Haim Ginott's Theory Analysis

THEORIES

As stated earlier, the Circle of Courage identifies four universal growth needs in children – belonging, mastery, independence and generosity (MacDonald, 2013, p. 7). The elements of the Circle of Courage are reflected in psychologist’s Haim Ginott’s philosophies around the relationships between adults and children. Ginott believes that children should be treated with dignity and compassion, therefore, the adult’s approach to communication with the child should be both explicit and respectful. This philosophy provides the framework for a major element of Ginott’s theory, “Congruent Communication” which states that "what counts most in adult-child communication is the quality of the process.” Ginott further advises to speak to the

6). The learner’s self-efficacy and self-esteem is built primarily on the child’s interactions with others – parents, peers, teachers and other significant adults and for children to develop a healthy concept of self, Rogers reflects, as did Ginott, teachers must develop good communication skills that convey positive messages. Rogers believes that the development of not only the emotional security of a child but also their moral development, personal maturation and socialisation are all affected by discipline. Rogers defines discipline as leading, guiding, directing and motivating and suggests that discipline can be broken into three types - preventative, corrective and supportive (Rogers, p. 5). “Preventative discipline” involves the development of effective teaching strategies, tactics, organisation and planning by the teacher. Understanding the power of words and what teachers model to the learner Rogers terms “corrective discipline” and lastly, “supportive discipline” is described as creating a positive and enriched learning environment that also includes the student in developing resolutions to discipline issues (Rogers p. 4). However, Rogers asserts, it is the teacher’s philosophical position, both implicit and explicit, that will be

Further, Kohn asserts that it is the role of the teacher to develop the young person holistically and not just academically, helping them to become ethical people who do not merely blindly obey (Kohn, 1996 blog). One of the more contentious elements of Kohn’s educational philosophy is his assertion that it is product-focussed education that is failing to provide meaningful learning in our classrooms and holds firmly the view that it is the act and process of learning that brings the reward not grades. Whilst Kohn does concede that meaningful learning can be difficult to quantify and impratical, he encourages teachers to be courageous educators, to ask the difficult questions, to be reflective and take responsibility for their own practice in their pursuit to develop lifelong learners, ethical humans, and passionate, deep