Book Review
Modern Approach to Classroom Discipline and Management:
Prevention and Intervention Strategies for Students with Behavioral Problems
Edwin Earl Felix, Ph.D.
Xlibris, 188 pages, (paperback) $19.99, 978-1-4568-2430-3
(Reviewed: September, 2011)
This work looks at a crucial and contentious aspect of education: how good educators can minimize disruptive behavior in the classroom.
To address this issue, Felix compiles an encyclopedic reference of modern research on classroom management. He touches on the student-teacher relationship, the school-student relationship, as well as the school-parent connection. According to Felix, the hallmark of the modern approach to classroom discipline is the paradigm shift away from a behaviorist "teacher control" method to a more constructivist "student control" approach to classroom management. Students, according to Felix, need to feel they belong and are trusted to make positive choices for themselves. To this end, teachers should invite students into meaningful classroom relationships and even into the process of rule setting. Focus should be on strengthening positive behavior, and misbehavior should be regarded as a student's cry for help.