Classroom Management
Kounin Model of Classroom Management
“Lesson Movement”
Kelly Reid
EDUC 561
Summer 1
Professor Rosemary Parmigiani
6/23/09
You are the teacher of a 5th grade class. Two students finished their assignment early, one student arrived late, and one student is not attempting the assignment. Being able to have the skills to handle situations like this takes practice and experience. The skills that are required are the ones that complete Jacob Kounin’s Classroom Management Model, “Lesson Movement.” Kounin’s theory on classroom management was the first to integrate instructional and disciplinary aspects of the classroom. The basis of the model is for teachers to be organized, prepared, and use proactive behavioral management combined with high student involvement with the goal of leading to a more effective classroom while minimizing disruptive behavior. Kounin coins his theory as Lesson Movement, comprised of techniques called: withitness, overlapping, momentum, smoothness, and group focus (“Classroom Management Theorist and Theories/Jacob Kounin,” 2009). Withitness is the ability of a teacher to know everything that is going on in his/her classroom at all times to prevent discipline problems before they occurred. However, as important as it is for teachers to achieve this skill, it is just as important for students to believe they their teacher is “withit.” Students will still act disruptively if they feel the teacher does not notice them. Some ways that teachers can display this technique are: consistently suppress misbehaviors of exactly those students who began the problem; dealing with the more serious of two discipline problems occurring simultaneously; and decisively handling off-task behavior before it gets out of hand or imitated by other students(“Whom are We Talking About: Jacob Kounin,” 2008). Similar to withitness, overlapping involves the ability to attend to multiple classroom events at one time, and avoiding
“Lesson Movement”
Kelly Reid
EDUC 561
Summer 1
Professor Rosemary Parmigiani
6/23/09
You are the teacher of a 5th grade class. Two students finished their assignment early, one student arrived late, and one student is not attempting the assignment. Being able to have the skills to handle situations like this takes practice and experience. The skills that are required are the ones that complete Jacob Kounin’s Classroom Management Model, “Lesson Movement.” Kounin’s theory on classroom management was the first to integrate instructional and disciplinary aspects of the classroom. The basis of the model is for teachers to be organized, prepared, and use proactive behavioral management combined with high student involvement with the goal of leading to a more effective classroom while minimizing disruptive behavior. Kounin coins his theory as Lesson Movement, comprised of techniques called: withitness, overlapping, momentum, smoothness, and group focus (“Classroom Management Theorist and Theories/Jacob Kounin,” 2009). Withitness is the ability of a teacher to know everything that is going on in his/her classroom at all times to prevent discipline problems before they occurred. However, as important as it is for teachers to achieve this skill, it is just as important for students to believe they their teacher is “withit.” Students will still act disruptively if they feel the teacher does not notice them. Some ways that teachers can display this technique are: consistently suppress misbehaviors of exactly those students who began the problem; dealing with the more serious of two discipline problems occurring simultaneously; and decisively handling off-task behavior before it gets out of hand or imitated by other students(“Whom are We Talking About: Jacob Kounin,” 2008). Similar to withitness, overlapping involves the ability to attend to multiple classroom events at one time, and avoiding
References: Charles, C.M. (1989) Building Classroom discipline: from models to practice. New York City, New York: Longmans Inc.. Teacher Matters, (2008). The Kounin Model. Retrieved May 31, 2009 Teacher Matters http://www.teachermatters.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=9:kounin-model&catid=4:models-of-discipline&Itemid=4 WikiBooks, Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2009). Overview/History of Jacob Kounin’s Work. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Classroom_Management_Theorist_and_Theories/Jacob_Kounin WikiEd. (2008). Whom are we talking about: Jacob Kounin. Retrieved June 8, 2009 from http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Kounin,_Jacob