POSITIVE DISCIPLINE

THE POSITIVE
DISCIPLINE
APPROACH
Session 4.1
The Positive Discipline Tool
 Knowledge/Skills/Attitude
State the framework of Positive Discipline tool that is providing warmth
and structure to learners.

Materials and
References
• Positive Discipline in Everyday Teaching (PDET)
Powerpoint Presentation - Day 1 Slides 2, 9, 27
60, 82-83, 87, 014 & 116 (with notes)
• Positive Discipline book by Dr. Jane Nelsen,
Lyn Lott, and Cheryl Erwin
• manila paper
• marker
• Printed copy of Annex A and B documents
• metacards

Approximate Duration
2 hours

Objectives
At the end of the session, you should be able to:
• discuss the framework of Positive Discipline that can be applied to
everyday teaching;
• explain the importance of managing one’s emotions/stress; and
• name the right tool, warmth, and structure in achieving teachers’
long-term goals for learners.

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 Importance
Say: Knowing the framework of Positive Discipline tool will help
develop the teachers’ skills and confidence in applying the approach
in their everyday teaching practice on how to manage challenging
classroom situations.

Sharing Session
Welcome the teachers and thank them for coming to the LAC session.

ICEBREAKER
Ask the participants to share in pairs their experiences and reflection
pertaining to their understanding of the difference between corporal
punishment and positive discipline. Have them also share how they were
able to identify classroom situations where they were able to apply this
knowledge from the last LAC session.

NOTE TO THE FACILITATOR

You may also have the participants group themselves according to the
grade level or subject they are teaching. Then have them share their
experiences and reflection to the group.

PROCESSING
1. After the sharing part, have the participants ask the following questions:
a. Based on your experiences pertaining to the new knowledge, what is
working in your classroom teaching?
b. What is/are not working in your classrooms? What key issues need to
be addressed in order for it/these to work?

2. Congratulate/celebrate the participants for their efforts and encourage

them to share newly developed strategies with other teachers.

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 Discussion
Introduce the session. Say: During our past sessions, we have been talking
about the difference between corporal punishment and positive discipline.
Now we will be talking about the basic principles of positive discipline and
how these can be applied in your everyday teaching practice. But before
that, do the do the activity “Bahay, Bata, Bagyo.”

TRIGGER MATERIAL
1. Instruct the participants to form groups of three members each.
One participant will not be part of any group.

2. Have the two members of the group form a “bahay” and the 3rd
member acts as the “bata.”

3. Have the group members do the following instructions as the cues below
are given:

“Bahay” – the two members who form the “bahay” will disperse and look
for another “bata” outside of the “bahay”
“Bata” – the member “bata” will go out of the “bahay” and look for
another “bahay”
“Bagyo” – all three members will disperse and will form another group of
three

4. After each instruction, the participant who is not part of any group
becomes the “it”.

5. Say: Whoever is the “it” shall answer if the following situations below are
Positive Discipline or not:

a. confiscating things from children

b. rewarding children when they did something good
c. giving children stuff so they will stop crying
d. allowing children to play anytime when they want to
e. not allowing children to get hurt or get dirty

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 PROCESSING
1. To process the activity, ask the participants the following questions:
a. Was the experience new to you?
b. What other activities do you find new to you from this sessions and
other LAC sessions you have participated in? Did the new experiences
work with you? Why?
c. How do you react to new experiences or new methodologies?

NOTE TO THE FACILITATOR

Accept all insights and ideas from the participants but focus on identifying
concepts in the situations mentioned that would clearly differentiate what
positive discipline is and is not.

2. Say the following to further process the activity done: As previously

mentioned, we should know the difference between corporal punishment
and positive discipline, as shown in the image below.

NOTE TO THE FACILITATOR

Show the image below:

3. Discuss the “Five Criteria of Positive Discipline” as listed below (taken

from the book “Positive Discipline” by Dr. Jane Nelsen, Lyn Lott, and
Cheryl Erwin).
a. Helps children feel a sense of connection (belonging and significance)
b. Is mutually respectful and encouraging (kind and firm at the
same time)
c. Is effective on a long-term basis (considers what the child is thinking,
feeling, learning, and deciding about himself and his world—and what to
do in the future to survive or to thrive)
d. Teaches important social and life skills (respect, concern for others,
problem solving, and cooperation as well as the skills to contribute to
the home, school, or larger community)
e. Invites children to discover how capable they are (encourages the
constructive use of personal power and autonomy)

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 4. Ask: What kind of teacher do you want to be every day as you do your job?

NOTE TO THE FACILITATOR

Accept all insights and ideas from the participants but focus on identifying
concepts in the situations mention

5. Say: Stress responses happen in every culture and is a normal physiological

response to stress. As educators we should know how to manage our
emotions in response to stress in classroom situations.
IT’S ALL IN THE BRAIN

NOTE TO THE FACILITATOR

Before the session, it is best to research about how the “thinking brain”
or the cortex and the “emotional brain” or the limbic system responds
to stress.
Say: The “thinking brain” reacts thoughtfully when stress is low while
the “emotional brain” responds impulsively when stress is high. During a
stressful situation, the “emotional brain” reacts first. After a while, your
thinking brain will reconnect. You will reflect on how you reacted and
feel embarrassed and awful about what you said and did. That’s your
thinking brain at work. It can evaluate, reason, reflect, and do the things
that humans do best. But that is more likely to happen when the stress is
gone. The higher the stress, the more likely it is that your thinking brain will
disconnect and you will react with aggression. The lower the stress, the
easier it is to engage your thinking brain and respond thoughtfully
and constructively.

6. Mindful exercises can do a lot of help in managing teachers’ emotions in

challenging classroom situations. Meditation can be broadly defined as
any activity that involves controlling your attention. Mindfulness is defined
as focusing on whatever is happening moment-by-moment without being
judgmental. In mindfulness meditation, you actively choose to control
where your mind wander.

NOTES TO THE FACILITATOR

a. A simple mindfulness exercise can be done during the LAC session. Have
the participants relax by making them sit comfortably and letting them
close their eyes. Guide them in their breathing by slowly giving them
cues when to breathe in and out. A relaxing music may also be played.
Make the participants feel their body as they breathe in and out (e.g.,

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 feeling the tension on their necks, shoulders, arms, legs, or toes. When
these are done, lead their presence back to the room.
b. Other mindfulness exercises from the Net can also be downloaded and
used in the LAC session.

7. Distribute a copy of the Annex A document to the participants. Let them

read the situation and answer the questions indicated in the document.

8. Introduce/Discuss warmth and structure as the tools in the PDET Model.

Going back to the situation, do what you can to reframe and reflect their
feelings in terms of the definitions of warmth and structure so that they are
increasingly prepared to relate to those concepts. Start using the language
of the definitions of warmth and structure by calling attention to things like
feeling safe and respected, having a positive role model, being helped to
understand, among others. Relate the definitions of warmth and structure
to every actions of Ms. Gigi as identified by the participants during the
activity. It is also important to give emphasis to teachers that they might
have been using this process of providing warmth and structure to their
learners long before, but they are not aware of it.

NOTE TO THE FACILITATOR

Distribute Annex B document to the participants.

9. Have the participants work in groups of three or more. Have them identify
all of Ms. Gigi’s actions in the previous activity. Ensure that they have
Annex B document with them for reference of the definitions of warmth
and structure. Remind them to go through each part of the definitions
once they have identified actions from the given situation.

10.Have the participants copy the following table on a manila paper.

Have them write each action in the first column and the corresponding
definition/s under the column Warmth or Structure.

Action Warmth Structure

1.
2.
3.

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 Articulation of Insights
1. Have the participants do the activity “Throwback Thursday.”
Let the participants reflect on it.

NOTE TO THE FACILITATOR

The name of the activity would depend on the day the session is held.
For example, if the session falls on a Tuesday, then call the activity
“Throwback Tuesday.”
a. Encourage the participants to write down five things they have
done to provide warmth and structure instead of punishment in their
classroom. Let them do this in their metacards.
b. Ask the participants to share their ideas.

4. Let the participants do another activity called “What Changed in You?”

a. Ask: What insights and change in feelings, knowledge, or skills did
you get from today’s session?
b. Let the participants write their answers in a red metacard. Afterward
make them line up and simply read their answers one by one.
c. Collect all metacards and place them on the floor. Have these cards
form a big heart shape.
d. Have the names of the children in the Let’s Connect activity in
Session 2.4 placed in the center of the heart shaped metacards.

Application
Say: Apply the Positive Discipline tool in your class. Document what you
did and what happened in whatever way that is workable for you (e.g.,
taking down notes, journaling about the results in the learners’ behavior).
Identify from Warmth or Structure the item/s you employed in each
particular situation.

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 What We Will Do Next
Say: In the next LAC session, bring your notes or documentation of
what happened when you tried out the strategy of applying the
Positive Discipline tool. Share your findings with the whole group.

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ANNEX A

Read the given situation below. Afterward have a think-pair-share activity by sharing
insights about the situation and the answers to the questions that follow.

Ms. Gigi is in the middle of a lecture on the tenses of verbs when she noticed
three male learners at the back of the room giggling. It seems that they are not
paying attention to the class discussion. She observed that the three boys often talk
and laugh during her class.
Ms. Gigi breathes, pauses, and checks on her feelings. She turns to curiosity
and thinks of why the learners were behaving that way. She remembers the
developmental stage of children and what could be motivating them to act a
certain way. After finishing a part of her lesson, Ms. Gigi reminds the class re their
agreement to listen and participate actively during class discussion. Then she
continues with her lecture.
After class, Ms. Gigi talked to the three male learners. She asked them calmly on
what happened earlier. After learning that they were laughing because one of the
learners told a joke, she communicated to them the effect of their laughter such
as distracting her and the others. She had a dialogue with them making sure that
the following were discussed: (1) the classroom agreements they have set during
the first week of class, including talking about topics not related to the classroom
discussion during recess time or after class and (2) the ways in which she would be
of help to her students to make them more engaged in class.
After the conversation, Ms. Gigi reflected on how she can improve her teaching
strategies so she would be able to develop engaged learners. In the next meetings,
Ms. Gigi provided interactive discussions and activities and modified lesson delivery
so everyone can participate, thus, increasing learners’ engagement.

1. Did Ms. Gigi do the right thing in handling the situation? Why?

2. If you were Ms. Gigi, how would you feel about the situation?

3. What would you have done if you were in Ms. Gigi’s shoes? How would you handle
the situation?

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ANNEX B

action warmth structure

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dr. Leila P. Areola Dr. Rosalina J. Villaneza

Director IV, Bureau of Learning Delivery Chief, Teaching and Learning Division

LEAD WRITERS
Dr. Rosalina Villaneza Edgar Marshall Briñas
Carmencita Aguas Ma. Cristina Nogoy
Eleonor D. Briñas

WRITERS AND CONTRIBUTORS

Michelle Tolentino Maricel D. Hernandez
Denn Marc Alayon Maria Zaida M. Padullo
Rossa S. Carneser Lorna V. Ramos
Maribel Cruz

LAC Resource Package – Positive Discipline

This guidebook was published with support from the Australian Government through
the Basic Education Sector Transformation (BEST) Program.

Permission to use or reproduce this publication or parts of it in hard or digital copies

for personal or educational use is granted free, provided that the copies are not
reproduced or distributed for commercial purposes, and that proper credit is given to
the Australian Government.

Printed in the Philippines

First Printing, 2019