Fay and Funk (1995) in their book “Teaching with Love and Logic: Taking Control of the Classroom” state that love and logic are the new approaches used in teaching, which differ from the authoritative teaching ways in the past. Discipline comes in the form of : delayed consequences, providing choices with limits and applying consequences with empathy.
Love and logic are important to classroom management because they encourage self-concept, shared control, consequences with empathy, and shared thinking.
In teaching, it is not enough to use logic alone or emotions such as love alone. Both must go hand in hand in order to effectively impose discipline on the student.
In disciplining the student, love alone would make the teacher weak. Logic alone would make her almost heartless and unforgiving. With both, there is balance. The teacher is also better able to assess the situation and impose what she/he deems to be necessary consequences for behaviors.
Delayed Consequences
Delayed consequence is when a teacher gives the student a chance before imposing discipline. For instance, if they student is uncooperative in school tasks, he/she must first be given a fair warning.
A teacher need not react on every misbehaving behavior. She should first warn the student about it and point out to him/her where she/he had done wrong. Consequences should be a last resort not the first course of action.
The next time the student is uncooperative the teacher could impose consequences for his actions such as giving him/her a low grade on participation. This is done in order to emphasize the teacher's disapproval on the student's deliberate act of misbehaving.
Delayed consequences become effective if the student receives guidance. This is the point where the teacher tells the student right from wrong, help them take responsibility for their acts and aid them in relating well with others. The end goal of consequences is to teach self-worth, problem solving, self-control, confidence and respect.
- Consequences With Empathy
Educators are aware that punishment and threats produce no positive results. They could even be counterproductive. Making students suffer for their mistakes does not guarantee that they will change for the better. Punishment may result in temporary compliance but this cannot make students become ethical decision makers later. Consequences in the form of punishment for wrongdoing often cause anger even revenge. Consequences make use of power instead of reason in nurturing the relationship of the student and teacher (Smith, 2003).
Not having consequences for wrongdoing is also detrimental to the development of the student. Correcting errors is a necessary part of instruction. If the student is not disciplined this could have negative impact in his/her attitude development and in social adjustments later.
Consequences with empathy are the more acceptable form of punishment. It means imposing punishments that are not too harsh or within reasonable bounds. A student should be made to understand why he/she is being punished and for what action. This way, he/she could understand the implications of his/her actions and would refrain to do them again in the future (Smith, 2003).
- Punishment vs. Discipline
Discipline means a positive way of teaching a student self-control and confidence. Punishment is one of the methods used in discipline. Punishment could be physical or psychological. Physical punishment involves spanking. Psychological punishment comes in the form of disapproval, loss of privileges and others (Milne, 2007).
The important aspect of discipline is teaching the proper behavior. Students must be taught what behaviors are expected and allowed. Discipline is more concerned with how a child behaves in the present and how to encourage the child to behave in a certain way in the future. Punishment, on the other hand, focuses on past behaviors and does not help the child change his/her behavior in the future (Milne, 2007).
Discipline is necessary to teach the student self-control and responsibility for their actions. Children that are disciplined understand their behavior better, are independent and respect people and themselves. If punishment is often used to discipline the child, the person becomes responsible for the child's behavior. Children who are repetitively punished may view the people with authority in their lives as someone who can inflict pain on them (Milne, 2007).
