Discipline or Punishment?

When it comes to the question of discipline or punishment, I believe there really is no question when it comes to the classroom setting. Part of our occupation as a teacher is to do just that: teach. I do not believe that punishment in any form has qualities that work in a teaching manner. The act of discipline however, does.

Like Niomie talked about in her blog posts, I think that the discipline is much more complicit with choice than punishment is. The way I see it, discipline is more or a preventative measure while punishment is an immediate act as a result of something. By punishing someone, they do not have a choice on how to act, rather they are faced with an immediate reaction to something they have done/something that has happened. Discipline however is an obvious progression of actions which allows a student to know immediately that they are doing something wrong, and the option to stop is open.

Referring back to last week’s reading from Mamchur: “Choice is important in education. It is the springboard to though, the training group for responsible adulthood. But informed choice is even better” (61). I feel that discipline does just that: informs choice. By allowing a student to see that what they are doing is wrong by simple disciplinary actions and statements, a teacher is allowing them the chance to adjust their actions accordingly. These choices are informed by the way in which a teacher disciplines the student. Punishment would not allow for this, and choice is eliminated completely in an immediate act of punishment.

Now I realize that the next step after a student chooses not to change their actions after disciplinary measures are taken is usually punishment, so I suppose clarification is needed here. This is something I am unsure of myself, however perhaps punishment is needed is disciplinary actions fail? But what if a teacher’s way of disciplining is at fault for the lack of change in a student’s behavior? In the end, I guess I am still confused about how this would play out, but I do feel that is disciplinary action is carried out to no prevail that there must be something to conclude misbehavior, and perhaps that does have to be punishment.