The Ginott Model

Haim Ginott(1922-1973) A Glimpse of His Life. Began his career as a school teacher in Israel in 1947 before immigrating to the United States. Then he earned a doctoral degree in clinical psychology, from Columbia university, in 1952. During his work at the guidance clinic, in Jacksonville Florida, he refined his unique combination of compassion and boundary setting. His work had a significant impact on the way adults relate to children. His goal was to help parents and teachers socialize children while simultaneously cultivating their emotional well being. He taught adults how to relate to children in a caring and understanding way without diminishing their authority.

Famous Quotes ‘He wanted to learn how to discipline without humiliating; how to criticize without destroying self-worth; how to praise without judging; how to express anger without hurting; how to acknowledge, not argue with, feelings; how to respond so that children would learn to trust their inner reality and develop self-confidence. I have come to the frightening conclusion: I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humour, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, a child humanised or dehumanised. (p. 15 and 16)

Key elements of the Ginott Model Congruent Communication Fostering Independence and Self Respect Avoiding the Perils of Praise

Congruent Communication “Talk to the situation, not to the personality and character” is the cardinal rule of communication. (Quote from teacher and child p. 84) When angry, an enlightened teacher remains real. He describes what he sees, what he feels, and what he expects. (P.84) A teacher cannot be artificial and effective. Nothing defeats him more than phoniness. No one can pretend respect and care without being detected. Skill divorced from genuineness is soon unmasked. (P.84) Congruent communication is a way of communicating with students that increases self-esteem and decreases conflict. It involves talking with and responding to students in an empathic manner. It also involves appropriate expression of anger, and the use of “sane” messages that are logical and rational.

Congruent Incongruent A child spills paint: “Oh. I see the paint spilled. We need water and a rag.” A child forgot to return his book to the library: “Your book needs to be returned to the library. It’s overdue” A class is getting ready to go to gym and two girls are playing catch with their trainers: It makes me angry to see that. Trainers are not for throwing. They are for wearing to the gym. A child spills paint: “You are so clumsy. Why are you so careless?” A child forgot to return their book to the library: “ You are so irresponsible! You always procrastinate and forget. Why didn’t you return the book to the library? Teacher goes with his/her first impulse to yell and punish.

Fostering Independence and Self Respect Ginott believed that dependency breeds hostility. Therefore, teachers should encourage autonomy. Facilitating autonomy-children need to make choices about their behavior. Teachers can meet this need by giving students small choices, such as the number of problems they are given for homework. Guiding emotion- use reflective listening. This will help children clarify their own emotions. Children are dependent on their teachers, and dependency breeds hostility. To reduce hostility a teacher deliberately provides children with opportunities to experience independence. The more autonomy, the less enmity; The more self-dependence, the less resentment of others.(Quote from teacher and child p. 91)

Avoiding the Perils of Praise Evaluative praise places a judgment on character traits. Evaluative praise can be destructive. (Apple example) “Appropriate praise tells students what they have accomplished while letting them draw their own conclusions about its value. Praise, like a drug, may make a child feel good-for the moment. However, it creates dependence. Others become his source of approval. He relies on them to quench his craving and establish his value. They must tell him his daily worth.(Quote from teacher and child p. 126)

Examples of Appropriate Praise ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

So, Where Is the Discipline? “The essence of discipline is finding effective alternatives to punishment. To punish the child is to enrage him and make him uneducable." (Teacher and Child p. 147,148) “In discipline whatever generates hate must be avoided. Whatever creates self-esteem is to be fostered.” (Teacher and Child p.148) The emphasis is on prevention. Ginott believed that discipline problems could be prevented through loving, warm, and patient action on the part of the teacher, and that when a problem occurs the emphasis should be on the problem, rather than the individual. (Examples from book)

Strengths The Ginott model is very effective in helping teachers establish positive communication with their students. The focus is on empowering students to develop their own sense of responsibility and independence, and the model creates a venue for teachers to facilitate student’s progress in this area. Can be incorporated into the use of any discipline model, because the concepts of the Ginott model complement both the more structured discipline models and the less structured discipline models.

Weaknesses The Ginott model does not give a specific method for dealing with more serious ongoing discipline problems. Many people prefer to have a more structured procedure for dealing with serious misbehavior. Insufficient support for teachers who are used to a more traditional role in dealing with students.

Case Study Rhoda, a 12 year old migrant, who has a language deficiency, is coming to school with bad body odor. The students and parents are complaining, and the teacher has chosen to ignore the situation. He had just received a note from the headteacher stating that he must address the rotten smell emanating from his room.

Identify the problem The problem is we have a student with a serious hygiene problem that is causing disruption in the classroom.

Objective Rhoda will have a self-awareness that there is a problem with her personal hygiene.

Solutions The teacher will indirectly incorporate components of daily hygiene into a math lesson on volume or money. For example teaching students how to measure volume and giving the assignment to measure the volume of water that builds up when they are taking their DAILY shower. Parent-Teacher-Interpreter Conference (Ginott’s Way)

Implementation Conduct math lesson on volume or money, including personal hygiene terminology and correlate it to math problems. Provide worksheets to the students, along with daily hygiene items that will be related to the math lesson. Allow the students to keep the items for use at home. Conduct a parent/teacher/interpreter conference using Ginott’s method of parent education: Recitation Sensitization Learning of Concepts Teaching and practice of better skills *Will meet in 2 weeks to review progress

Evaluate After the lessons were taught there was a noticeable difference in Rhoda’s personal hygiene for two weeks, and the students complained less. After two weeks the odor returned, and solution two had to be implemented. With the help of the interpreter the parents became aware of the importance of the issue of personal hygiene and the problem was resolved.

References REFERENCES Ginott, H. G. Teacher and Child New York: Collier Books Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993