Models of classroom discipline – teachers’ preferences and their selected predictors

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present the results of research on teachers' preferred discipline models and selected predictors of these preferences. The research is based on the discipline theory by Charles H. Wolfgang (2001), the individual philosophy of discipline model by Clifford H. Edwards (2008) and the self-determination theory by E. L. Deci and R. M. Ryan (2000). It was conducted using English-language tools translated into Polish: The Beliefs on Discipline Inventory (Glickman and Tamashiro, 1980), The Teachers' Need for Autonomy Satisfaction (Tadić, 2015) and the Polish-language tool, which is Education Rationality Questionnaire (Milerski and Karwowski, 2016). The study included 169 teachers employed in kindergartens, elementary and secondary schools. The analysis suggests that the confronting-contracting model of discipline is the most successful among the respondents, followed by the relationship-listening model and the rules and consequences model. Factors predicting teachers' preferences include individual educational philosophy and age.