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What about sanctions?

You are well aware that any teacher who bases classroom management around the use of punishments (nowadays generally known as sanctions) is not only going to have a very negative classroom climate, but is also going to create problems for him or herself.

In this topic you'll be looking at three main issues:

drawbacks of sanctions
sanctions available to you
principles to follow
Drawbacks of sanctions
Kyriacou gives a useful summary of the drawbacks in using punishment: (1995, 97)

they are an inappropriate role model for human relationships
they increase anxiety and resentment
they have a short-lived effect
they encourage pupils to develop their own strategies to avoid getting caught
they may suppress misbehaviour but they do not promote good behaviour
they do not deal with the cause of the misbehaviour
they focus attention on the misbehaviour.
Remember that pupil resentment may extend from the teacher to the subject, as some of you may recall from your own schooldays.

"In first year I had a temporary maths teacher and during that period my fondness of maths disintegrated into disgust for the subject as well as for the teacher." Year 2 student

"I no longer pursued science for my leaving cert" as a result of such an inadequate teacher….with the personality of a" retired army sergeant" Year 2 student

However, there may be occasions when a pupil is continuously disruptive, and reprimands do not seem to work. What then can you do?

Before you administer any form of sanction or punishment you need to be fully conversant with the school’s code of discipline.

If your actions are totally out of line with the normal policy of the school (for example if you attempt to enforce detention where no other teachers do so) you are likely to encounter severe resistance from pupils, and little support from other teachers. So the first thing is to be absolutely clear about the school rules - and to know whether the written rules are in fact enforced.

What kinds of sanctions should you avoid?
Jot down YOUR ideas
Then look at OUR COMMENT

The question of sanctions is a very difficult one and no set of sanctions can be prescribed without taking the school, classroom and pupil into consideration. It is vital that you discuss these issues with the other teachers before imposing any serious sanctions yourself.

Kinds of sanctions available to you
Remember first of all that you need to pre-empt the problem as far as possible, with preparedness, supportive management and preventive management. You must then try to deal with the problem behaviour yourself, before referring it to another teacher for further action. The kinds of sanctions which may be available to a subject teacher (as compared with a class tutor, or year tutor) are the following:

reprimand
change of location or isolation within the classroom
removal of privileges
supervised detention (generally with 24 hours notice and a note to parents)
consultation with class tutor.
Following this level, the class tutor may decide to write to parents to request a meeting. It would not be appropriate for you as a student teacher to be involved in this.

Problems may arise with detention and you need to be very familiar with the school’s attitude towards it. Who will supervise it? How much notice is given? What about school buses? What are pupils given as tasks?

Pollard & Trigg (1997, 379) quote a very interesting reflective note on detention, written by an experienced teacher. The teacher decided to do something useful with the time and divided the boys into two categories:

boys who failed to submit homework (to whom he gave help which he found worked very well)
pupils who misbehaved (who were asked to do the kind of thing which makes young people feel better about themselves e.g. talking about and writing about their greatest achievement in a group). They found this very demanding and the sessions did help to diminish their misbehaviour in class.
There was a rather surprising finding:

"Pupils told me they sometimes misbehaved in order to be put in detention. When I asked why, they said it gave you a chance to talk to teachers. It seemed they craved adult attention even when it was adverse. Boys who lacked confidence in their ability asked if they could come to detention to do homework." (Lovey, 1966, cited in Pollard & Trigg, 1997, 380)

Principles to follow
The Department of Education M33/91 circular advocates that sanctions should contain a degree of flexibility, that misbehaviour should be checked immediately after it occurs, and that the rules of natural justice should apply. The circular also specifically states "Pupils who are removed from class should not be left in an unsupervised situation." (p4)

For a serious offence, this may mean a meeting with a parent in attendance as well as the pupil, the teacher and the school Principal. Within the classroom, this should at least allow the pupil the chance to respond to the case made against them, where some form of sanction is being administered. It is quite possible that a teacher may have misread the situation and ends up punishing one pupil for a misdemeanour which in fact involved others.

Kyriacou (1995, 100) sets out a list of points to consider in relation to sanctions:

In the vast majority of cases, punishment should only be used where other strategies have been tried first. Punishment should be used sparingly.
They should be given as soon as possible after the event.
Punishment should result from the misbehaviour and the effects on the class, not from you losing your cool or being vindictive.
The punishment "should fit the crime" and should also take the context into account.
The pupil should accept that the punishment is fair and just.
It should fall within the overall school code of discipline/policy.
It should not be pleasant for the pupil. Kyriacou points out that some pupils may enjoy certain punishments e.g. being sent out of the classroom.
At times you may feel that you are forced to give sanctions, rather than making empty t

Has anyone here ever had the cane?

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