanatory models of classroom discipline and behavior. In this chapter, classroom discipline is presented in the framework of the broader concept of classroom teaching. Several important but often-ignored causes of classroom discipline (e.g., the culture, and academic achievement), as well as their likely consequences for students’ classroom behavior, are also examined. Throughout the chapter, more effective and less effective methods of dealing with classroom discipline are explored and discussed. General conclusions resulting from the revision of the previous literature on classroom discipline are presented at the end of the chapter.