With this larger view of discipline in mind, one may legitimately introduce into this discussion a reference to those forms of elaborate organization of the school group which are sometimes attempted in the school-city or the school-state. Under these plans the pupils of a school are organized into an imitation city or state patterned after the adult corporation. The purpose of such an experiment is twofold. First, the conduct of a miniature organization prepares the pupils for participation in later life in the duties of citizenship, and second, there grows up a feeling of responsibility for the conditions in the immediate social group. The officers of the school-city are more active than they would otherwise be in restraining their fellows from possible disorder and in promoting acts which redound to the advantage of all.
These elaborate organizations are educational devices which often stimulate great interest and serve their twofold purpose admirably. In general, it must be remembered that a sense of responsibility cannot be cultivated in a day and is not the natural possession of an immature mind. Unless there is constant supervision the school-city is likely to go on the rocks even as a real municipality suffers from the tendency of human nature to backslide. The teacher must bring to the school-city those experiences and those social stimulations which will train and keep alive the community spirit.
It is a mistake to assume that social organization exists only where it finds expression in some such elaborate form as is discussed in the foregoing paragraphs. Social attitudes of some kind are always present. The teacher who leaves the matter to mere chance runs risks. The teacher who overdoes organization suffers from the reaction which commonly follows restraint. The teacher who deals with the situation with plan and foresight may mold the social group into a helpful agency contributing greatly to the work of the school.
Attempts to classify Unruly Members of the Social Group
However carefully the social whole has been organized, there comes a time when an unruly member appears. The teacher’s task is then to defend the group and bring the eccentric member if possible under the influence of the social order.
In a very interesting chapter in his volume on “School Discipline” Professor Bagley has supplied the evidence that no classroom can be regarded as free from the appearance of unruly types of students. Even good teachers of long experience who in general are free from difficulties with the discipline of their classes find it necessary to give special attention to the troublesome types. These types are described by Professor Bagley as including the following: the stubborn pupil who makes difficulty because he is constantly refusing to fit into the social order; the haughty pupil who is not merely conceited but in his ordinary performances disturbs the regular social routine by his overbearing attitude both toward his fellows and his teacher; the self-complacent pupil who cannot be aroused to activity by any of the ordinary inducements that are presented by the school. Other types include the irresponsible pupil, the morose pupil, the hypersensitive pupil, the deceitful pupil, and the vicious pupil.
This collection of unmanageables fortunately does not turn up in any single class at one time, but, as Professor Bagley remarks, it would be unwise for us to leave young teachers with the idea that the appearance of any one of these types is due to the teacher’s inefficiency. Many an efficient young teacher is baffled at the outset by the difficulties of dealing with one or another of these types of students. Professor Bagley made inquiry of some of the best teachers whom he could locate, and found that it is inevitable that pupils of these types are to be found sooner or later in every school. The wise teacher does well to plan in advance for the reception of the particular specimen that is sure to fall to his lot with every ten or twelve pupils.
Impersonal Discipline
The final comment which may be made in this connection is that the teacher must recognize that school discipline is a professional and educational problem, not a matter of purely personal relations between pupil and teacher. The teacher is dealing with a problem of group organization; he cannot allow the fractious pupil to pull him down to the level of a personal controversy. It is difficult at times to keep from the strong emotional reactions which blind the teacher to this objective view of school order, but the efficient teacher will see to it that the group idea and the needs of the social whole guide every act of discipline and reward.
EXERCISES AND READINGS