Positive Discipline At Roosevelt*

Upon my arrival to Roosevelt Elementary as Principal, the discipline plan focused on external rewards and punishment. The rewards consisted of little cards that were given to students for good behavior. (If a child did anything good they expected a card.) These cards were put in a pot, ten cards were pulled weekly and a prize was given. On the last day of school there was an awards assembly with about twenty cards pulled out for larger prizes from a garbage can full of cards. Consequences were in the form of removal from the classroom, in and out of school suspensions, as well as spending time in "The Center". An Educational Assistant staffed "The Center". She helped students removed from the classroom with schoolwork, apology letters or scripts of the broken rule and what they should have done. There were scripts for virtually every occasion.

During the first month of school, I went into "The Center" during recess and found eighteen students packed in the little room, which ideally accommodated no more than ten students. When I questioned these students, very few knew why they had been sent to "The Center" or how long they would be removed from their classes. That was the day I knew Roosevelt's student intervention program should change. I also knew it would not be easy as "The Center" was the only thing teachers told me should remain the same when I became Principal thirty days before.

It took me one year with the old discipline policy to create a climate that saw the need for change. A committee was formed that investigated different discipline policies. After many hours of research and discussion, a small majority chose Positive Discipline. As Principal, this was not the start I wanted. However, I did want to make the change before the beginning of the following school year. Training began before our school year with one and a half days devoted to learning about the program.

During the training I wish I could say every teacher was on board and that there was an immediate transformation, but that is not true. As I looked at the faces of teachers I knew some participated half-heartedly; however the experiential lessons moved some teachers from the unwilling to the willing to try it out. My hard-core teachers, who did not see the need for change, did not change that first year. I have seen most resisters gradually adopt therapeutic time out or "Hawaii", peace table and our wheel of choice because it is more effective. Classroom meetings are the norm at Roosevelt. Although, again there are pockets of resistance, most teachers have classroom meetings and marvel at the improved classroom climate. As the Principal, everyday I see situations that show me Positive Discipline is making a huge difference in the ability of our children to communicate their feelings, use strategies to solve interpersonal problems, and be more empathic to the problems of others. I also believe this strategic thinking is helping them in their schoolwork.

Today I had several experiences that showed me the power of Positive Discipline. I was in the lunchroom and a little girl came up to me and said, "I gave George three ‘I' statements and he still will not stop bugging me." Last year, this little girl (I will call Mary) would have retaliated by knocking this boy off his lunch bench. It was interesting to me that the real problem and outrage was not the irritating actions, rather the fact that he was not listening to her even after three "I" statements. When I spoke with the boy, his defense was that Mary only offered one "I" statement and he most certainly would have responded to three. He quickly said he would stop the behavior and that he "...didn't really hear her the first time." Both of these third graders would have escalated into a verbal or physical fight two years ago.

In a pre-observation meeting with a teacher I asked, "Is there anything you would like me to watch for and give you feedback on?" She said, "In our last classroom meeting there were students that felt they were not called on unless they were not ready. And other students who felt they were called on too much." She requested when I come in, I watch the way she called on children. First, I know the conversation between the students and the teacher would not have taken place before Positive Discipline. Secondly, if an individual student had bought this up to this teacher she probably would have felt defensive or disrespectfully disregarded the comment. I believe this conversation represents a huge climate change of respect between teachers and students at Roosevelt.

It is not unusual for me to sit down with students at a Peace Table to solve problems and have them begin before I say anything at all. They understand the need to state the problem from their perspective, listen to the other student(s), name some acceptable solutions and then choose one solution. Sometimes they agree all would work and they will do them all. Even when children are upset most understand the need to listen to ensure that the other person will listen to them. This did not happen two years ago.

Another change is our parents. Our school counselor works with parents individually to help them resolve communication problems with their children. At the last PTSA meeting she presented some Positive Discipline concepts, which included the Mistaken Goals Chart. This was the most attended PTSA meeting we had all year, with several couples attending. At a parent and teacher Technology Committee meeting, we were discussing something where respect of materials was bought up. Out of the blue a parent said she thought Positive Discipline was extremely important to her children and one of the best things about Roosevelt.

Cultures do not manifest complete change over night or even over two years, but at Roosevelt the process has begun. Now our community of students, teachers and parents work to act in a respectful manner for a more effective academic environment. We now have the knowledge and skills to interact with each other in a way to support one other, thereby achieving a win/win situation. Before Positive Discipline at Roosevelt, respect was a word, now it is actions.


*Note: The name of this 500-student elementary school has been changed in this letter. 30% of the schools students qualify for free and reduced lunch. If you are interested in contacting the principal of "Roosevelt" to talk about implementing Positive Discipline at your school please first contact Jody McVittie at jmcvittie@att.net