Neuroscience and Teaching Very Difficult Kids by Frew John R.;

Author:Frew, John R.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Published: 2021-03-02T00:00:00+00:00

Punishment

Punishment is an imposition of power over ‘another’ person, the teacher over the student. This intervention is an expression of authority by the teacher who assumes the responsibility for behaviour in the classroom. This power over-limits the options for the student when modifying their behaviour. The student is disempowered, and for those students with severe behaviour disabilities, this reinforces their feelings of inadequacy. For those students who are struggling, the use of punishment is associated with blame and only reinforces their weak sense of self.

In my experience, punishment is often used because the behaviour of the student has threatened the teacher. Students’ behaviour can be very offensive and can threaten those around them. Often the punishment dealt out is a form of revenge resulting from the teacher’s open or concealed anger.

What punishment does is teach the kids what not to do. Their attention is focussed on not being caught misbehaving. The result is that the students will behave when the teacher is present, but when they are away, the kids will revert to their habitual behaviours. They will not have embraced the desired behaviour.

Another problem with punishment is that teachers model behaviour and if the student ‘learns’ that if you want them to do something, you do this by punishing them then the kids will learn to become punitive themselves to get what they want.

Finally, if the teacher controls the class through punishment, students will only learn what they can and can’t do. For the child, it is just too risky to behave outside the known set rules. This approach eliminates initiative, risk-taking and the development of creativity.

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