William Glasser's Quality School Reader Response Paper

As I read "The Quality School: Managing Students Without Coercion," many thoughts filled my mind. I agreed with Glasser on many points, yet some I questioned. At first, I was baffled by all the talk about a "lead teacher." The more I learned about who a lead teacher is and what a lead teacher does, the more I found myself agreeing with Glasser. As a special education teacher who works with students of all abilities, I appreciated Glasser's philosophy. On page 34, Glasser indicates that a lead teacher starts a lesson by discussing it, defining it,and explaining why it is taught and how it could be used in the students' lives. I think that this is of utmost importance! I know that I sometimes forget to explain why I am teaching certain concepts and why my students need to know them. Yet, when I am sitting there in my classes at UMD, I sometimes question "why" and "so what does this mean to me," etc. I forget what it is like to be a student. I was also struck by the parapgraph on page 59 where Glasser states that teachers need to be led, which means encouraged and praised by administrators who go into their classes and compliment both them and their students for any quality work they do. I think our students need that encouragement from their teachers as well. I found it to be interesting how Glasser believes we are all motivated by five basic needs that are built into our gentic structure. Our behavior is always our best attempt at the time to satisfy one or more of these needs (p. 60). Wow! I had to read and re-read this portion a few times. If this is true (which I believe it is), then that gives a taste of the psychology of why children (and adults) do what they do. This shed some light for me, professionally, as I work with EBD students on a daily basis. A quote on page 62 sums it up when I think about my EBD students and their own worlds and backgrounds: "If we attempt to manage people without knowing about the part the quality world plays in their lives, we will not be effective." This has caused me to stive to better understand my students and why behave as they do. I was also taken by page 79 where Glasser states that there are actually four separate behavioral components: actions, thoughts, feelings, and physiology. Glasser goes on to say, "Without choice theory, we tend to look at behavior as made up of a single component--action--or two components--action and thinking." This seems to be complex, but I think I like it. In summary, there was a wealth of new and interesting information in this book. I think in a utopian society, this would work beautifully. No, more seriously, I think that if the administrators (superintendents, principal, etc.) were heavy into this philosophy, then it may work. Without their support, it can't work. As teachers, we can take bits and pieces into our own classrooms, but it's difficult to impact the "big picture." Maybe someday I'll be an elementary principal (long-term goal). Then I can implement the choice theory in my district....I'll let you know how it goes! Until then, I'll keep plugging away and doing the best I can to manage my classroom without coercion.

Submitted by Christi Sickel

-- Anonymous, May 04, 1999

Answers

Hi Christi! I just read your commentary on Glasser. WOW! You pulled no punches and got right to the heart of the issue. That is what I like to see in an essay. I could not agree with you more about the role of administrators in the process. In fact, I think that school administrators should be expected to join us in the classroom and teach at least part of every school year so that they can speak with true understanding! Best Wishes! John

-- Anonymous, May 27, 1999