For Word APA version, please click the following link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DtSw9qBruxJ_lD7-3Ns0_X54KMu4W3PqNMfkL74C6YA/edit?usp=sharing
Spirituality Literature Review
Ball State University
EDAC 634- The Adult as the Learner
Sarah Reynolds
|
Commented On: Caroline Heston, Group 4
|
Introduction
Conscious Discipline was created by Becky A. Bailey as a social-emotional program for classroom management. It allows educators to have the skills and knowledge to implement social-emotional learning, discipline, and self-regulation, both for themselves, the classroom, and the students. Becky A. Bailey, Ph.D., is an award-winning author, renowned teacher and internationally recognized expert in childhood education and developmental psychology. She has coordinated a wide variety of models into the Conscious Discipline program so it is a more comprehensive classroom management approach for the educators. It is based on current brain research and child development information. “She promotes systematic changes in schools by fostering the emotional intelligence of teachers first and children second.” (McDaniel, T.R, 2008) Her programs “seek to develop permanent changes by helping teachers move from a traditional compliance model of discipline to a relationship-based community model.” (McDaniel, T.R, 2008) I chose this topic to implement in our Spirituality group because the social-emotional, self-regulated approach for teachers help not only themselves but students connect to their inner-self.
General Themes
Classroom Management
Classroom management is a large topic in the education world. It has been a challenge for teachers and administrators, and often a common reason why they choose to leave the profession. “Recently there has been an increased interest in social and emotional learning and its relationship to improved students behavior, academic outcomes, and emotional health.” (Caldarella, P., Page, N.W., Gunter, L., 2012) Many use the rewards and punishment approach. Such as, if you do a good job you get a piece of candy, sticker, or reward. If you do a bad job you lose recess, or you may move down on whatever rating system the teacher is implementing. This doesn’t address the behavior problems or teach the students anything, which is where social and emotional learning has become more popular. Classroom environments play a large role in the children’s learning, are also there for most of their day, and also has the greatest effect on achievement. “According to Bailey, traditional classroom management is often based on the following assumptions: (a) it is possible to make other people change, (b) the use of external rewards and punishments is foundational to behavior management, and (c) conflict if bad and should be avoided.” (Caldarella, P., Page, N.W., Gunter, L., 2012) Conscious Discipline’s assumptions are the following: “(a) it is impossible to make other people change- people can only change themselves, (b) relationships are foundational to behavioral management and give people the willingness to solve problems, and (c) conflict is a necessary part of learning and an opportunity for teaching and building relationships.” (Caldarella, P., Page, N.W., Gunter, L., 2012) From being in the classroom as a support for teachers, I believe classroom management is the key to having a positive experience for not only the children but the teachers and parents. If we can provide a skill or program to the teachers that they can embrace in their own lives to help achieve success, then it just becomes a part of the classroom management in a healthy way.
Conscious Discipline Brain State Model
The Conscious Discipline design is to first educate the teachers about themselves so they can positively promote change in their classroom environment and help their students recognize their emotions. “Bailey titled the program Conscious Discipline because it fosters the development of a person’s consciousness of his or her own modes of learning, of teaching, and of self.” (Hoffman, L.L, Hutchinson, C.J., Reiss, E. 2005) The approach is: “learning self-composure, the ability to offer encouragement to others, assertiveness, discovering and allowing for choices when allocating tasks, the framing of goals with positive intent, empathy, and couching events as having consequences.” (Hoffman, L.L, Hutchinson, C.J., Reiss, E. 2005) This helps individuals “become more conscious of their inner state, manage their emotions in a healthy and appropriate way, and learn to be proactive- instead of reactive- during difficult situations. Only after teachers have been successful in using these power and skills in their own lives are they able to effectively teach students to use them in their classroom.” (Caldarella, P., Page, N.W., Gunter, L., 2012) This is the framework that Conscious Discipline uses to try to understand what is going on internally. We can learn to consciously manage our own thoughts and emotions learning this model and being more aware. Since spirituality is about being aware and honoring the wholeness and the interconnectedness of all things, I felt this model helped connect to your inner-self and what may be going on. In the Survival State it is your flight, fight, or surrender state. You are often wondering, Am I Safe? During this time a Safe Place has been identified that may have techniques for implementing meditation or breathing rituals such as the pretzel, drain, balloon, or internal breathes to help connect back to yourself. In the Emotional State it is your response to being upset and the way to soothe is through connection. “An upset emotional state is triggered by the world not going our way. It limits our ability to see from another’s point of view.” (Brain State Model. Seven Powers for Conscious Adults. Seven Skills of Discipline. 2017) The Executive State involves problem-solving and learning; asking yourself what can I learn from this? Many of the ways that Conscious Discipline can be incorporated into the lives of adults would be through rituals, such as in spirituality, whether it is in their classrooms or daily lives with breathing techniques from meditation or yoga, songs or sayings to connect the classroom culture together, or establishing routines and rituals with jobs. “When we understand the brain state model, we can clearly see the importance of building our homes, schools and businesses on the core principles of safety, connection and problem-solving.” (Brain State Model. Seven Powers for Conscious Adults. Seven Skills of Discipline. 2017)
Seven Powers for Conscious Adults
“The biggest threat to a child’s sense of safety I an out-of-control adult. The key to safety is a conscious, mindful adult.” (Brain State Model. Seven Powers for Conscious Adults. Seven Skills of Discipline. 2017)
There are seven powers that are promoted and addressed in the program. (Brain State Model. Seven Powers for Conscious Adults. Seven Skills of Discipline. 2017)
- Power of Perception: no one can make you angry without your permission. During this power the goal is to teach adults and children to take responsibility for their own upset.
- Power of Unity: we are all in this together. During this power the goal is to perceive compassionately, and offer compassion to others and to ourselves
- Power of Attention: whatever we focus on, we get more of. During this power the goal is to create images of expected behavior in a child’s brain.
- Power of Free Will: the only person you can change is you. During this power the goal is to learn to connect and guide instead of force and coerce.
- Power of Acceptance: the moment is as it is. During this power the goal is to learn to respond to what life offers instead of attempting to make the world go our way.
- Power of Love: choose to see the best in others. During this power the goal is seeing the best in others keeps us in the higher centers of our brains so we can consciously respond of unconsciously react to life events.
- Power of Intention: mistakes are opportunities to learn. During this power the goal is to teach a new skill rather than punishing others for lacking skills we think they should possess by now.
“Seven Powers for Conscious Adults create long-term, lasting success by guiding us to become conscious, present, attuned and responsive to the needs of ourselves and children.” (Brain State Model. Seven Powers for Conscious Adults. Seven Skills of Discipline. 2017)
Social Emotional Learning and the Seven Skills
“Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process by which children learn to recognize emotions in themselves and others, manage their own emotions, develop empathy, make good decisions, establish constructive friendships, and handle challenges successfully.” (Caldarella, P., Page, N.W., Gunter, L., 2012) Social and emotional tools can help children with skills in emotional regulation, learn appropriate ways to engage socially, become more empathetic towards others, which helps them make and keep friends. Young children don’t have all the skills to communicate how they feel, or even know what emotions and thoughts they have to regulate different behaviors. If the teacher can be more aware of how to help their social and emotional needs then they could focus more on what is happening in the classroom, which improves academics and hopefully decreases behaviors. The seven skills emerge from the previously mentioned seven powers. They address a conscious skill, incorporate a life/communication skill, and what value it brings. The skills and values are the following: composure (integrity), encouragement (interdependence, optimism, gratitude), assertiveness (respect for self and others), choices (persistence), empathy (honoring diversity, honesty), positive intent (compassion, generosity) and consequences (responsibility). “Conscious Discipline’s original application is in the classroom, but these methods apply seamlessly to all human interactions.” (Brain State Model. Seven Powers for Conscious Adults. Seven Skills of Discipline. 2017) These skills and powers can be applied to many relationships and also many can use these skills, such as parents and children.
Implications
As previously mentioned, there are seven basic powers for self-control and seven basic skills for discipline with the Conscious Discipline program. “Teachers who master these skills will also know how to transform moments of conflict into teaching opportunities for themselves and for their students.” (Caldarella, P., Page, N.W., Gunter, L., 2012) Conscious Discipline can help measure many different areas when implicated correctly. Depending on what you want the outcomes to be, teacher or child, there is a tool or way to evaluate it. The first, and most important implication, is to have the educators/teachers trained correctly and intentionally so it is best embraces and implemented. Outcomes from one study where Conscious Discipline was implicated were: “Most participants also agreed that the program had a positive effect on their students and themselves.” “Many indicated that the program had helped them personally in their ability to regulate their own emotions.” “Many respondents also indicated that the program has positively impacted their relationships with spouses, children, and grandchildren.” (Caldarella, P., Page, N.W., Gunter, L., 2012)
Reflections
I really enjoyed looking into Conscious Discipline again while thinking about spirituality and the wholeness of one’s self being. When I was a behavior specialist for Head Start we were to implement this program for our children we would get behavior consults for. Unfortunately we didn’t get training like we should have, so it was self-directed learning with YouTube videos and a text book. I believe that had we had the training it would have benefited myself, as well as allowed me to help the educators embrace a few techniques to help in the class. I believe it has to be implemented by the educators so it changes the classroom environment so having all staff go through training would have been the most effective. Working online with a group is hard because I prefer face to face, but through group calls, calls and text of encouragement, I think we will do great with the program. I still have no knowledge of the blogging but has helped to learn through peers.
Table
Themes
|
Application in practice
|
Classroom Management
|
Educators will have a series of workshops to provide classroom management and social and emotional techniques to better the lives of themselves and students
|
Conscious Discipline Brain State Model
|
Focus on the internal states first and the behavior second. Key states talked about are Survival State (Safety), Emotional State (Connection) and Executive State (Problem-Solving)
|
Seven Powers for Conscious Adults
|
Identifying the seven powers with the ideas and goals of each. Help to establish a positive foundation for the individual and then for the group as well. Powers are: perception, unity, attention, free will, acceptance, love, and intention.
|
Seven Skills and Social Emotional Learning
|
Identifies key skills to train educators on: composure, encouragement, assertiveness, choices, positive intent, empathy, and consequences. Educators with more knowledge will be able to teach children to recognize emotions, develop empathy, make good decisions, establish constructive friendships, and handle challenges successfully
|
References
Brain State Model. Seven Powers for Conscious Adults. Seven Skills of Discipline. (2017). Conscious Discipline Methodology and Structures. Retrieved 10/1/2017 from https://consciousdiscipline.com/methodology/
Caldarella, P., Page, N.W., Gunter, L., (2012). Early Childhood Educators’ Perceptions of Conscious Discipline. Retrieved 9/17/2017 from http://bsu.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/
Hoffman, L.L, Hutchinson, C.J., Reiss, E. (2005). Training teachers in Classroom Management: Evidence of Positive Effects on the Behavior of Difficult Children. Retrieved 9/20/2017 from https://consciousdiscipline.com/training-teachers-in-classroom-management-evidence-of-positive-effects-on-the-behavior-of-difficult-children/.
McDaniel, T.R., (2008). Review of Conscious Discipline: 7 Basic Skills for Brain Smart Classroom Management. Retrieved 9/17/2017 from http://bsu.summon.serialssolutions.com/#!/
No comments:
Post a Comment