Logical Consequences in Classroom Management

Rudolf Dreikurs

• Developed the logical consequences model for classroom management.
• Emphasizes understanding students' motivations for behavior and corresponding teacher responses.

Key Principles of Logical Consequences

• Misbehavior is driven by four goals: attention, avoidance of failure, revenge, and power.
• Natural consequences occur without teacher intervention, but teachers have a duty to care.
• Logical consequences are teacher-imposed and relevant to the misbehavior.
• Aims to help students make connections between behavior and outcomes.

Logical Consequences Model

• Begin by evaluating the underlying goal of students' misbehavior.
• Interventions should be tailored to the identified goals.
• Impose logical consequences that relate directly to the behavior.
• Foster a sense of community within the classroom.

Goals of Misbehavior

• Attention: Seeking engagement from peers or teachers.
• Avoidance of Failure: Trying to bypass social or academic failures.
• Revenge: Acting out due to feelings of anger or aggression towards others.
• Power: Displaying defiance against authority or trying to control peers.

Natural and Logical Consequences

• Natural Consequence: Arises without teacher involvement, a natural outcome of behavior.
• Logical Consequence: A deliberate consequence that relates directly to a specific misbehavior.

5 R's for Logical Consequences

• Related: Consequences should connect clearly to the behavior.
• Reasonable: Must be proportional to the action taken.
• Respectful: Should maintain the student's dignity and self-esteem.
• Reliably Enforced: Must be consistently applied to establish trust and clarity.
• Revealed: Ideally, consequences should be communicated in advance to students.

Students' Needs

• Personal Identity: Supports students' self-image.
• Connectedness: Emphasizes the importance of relationships.
• Power: Offers opportunities for control and responsibility.
• Achievement: Aims to provide support for student success.

Teacher's 3-Dimension Plan

• Prevention: Establish proactive strategies to avert misbehavior.
• Action: Implement corrective strategies, such as proximity control, when needed.
• Resolution: Utilize individualized behavioral contracts to address issues.

Prevention Strategies

• A social contract created collaboratively with students, defining classroom rules.
• Classroom Principles: Communicate values and expectations beyond just rules.
• Flag Rules: Non-negotiable rules set by the teacher to maintain structure.
• Student Rules: Guidelines developed by students, emphasizing ownership and engagement.
• Range of Consequences: A diverse set of consequences that are not strictly sequential.

Action and Resolution

• Action: Implement immediate strategies for corrective action during misbehavior.
• Resolution: Create individualized contracts to foster improvement in behavior.