There are so many interesting facts I learned from this course. I didn’t know that 2.2 million adults were incarcerated in 2010 and that almost 1.5 of them males and about 1 million were black. I didn’t even know what juvenile detention was before taking this course. But I’m a little confused, if most places don’t give treatment to those in juvenile detention, then why is it so expensive? Before this course, I also hadn’t heard that fathers and teachers are considered the ones to blame for the high incarceration rate.
Reflecting on the course, what I found to be most helpful is the chapter on the 7 stages of Negative Behavior Correction. Too many times a student will come back to class after being sent out for inappropriate behavior only to repeat the same behavior the next day. It is frustrating as a teacher! Administration needs to follow the steps to correct the behavior. Assigning detention for the same behavior over and over is not going to correct the behavior. I really think the first stage is so important. Accepting responsibility for their behavior and understanding why the behavior is wrong will hold the student accountable. It might take more time in the beginning but will help in the long run because they won’t continue seeing the same student with the same behavior in the office and that student losing classroom instruction daily.
I remember one year at our intro faculty meeting, the principal commenting on this very thing. It’s the same repeat offenders doing 90% of the discipline infractions. Obviously whatever they’re doing is NOT working. Besides, most behaviors are a symptom of a greater problem.
One thing I found especially interesting from the book and video lectures was Dr. Jackson’s insistence that college is for everyone. A college degree is not for everyone, but some post-secondary education – training, classes, certificates, etc – is required to have success in today’s modern economy. That also relates to his ideas about a teacher’s job from the government’s perspective – make taxpayers. So if I’m going to be successful as a teacher, I need to make sure my students get through high school with the tools they need to be productive members of society.