Logical Consequences from God’s Perspective
“How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding
rather than silver!” Proverbs 16: 16 (NIV)
LOGICAL CONSEQUENCES
A Journey To Self-Discipline Taken from Discipline with Love and Logic by Jim Fay and Foster Cline MD
and Responsive Classroom Northeast Foundation for Children Inc.
Goals
To help students think and become
responsible for their own choices
Demonstrate a belief in the student’s
value as a human being and one of
God’s children
Operate the classroom and the school
like a real world environment
Effective Discipline…
• The best discipline is part of an overall plan for
the development of student self-control.
• Read the statement on p. 107 & highlight key
concepts that are the foundation pieces for the
Developmental Designs approach to discipline.
• Discuss its meaning at your table groups
• How does this relate to external control and
Choice Theory?
Moral Development
• Read Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral
Development (p. 108)
• Where do the adolescent students you
teach fit in this continuum?
Approaches to Discipline AUTOCRATIC PERMISSIVE BALANCED
Goals: Obedience
Compliance
Happy, cooperative kids
No conflict w/ adults
Self-Governance
Characteristics: •External control
•Arbitrary Punishment &
Rewards used to control
•Rule following through
intimidation
•Students have control
•Excessive persuasion
•Cooperation & self-
control unpredictable
•Balance between adult /
student power
•Reasoning/internal
control
•Relationship-building
•Focus on Self-control &
responsibility
•High accountability
Outcomes: •Anger & resentment
•Obedience out of fear
•Rebellion
•Intimidation
•Suppression of self
•Inconsistent rule-
following
•Frequent testing of limits
•Chaos, confusion, loss of
safety
•Positive, trusting
relationships
•Internalized social
skills & self-control
•Sense of personal
power
Beliefs: Kids don’t know how to
behave & must be forced
into submission to adult
authority
•Kids have tools to
behave on their own
•Kids are little adults w/
same rights/privileges
•Kids can learn
•Kids want to be
capable/ successful
•Can learn w/ tools
Class vs. Individual Intervention
• Use class-wide approach when more than
3-4 students display same problem
behaviors
• Use individual intervention when 1-2
students display problem behavior
• Class-wide approaches:
• Remodel/ Practice
• Advisory
Characteristics of
Logical Consequences
Respectful of children
Focus on behavior, not the person
Teacher’s voice & tone communicate respect
Relevant: helps practice appropriate behavior
Consequence is directly related to actions
Realistic: set reasonable goals
Address actions & words, not thoughts & feelings
Triad Interaction
For the next slide:
• Form Table Triads or Quads
• Discuss differences with your Table Triads
• How does this square with your
philosophy of classroom management?
Logical Consequences Punishment
Opportunity to be involved in decision
making Adult makes the decision
Helps children recognize the effects of
their actions & develop internal controls.
Demands compliance through external control
that produces shame & makes child feel badly
Child has no opportunity to displace
his/her anger or hurting
Provides for an opportunity for the child to be
angry and resentful rather than work toward a
solution
Child has the opportunity to develop a
new plan for reacting or acting Child pays for the past deed
Child does his/her own judging Adult is the judge
Child sees adult modeling problem
solving techniques
Child feels the imposition of power and learns to
use power to control others
Adult voice is helpful and friendly Adult often displays anger
Child learns about the real world of
consequences & internal control.
Encourages responsibility for their own
actions
Child learns about and feels the imposition of
power & external control…Encourages evasion &
future deception
Teach Logical
Consequences
• Acknowledge student’s positive actions
• Teach children to take responsibility for
their actions
• Hold the student accountable with
empathy
• Entrust student with righting the wrong
Teach Logical
Consequences
• Begin with the discussion of why people
break the rules:
They are hard to follow due to lack of
self-control
A tendency to be self-centered
Considering only personal need
without regarding needs of others
Think rules are for other people
Teach Logical
Consequences
Continue with a discussion of what the rules
really mean:
They are a part of respecting people
Realize that what feels good to me
may not feel good to others
Try using what offends others rather
than me as the standard
Teach Logical
Consequences
• Ways to learn what bothers others:
Listen to what others say
Observe silently
When in doubt, ask
3 Types of Logical
Consequences
Reparation/ Restitution
• You break it – you fix it!
• Apology of Action
Loss of Privilege
TAB/ TAB Out & Back
Three Types of Logical
Consequences…. #1
1. You break it you fix it….Apology of Action
Helps students see effects of mistakes
Helps students express feelings when
hurt
Helps repair relationships
Three Types of Logical
Consequences…. #1
1. Apology of Action (cont’d)
Helps maintain a friendly learning
environment
Teaches restorative justice: The
perception of self having the power to
repair injustices
Delayed Consequence: I need to reflect on
this a bit. You reflect on it, too. Think what
you can do to fix the wrong.
Three Types of Logical
Consequences….#1
Introducing Apology of Action
Divide students into pairs
Each partner comes up with one or
two situations where someone
might feel hurt and writes it on an
index card
Share situations with partner
Construct a list of actions to fix the
hurt feelings
Restoration/Restitution:
Apology of Action
Additional things to teach
Constructive ways to express
feelings
How to hold constructive
conversations about their hurts
How to use I-messages: I think/feel
and name a specific behavior
Restoration/Restitution:
Apology of Action
Additional things to teach
How to facilitate using apology of
action
How to choose reparative action
Three Types of Logical
Consequences…. #2
2. Loss of Privilege
Temporary removal
from something
they like
#2 – Loss of Privilege
Demands accountability & responsibility
“If you are not responsible, you lose the
privilege.”
Consequence directly tied to action/
behavior
Three Types of Logical
Consequences…#3
• TAB - Take A Break Explain why it’s necessary.
Everybody needs it at some point.
Not a punishment, but to regain control
Model
Use for minor infractions
#3- TAB Procedures
Use first time after redirecting for low-
incidence behaviors
Use as necessary to help children
regain self-control
Explain “not a punishment”…everyone
will need it at some point or another
Does not work for some students
Children who experience logical consequences are automatically in the problem-solving and decision-making process. They learn they are capable of making decisions, and thus, see themselves as worthwhile people.
Children who experience logical consequences learn they are in charge of their own destinies. Good decisions leave us feeling good. Poor decisions leave us hurting.
In Summary….
Re-establishing Self-Control
Expert Jigsaw
1. Pathways to Self-Control: p. 111-116
2. Notice & Redirect Behavior: p. 117-119
3. TAB: p. 120-124
4. TAB Out & Back: p. 125-127
5. Problem-solving: p. 128-131
6. Quick Conference/ Return & Repair: p. 132-135
7. Summary: 136-137
God does not force us to follow Him. He
respects our freedom, our character, and our
individuality. He gives us information of what
is best for us through His word and gives us
a choice. Then HE allows us to experience
the blessing or hurt from that choice and
always welcomes us back with rejoicing.
Can we do any less with the children under
our care?
In Summary….
Your Turn! Let’s Role Play! 1. Divide into Triad Groups
2. Think of a student in your classroom who displayed
negative, rule-breaking behavior…..Be ready to role play
that student!
3. In your triads, take turns playing the roles of the student, the
teacher, and the observer. Rotate the roles so everyone
gets a chance to play each role.
4. Before starting the role play, describe the problem behavior
to the group.
5. Teacher needs to be ready to use the Teacher Language
and Logical Consequence appropriate for the problem
situation.