Strategies to Maintain Discipline at School When one hears the word discipline, the first thought that probably comes to one’s mind is correcting a child for inappropriate behavior or the punishment meted out for breaking rules, and sadly while that may be true in most cases, there’s more to discipline than just that. Importance of Discipline. A society that lacks discipline leads to lawlessness, chaos and in extreme scenarios can even cause civil unrest. As such,the importance of discipline cannot be undermined. Nothing can ever be achieved without discipline. It is only with discipline that an individual, community, or nation can truly prosper. Disciplining a child at the right time and in the right manner, helps shape, build and improve the character of the child, making him/her independent, self-reliant and confident . A child who is well- disciplined is a source of joy, comfort and pride to the family at home and needless to say to the teacher in the class room. The process of training and disciplining a child starts at home but with most families, including educated ones, at a loss on how to discipline a child, the responsibility ends up with the larger family, that is the school, having to play a more prominent role in imparting discipline and helping children master or live by it. This, however, does not exempt the parents from playing their part. Like any other habit or trait, discipline can be learnt and needs to be inculcated with proper guidance. Discipline, both at home and at school, ensures a safe and protected environment that promotes an atmosphere of well being and happiness with the child being made to feel secure. Such an environment is conducive to learning. So the question arises what steps can one take to discipline a child at school? How to Maintain Discipline? Broadly speaking, research shows that there are three main strategies or approaches to School or Class- Room discipline. They are Preventive Discipline, Supportive Discipline, and Corrective Discipline Simply put, the best way to maintain discipline is to take Preventive measures, that includes Establishing School Rules, Proper Planning and Organization of school and classroom activities, Regular Communication with parents, making expectations of School/Classroom Behaviour known clearly, and Engaging Students in activities, to name a few. Involvement of parents and school counselors is crucial. Most important among these is providing guide lines and explaining clearly acceptable and inacceptable conduct and rules regarding permissible voice levels in class, home- work and class work completion, handwriting and use of language etc. This could be done at the beginning of the session, and by repeating it at the start of each day at the school Assembly, or at the start of every period if necessary. Posting classroom rules in a visible location, and making known the consequence of undesirable or negative behaviour is also necessary, as is rewarding a student for good behavior. A teacher needs to plan and work hard to make her class interactive and engage students by using multi-media, and including games, online quizzes, competitions and the like. It is always advisable to have a backup plan when things don’t seem to be going his way or work out as one would like it to. Establishing a relationship with the student and understanding the child’s needs, yet at the same time maintaining distance, is crucial. Teachers need to be a good role model, one whom the child looks up to and will readily obey. Supportive Discipline is measures taken to assist students with self-control after or when misbehavior occurs, by helping them to stop doing what they are and get back on task at hand. Teachers need to be alert and attentive at all times and anticipate problems before they can actually happen, giving warnings or signs and suggestions for correction of disruptive behaviour. They may also show students the right way of doing things and explain the reasons behind the need to obey rules. Keeping parents informed of every small or big act of transgression is recommended as it helps the student understand the gravity or seriousness of the issue. Corrective Discipline is action taken when despite efforts at preventive and supportive discipline, a student has erred. This should be done with the objective of correcting the undesirable trait or habit and not punish the child as it were. When administering discipline, the nature or seriousness of the act, a student’s age group, background, physical and emotional health and other such factors need to be taken into consideration and strategy adapted accordingly. What works for one will not necessarily work for the other. To conclude, School disciplinary action is essential in creating and providing a supportive and safe school climate. Positive disciplinary strategies are to be preferred for the desired outcome to be realized. Setting reasonable rules and expectations from students, being patient and calm as well as consistent in the use of discipline strategies ensure more effective school/ classroom management.