Jacob S. Kounin

Classroom Management Techniques

Who is Kounin?

● Kounin is a classroom behaviourist theorist ● Best known for his two studies done in 1970● He wrote the book, "Discipline and Group

Management in Classrooms" ● Kounin worked to combine both discipline and

learning in the classroom● Kounin believed that organization and planning

are key to engaging students● This relationship is characterized by proactive

teacher behaviour along with student involvement in learning

Rationale● Focuses on preventative discipline: using

techniques and strategies to prevent misbehaviours from occurring.

Case Study:

● Give suggestions of what proactive discipline is.

● Examples of proactive discipline (what does it look like in the classroom?)

Achieving Classroom Management Through Preventative Discipline

Key Ideas:● Ripple Effect● “Withitness”● Overlapping● Movement Management

○ Smoothness○ Momentum○ Group Focus and Accountability

Strategy 1: Ripple Effect

● By correcting the misbehaviour of one student it can positively influence the behaviour of another

Strategy 2: ‘Withitness’

● Awareness of what is going on in all parts of the classroom.

○ Teachers have eyes on the back of their heads!● Classroom layout benefits the teachers

ability to see all students at all times.

Strategy 3: Overlapping

● When teachers can effectively tend to two or more events simultaneously.

● Students are more likely to stay on task if they know that the teacher is aware of what they are doing (body language).

Strategy 4: Movement Management

● Smoothness:○ Smooth transitions between activities.

● Momentum:○ Appropriate pace and progression through a

lesson.● Group Focus and Accountability:

○ Keep the whole class involved and interested.

When Managing the Classroom, Try to AVOID

● Dangling: ○ Teacher leaves a topic and introduces

new, unrelated material

● Flip-flop: ○ like dangling, except that the teacher

inserts left-over materials from a previous lesson

Avoid…● Thrust:

○ teacher forgets to give clear instructions at the appropriate time of a lesson.

○ Teacher must then re-explain the instructions to each student on an individual level.

● Stimulus-bound:○ Teacher is distracted by an outside stimulus and

draws the class’s attention to it.

Classroom Applications● Be aware of what is happening around the

classroom.● Intervene before misbehaviours escalate.● Use routines, explanations and smooth

transitions to gain the attention of the students.● Keep all students involved through constant

supervision and accountability.● Reduce off task behaviour and boredom by

creating challenges, extending tasks, providing progress and adding variety.

● Be able to attend to more than one event at the same time.

Note: Classroom management is most effective when these applications are applied at the beginning of the school year.

ReferencesKounin 1970http://www.educ.uvic.ca/epls/faculty/rowles/kounin1.htm

Jacob Kouninhttp://scied.gsu.edu/Hassard/mos/10.2.html

Kounin, Jacob from WikEdhttp://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Kounin,_Jacob

Learning Environment Article from The Premiere Website for Health and PhysicalEducation http://www.pecentral.org/climate/april99article.html

Maine Education Associationhttp://www.maine.nea.org/index.htm

The Kounin Model from Approaches to Disciplinehttp://www.solwebs.net/sgfl/teaching/discplan/koun1.htm

West Dunbartonshire Councilhttp://www.wdcweb.info/home/