Thinking about Glasser in Teacher Education

1. Thinking about Glasser in Teacher Education Dr. Michael Dyson, Monash University, Australia and Dr. Ben Dyson, The University of Memphis, USA.

2. Our intention in this workshop is to • Introduce William Glasser’s new psychology for living • Explain the guiding principles of the theory • Explain choice theory • Explain reality therapy • Apply it to teacher education

3. The psychology of Glasser maintains that all behaviour is influenced by a persons desire to have their basic needs met The five basic needs are: • survival • love and belonging • freedom • power • fun

4. Needs are genetically encoded Glasser’s Choice Theory suggests that our needs are genetic instructions. Each of us has a blend of five basic needs each of which competes with the other needs to be met or fulfilled. The fulfillment of one need often means neglect of another. This explains why we experience internal conflicts - we want to visit friends, take overseas trips and have some fun - but we want to save our money to buy a car, or buy a home, or have a baby. In our effort to meet all our needs - one need tends to dominate.

5. Survival I am not a risk-taker. I like things to be orderly and neat. I have a fairly regular routine that I live by. I think about my health, trying to eat right, and get the proper amount of exercise and rest. I like to invest for retirement. My friends, family and co-workers like the fact that I am punctual, organized and can be depended on.

6. Love and belonging I am a people-oriented person. Relationships are my biggest priority. I love warmth and intimacy. My thoughts are often about the well-being of my friends and family and I like to be in regular contact with them. I enjoy social events and my favorite pastimes involve being with other people. My friends, family and co-workers like the fact that I am warm compassionate, friendly, and cooperative.

7. Power I am an achievement-oriented person. I love to grow personally and professionally. I set goals, have high standards and often meet or exceed them. I rarely rest on my laurels for long, once I have achieved one goal. I set another. I believe people should do their best to reach their potential in life. I love healthy competition. I am proud of my accomplishments and enjoy the recognition that they sometime bring. I enjoy teaching and supervising others. My friends, family and co-workers respect me for my skills, accomplishments and high expectations.

8. Freedom I love my independence. I like to have the autonomy to control the direction of my own personal and professional life. One of the things I value in my job is the freedom it affords me. I resent people trying to manipulate or control me. I thrive in an environment filled with novelty and change. I love traveling to new places and spending time outdoors. I value my solitude, some of my most treasured time is time spent doing something alone. I love the IBM saying “Think different.” My friends, family and co-workers remark about the fact that I’m a unique individual and respect me for not being easily swayed by popular opinion

9. Fun To me, life should be a celebration. I love to laugh and play. I try to bring a sense of joy to everything I do and try to liven up even the most boring tasks. I love spontaneity and have sometimes been accused of being impulsive. I seek sensual pleasures, good food and drink, great music, art, etc. I love games, celebrations, festivals, and parties. I have a great sense of humor and like to make others laugh. My friends, family and co-workers like me because I’m high spirited, engaging and just fun to be around.

10. The meeting of these individual basic needs builds the Quality World Picture (QWP) - which an individual lives by • Sometimes realistic • Sometimes impossible to achieve

11. Role of teacher is to guide, assist, support and encourage • Rather than • Tell • Direct • Instruct • Control • Reward to control A positive environment can lead to self evaluation, self monitoring and self control - thus recognising that they (the students) are in control of themselves and themselves in their environment

12. Glasser shifts the emphasis from behaviour intervention and control in the environment, to the development of an environment that satisfies basic needs • All behaviour is driven by the need to have ones basic needs met • All behaviour is total behaviour made up of four components - acting, thinking, feeling and physiology

13. Glasser maintains that we have direct control over our • Acting & • Thinking However we also have indirect control over our feelings and physiology by: • How we chose to think and act The recognition of this has the potential to change the way teachers work with children, rather than trying to control them.

14. Reality therapy is about • What do you want? • What are you doing to get what you want? • Is what you are doing getting you what you want? • Is it working? • Is your behaviour getting you what you really want? • Is it getting you closer to or further away from what you want? • Closer to a goal or closer to someone you love • Well if it is not getting you there then don’t do it? • Do what is working!

15. What does this, or could this, look like in teacher education? • Begin with the connecting habits in our practice as educators • Demonstrate that control of others takes away from others • If you, or others around you have a quality world picture that you can never get to, or achieve, then your life scales, or theirs, will be out of balance • If we can’t get our quality world picture, because it is unrealistic, then we will also be out of balance and maybe into a power struggle. Maybe into blame and criticising • We need to determine if we can realistically get to our quality world picture. • We need the help of others to do this sometimes

16. Current controlling approach The current educational imbalance can be seen as focused on education that is a controlling pedagogy - in which the teacher/system/state/country - controls, assessors, threatens, punishes and rewards. Glasser (2005) contends that these are negative behaviours, or what he refers to as the seven deadly habits which are: criticizing, blaming, complaining, nagging, threatening, punishing and rewarding (to control)

17. Connecting habits In contrast to these negative habits are the positive behaviours, which Glasser (2005) refers to as the connecting habits. These are: caring, listening, supporting, contributing, encouraging, trusting and befriending. These connecting habits build relationships and are less controlling of others

18. Turns current practices upside down • What might a classroom look like when people are not trying to control each other - parents, teachers, children? • Positive behaviours replace negative behaviours and produce a positive culture which = Quality World Picture • Reframing of the situation shifts the focus of attention - redirects away from possible negative thinking • Rather than punish inappropriate behaviour (-ve response) suggest that alternative positive behaviours which better satisfy needs • Put situations back onto the individual so that they can own their own behaviour. What are you doing? Rather than you are doing this….

19. In practice what does it mean? • Find out what is working. If it does not work -stop doing it. Car and the boat • When you experience bad behaviour from a child. Stop and Ask • What do you want from me right now? What are you trying to get by behaving in this way? (the behaviour is demanding something) • When they are getting an external response from you then they are getting their own way • Think of the coke and the water • Anytime an adult engages in an argument with a teenager they have already lost the argument.

20. Group Activity • Organise yourselves into five groups (one for each need) • Go to the group that you think is your most important need • In your group discuss what this need might look like in a classroom underpinned with choice theory

21. What would love & belonging look like in a classroom? • Connecting with your students • Student names

22. What would survival look like in a classroom? • Meeting immediate physical needs • water • food

23. What would fun look like in a classroom? • Physical Games

24. What would power look like in a classroom? • Helping Students have a say

25. What would freedom look like in a classroom? • Freedom to choose seats

26. How will you choose to use choice theory in you life?