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ED 069 398 PS 006 124 AUTHOR Glasser, William TITLE The Effect of School Failure on the Life of a Child. INSTITUTION National Education Association, Washington, D.C. PUB DATE 71 NOTE 25p. AVAILABLE FROM National EducationAssociation, 1201 Sixteenth St., Wash., D. C. 20036 (Stock No. 181-05598, single copies $1.00, 2-9 copies, 10% discount; 10 or more copies, 20% discount)

EDRS PRICE MF-$0.65 HC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Academic Failure; *Childhood Attitudes; *Educational Change; Grading; *Psychiatrists; *School Systems; Teacher Attitudes ABSTRACT A psychiatrist discusses ways to help children who are failing in school, the reasons behind their failure and the self perpetuating nature of failure. Teacher attitudes, the grading system, and the educational process itself are listed as three areas requiring change if failing students are to be helped. (0() FIL:.:ED I'.: PTST AVAILABLECOPY William Glasser, is Director, I.:dm:atm Training Center, Los Angeles, California, and Consulting Psychiatrist, Los Angeles City aml Palo Alto Schools. This publication is based on an address by Dr. Glasser at the 1909 Annual Meet- ing of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, NEA, in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is reprinted from the September 1969 and November 1969 issues of The National Elementary Principal.

No part of Ibis book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from 11w publisher. except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages.

1.ibrary of Congress catalog card number: 78-160-.170 NEA stock number; 181-05598 Single copies $1.00 2-9 copies. 10'N. discount; 10 or more copies. 20"/.. discount

Published by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Eck; Lation Association. Washington. D.C. 200;th

Minted in the United Slates of America

BY profession, I'm a psychiatrist. But I've become concerned and interested in education because I have had many contacts with educators. Nlany of These educators are complaining Thal they have a lot of kids in their schools who are hard to gel along with. In des- peration they will even ask a psychiatrist to come in and see if he can do anything about it. So. at this time.I consider myself it psychiatrist who is desperately trying to become il school teacher in order to help all the school teachers who are trying to become psychiatrists. Nly background in education is. of course, extensive. I went to school 27 yearo.Ihaven't been it teacher very long, but I've spent a long lime ill the classroom. And the only really good educational experience I had in those (like 27 years was in np.!dical school at Western Reserve University in Cleve- land, Ohio. The philosophy and many of the ideas in my book, Schools 1.111,- out Fuilue, are patterned after the kind of education I received al 111;11 111elliCal 51:11001. 'Thal school was quite a revelation to nu!. I thought going to medical school was really going lo be rough.People had %yarned me about the crusty old professors and how they make life hard for you. But it wasn't that way at all. On the first day we wen! there, the dean spoke to us. We didn't believe him. 1/111I his is v!iill he "We tieleCted you to become doctors. and everybody in this room is going to be a doctor. Ve hope you enjoy your four years. You are all going to make it. There's no problem. Don't worry about anything. /list relax and learn a lot and that's it." -Well,- we said. "this is a prelude to a miserable four years," because we had learned in school that when anyone speaks that way, he usually means something else. But we were wrong. 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We may even hold you !Sick in school or put you in a special class with a bunch of kids like yourself." I worked in some of those classes. I never saw anything like them in my life. They locked those kids in the room with the teacher: otherwise, they would have run right out the door. No human being can leach in such a situation. This is a serious problem, and I have been trying to do something about it for the last two or three years. )ust think, in our elementary schools we have a lot of little kids who are con- vincedthattheyarefailurescon- vinced by the time they are seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven years old. Who convinces them? Let me tell you a story. I was working with a group of about 30 teachers a couple of years ago in the Los An- geles city schools. I was talking about the idea that maybe we shouldn't fail anyone. and the teachers were listening rather haithazardly.The idea struck them as funny. Finally, one teacher couldn't containherself any longer, and she said. "Dr. Glasser, you've got to fail a few kids." I said,"What grade do you teach?" She said, "First grade." Those little, beady-eyed kids, about Iwo feet off the groundshe's teaching them, and she says you have to fail them! Isaid, "Well, does it hell) the children to fail them?" "No, oh no, it makes them feel miserable." So then I said, "You've got a principal, a real lough principal, who says, 'Look, you have to fail some kids to keep up the school's standards.' "No, my principal's not dial way at all,Itwould he fine with him if I passed everyone." 6 "'Then, you are doing it for his par- "identity." Then imagine that, above ents. Ile has the kind of parents who ii ml below the word "identity," I have really want to know if they have a fail- drawn some lines to designate a wall. ure early in his life. so they can prepare And the only thing that goes, through for it." Six years old! the wall is the word "identity." Above "No," she said, "the parents aren't and below it is a solid wall. like that." From that basic beginningIthink Ily this Boor I had run out of reasons, we can explain how people function. soIsaid, "Well, you're doing itfor Identity is the basic human need. All America. You think it's good for the of us, no matter who we are, have this country." basic need to identify ourselves as She didn't understand this, and there somebody, as a separate, unique, dis- wasn't anything more I could do then. tinct human being. Callitour self- She was convinced that if you have 30 image, our self-concept, or whatever kids in a class, you fail three or four you wish. There is nothing complicated of them every semester. It's hard, it's about this. It's me in distinction to you. very hard, on those who fail. Yet, this and you in distinction to me. From the is the kind of philosophy that seems time we are born until the time we die, to prevail in our schools: that some- we struggle to gain and to maintain for how or other we can teach children ourselves this feeling as an identified how to succeed by failing them. person. We are somebody. This is the philosophy I am trying The way in which we identify our- to changethe philosophy, inherent in selves is critical. All of us have to have much of our education, that if you fail an identity. Some of us are able to gain a childitwill cause him to buckle and to maintain a success identity. down and work hard; it will make a We feel that we are successful. Others, new man of him. Unfortunately, it just a large percentage of themmany with doesn't work that way. Most of us by whom you are concernedinyour this time know that all you learn from schoolidentify themselves quite dif- failing is how to fail. And in our schools ferently: "I am not successful;I am we are teaching many. many children failing; I am a failure." And that wall, how to fail. If a child has had four or which was drawn above and below five years of solid failure by the time the word "identity." separates those he's ten or eleven years old, he has two large groups of peoplethose on figured out his relationship to school one side who are successful, and those and itisn't good. He says, in effect, on the other side who are failures. "From what I understand of success in When we go into one of our rooms at this school, I am not going to succeed. school, we are quite able to discover I am not going to have any chance to for ourselvesby observation in most succeed." casesthe students who are succeed- This is what I am trying to counter- ing and those who are failing. Look at act. To explain this more thoroughly, any class and you begin to see, right I would like to go through some of the there in the early grades sometimes basic concepts of Reality Therapy that even in kindergarten, although it usu- relate to this particular problem. Let's ally isn't apparent until after kinder- examine briefly how people function gartensome who are succeeding and adults, kids, everybody. How do we some who are failing. function in this world? What is the We spend a great deal of time, and psychological basis for the way we be- a lot of money along with the time, have? Let's imagine that I have a black- identifying those who are succeeding board here, and in the middle of the and those who are failing. 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it cool. and they have a tacit understanding with the leacher. "You don't hassle me: I%von't hassle yon." Most 9 teachers are quite ready to accept this if we were to examine why some kind of agreement. children succeed and others don't. we So we have two pathwaysthe path- would findthatthereisone basic way of delinquency and the pathway of psychological difference.Itis a 'err withdrawal that confirm thefailure important difcer;.nce. andit operates identity. And you saytoyourself, in school and everywhere else. Private "Why is this? Why do people go this patients who come to vies in my office way? There's an opportunity in our in West Los Angeles have exactly the schoolfor everyone." Most of you same problem as the children who are conic from good schools where. if a sin- failing in school. They are lonely. dent wants to buckle down and learn, The people %vim are succeeding in there is an opportunity. Why. then, are nor worl c..re able to become involved these students failing? What's wrong? with other human beings in responsible Why don't they try hard and work hard relationships. They have human in- and develop sonm worthwhile associ- volvementintheirlives;they have ation with the leacher and other stu- people. In contrast with those who are dents in a meaningful. friendly kind meaningfully in' :dyed with (0,ers in of way? Why do some of them go in a good relationship -- friendly. warm. this other direction? learning together. caring for each other One thing I hear continually from the - -we have large numbers of people in teachers in the watts schools where I our world and many. many students in work is. "It's hard to leach these kids our schools whose basic psychological because they come from inadequate problem is that they are lonely. That's homes." I refuse to accept this.I have the reason why they follow the path- to listen to it.I suppose. but Itry not ways of delinquen,:y and withdrawal. to.I ask. "What's the difference what You don't see "lonely" writtenin kind of home they come from?" And ninny psychology hooks. "Lonely" is a the teachers say. they 11;1%14'1 gilt word. and "lonely" can happen to taught them anything at home." That you and it can happen to me. So the may be true. but what has this to do people who are in charge of things with school? I think the first thing we don't like io use this word. They like have to do is get over the idea that to use oilier words that are much less you have to oke the whole child into sensitizr,ng to us. words like alienated. account. You are much better off to isolated. culturally deprived. disadvon- lake the child as he collies to school. fogod. 11 ell, anyone who is lonely is each him there. and not worry about alienated. isolated. disadvantaged. cul- the kind ()I' home he comes from. He turally deprived. but his basic problem willing to say. "Al least for the six or is fiat he is lonely and he needs to gain seven hours a day he's in my school. a relationship with somebody else. The we are going to care for hiin, and we pathways of love and worthwhileness are going to see that he learns some- are closed to lonely people. All that the thing worthwhile." If he's not doing loncly one can do is follow the path- well. were not going to cop out and way of antagonism and the pathway of say. "Well.he comes from a bad qtlulrawal. In his loneliness. he checks home." That's not the way to help a out or he fights hack. People who are child. Our job is not to get that con- lonely are in a constant state of pain. cerned about the kind Of home a child Everyone has been lonely at some lime conies from. Our big responsibility is to in his life. All of us have felt the pain see that the child succeeds while he's of loneliness. This isalot different in school and to develop a program from wanting to be alone. %Vim».ou that makesitpossiblefor himto want to get away from itall and be succeed. alone. you can do it because you know 10 you can come back. Nobody voluntarily Then I would ask. "Do pin, love your goes in a direr:tion loin! lonely. Nobody leacher?" Still every hand would he up does this. The person who is lonely is in the air. They would be eager: they lonely because he can't figure out %vhat would he flocking around me. Even lo do dial's dif fermi from being alone. mentioning thefactthat they loved In our schools. we have little children their teacher would make them happy. six. seven, eight. nine, len. eleven years Then I would ask. "Does your teacher of age who are terribly lonely. Many love you?" Maybe I would even ask it of these lonely students are failing. and in a gruff voice. ButIcouldn't fool many more %%111 fail later. them atall. those little kindergarten Basic, then, to the whole process of kids. They know their leacher lovzs education is what this conference is them: no doubt about it in their minds. abouteffecting human involvement as They would raisetheir hands: they a major part of the educational proce- would look a.t their teacher for fi- dure. Without that, there isn't any edu-- cation : she smile at them. A very cation; without that, there has to he happy, loving thing. those kindergarten! failure. The theory behind Reality Ther- classes. apy is the absolute necesrity to provide ThenI would like to dismiss the a %%win and human environment in our kindergartners and bring in an eleventh- schools, the kind of environment that grade history class. I'd have the sh- makes a kid get up in the morning and dents grouped in a circle. and I'd ask say, "I want to go to school. I'm looking them the same question. I would say. forward to it.I have a nice teacher.I "Do you love your teacher?" They'd care about that teacher, and she cares look at me, you kwitv,, rather pecu- about me. And I like the other kids, and liarly.anithey'd say."Love our they cam about me. too."If a child teacher?" doesn't feel that way. we who run the "Yes. do you love your leacher?" educational establishments are failing They'd say, "Man. she's a school him. And we can run schools that kids leacher!"

feel good about; it's not that hard to dn. . Then I would ask. "Does your teacher It doesn't even cost any more money. love you?" But it does require us in develop our ca- And they'd say. "Where you from?" pacities to deal with little children as This would be a much different ex- human beings. not as vessels to he filled perience from the one with the little full of knowledge. They'll get plenty of kindergartners. Of course %ve could say. knowledge if we are warm and friendly "Well. kindergartners come from differ- with them, if we see children as people ent kinds of homes. They come from who have to learn to relate with others. good homes. and eleventh graders come Our schools have to bc,:eme reservoirs from had homes." But this probably of social responsibility. where people isn't true. The eleventh graders come care for each other. from homes that may be economically I wish we had a group of kindergarten a little better. but there isn't that much kids infrontof us this morning.I difference. What's different is what has wouldn't care whether they were from happened to the eleventh graders since a school in the heart of a large city or they were kindergartners. And a lot of from a suburban school that. at least what's happened to them has happened on the surface, seems to be functioning in an educational institution. much better than the inner-city schools. To get a more honest response front If we had these little kindergarten kids the high school students. we should lake here,I would ask them, asIoften the eleventh graders individually and do, "Do you like your teacher?" Every say. "Lookwe don't have any group little hand would be up inthe air. pressure lunydo you really care for this teacher?" Many of them wouldsilt voted: involvement is the basis ofmo- that they did. they cared very much tivation. In this world. we do things for her. And many of them wouldsay because we care for others and wecare the teacher cared for them. Inn. They for ourselves in relationship to these could say this because the grouppres- others. It is a rare person who will work sure would be gone. But still the num- all alone to struggle and produce some- ber of students in the eleventh grade thing. We need the confirmation and who cared for the teacher and felt the verification of others. We are a social presence of human involvement would people. and we are all dependent upon greatly diminish. Some of this is a nat- one another. The only independent ural dropoff. but the dropoff istoo people in this world are in the back great. We have to he concerned with wards of statehospitals. Everybody it. concerned with the fact that children else needs people desperately. past a certain age no longer feel hu- If we need each other this much (and manly and warmly involved in school. we do). what steps can we take to get and we have to develop techniques to involved positively with other people? keep the humanness and the warmth. The first step. obviously. is to bewarm Now let's go through the basic steps and personal and friendly. You have to of how you can get kids involved, keep !leemotionally involved with those them involved. and keep them away with whom you work and those with from failure. We spend a lot of time whom you teach. This is a necessity. and effort trying to help the students Unfortunately. my professionpsychi- who are failing. trying to get them over atry. psychologyhas promoted a false on the success side. This is hard In tin. philosophy: non - involvement. And and what we do is haphazard.It's some of that philosophy has leaped much more important, I believe, to work over into the field of education. Ynu very hardand that's why elementary should push it back at once because it school is so criticalto see that children is a worthless philosophy. If you're a never get over on the failure side in the psychiatrist. for example, you are not first place. to keep them on the success supposed to get emotionally involved side. And the steps I am going to go with your patients. Thi:: is a very hard through now are the steps to keep them thing to tell somebody who comes to on the success side. you for help. The man is lonely and mis- We talk a lot about motivation. We erable: he comes for help and he'spay- say it's hard to work with these kids: ingalotof moneyand traditional they're not motivated. Motivation is a psychiatry says you should not get emo- bad term and we should try to get ri.l tionally involved with him. of it. We can't directly moth-ate any- However. we have to become emo- body. We have illusions that we can: tionally involved to some degree. Emo- we even try to motivate kids directly tionally involved does not mean erno- through bribes and punishment and re- tionaily entangled: it doesn't mean we wards. But these things work very become so involved that we don't know poorly. You can motivate people with a whether we are working realistically gunpoint a gun at them. and they get or not. But the feeling that I care for highly motivated. Howeve.. it works you and you care for me has to he there. only as long as you are pointing the and it has to be there in school. When gun and as long as they know you 'll people say that a good teacher doesn't shoot. As soon as they have any doubts. get emotionally involved with the stu- they won't he motivated by the gun. dents. they don't know what they are Let's forget the word motivation and talking about. Don't listen to them. get hack tothis word involvement. Teachers have to get involvA with People who are involved become mnti- students: it's critical for the whole pro- -12 crdure. Teachers have to care for chil- really doing here in this school." dren. and they have to show that they The child is behaving on the failure care. side of the fence. but he's establishing The reason that people don't want to his identity. If l were to say to any one get involvedisthat theyfear they of you suddenly- one of those free as- will get hurt when they get involved. sociation tests- "Name a kid." you'd There's no doubt about it: As long as name ony all right. and he wouldn't be you stay aloof. ar long as there are just from the successful side of the fence. little numbers out there, just little faces I guarantee you. In OMe school when! that you don't really see. you can't get I used to work. I would say. "Name a hurt. They're jus: your students. that's kid." and they would say "Leroy!" im- all. You -leach" them during the day. go mediately because Leroy bad estab- home at night, and that's it. But if viii lished his identity with all the teachers are concerned about them and you are in the school. His name struck terror involved. they can really hurt you. At in the hearts of the new teachers. And the same time, involvement is the only when the wonderful Catholic nuns in way you can really teach them and, the nearby parochial school took Leroy equally important. learnfrom them. away to their school. I think I hey con- Thus. we have to suspend our fear of verted more people to Catholicism than getting hurl, and get involved with the they could have clone by any other children. We have to he personal and means. The Lernys can make points all warm: otherwise nothing will happen. right, but we must not allow them to Besides being warm and personal, do this, to identify themselves in this we have to deal with children as they negative way. We have to have the are now (step two), deal with their strength not to be historians but to deal present history, what's going on today. with each instance of difficulty in a Unfortunately, all human beings seem way that says. "This is all that really to have an innate desire to he histor- is important now." And it is: we can't ians. All of us. really. are practicing do anything about the past anyway. historiansespecially administrators: Lel me give you another example. one they seem to be the mast numerous from your own life. I.et's say that many practicing historians we have. When a of you men are here by yourselves. child in trouble comes to the office, you Your wives had to stay home with the don't say. "Okay. kid, what's going on?" children. You come home from this You say. "Here you are. the 13th time sojourn in Las Vegas and your this semester you've been in the office." wife says. "I loncy. I've got some news The lithe kid begins to smile to him- for you. Unfortunately. I smashed up self and say. "Well. he's starting to the car. Not bad, just wrinkled a few know me. I need someone. i guess of thefenders."Atthatparticular have him, if nobody else." The kid point. you will all become historians. would he disappointed if you didn't give It is a rare person who will say, "Okay. him credit for being there 13 times. You we'll getitfixed: that's the way it keep right on being a historian, and you goes." Most of you will say. "Mars say, "And 10 of them are for the same the fourth time this year!" And at this thing: you're doing the same thing over point. your wife. who is quite capable and over again. Now look at that. In of defending herself. will retaliate with September you did it: in October you a little bit of your history. and as a did it: in November you did it: and here result of this historical interaction be- itis April and you're still doing it." tween you, there will be much coolness And the kid says to himself. "I'm mak- for many weeks. ing points: I'm making points. This guy The same thing happens with your is beginning to understand what I'm students. If we are going to develop 13 any kind Of warmth or personal feeling In do in Reality Therapy in working between us. we will have to suspend with people. If you can deal with the history and say. "Okay. let's deal with present problem. get it out here on the what's going on no." This will pre- table, then you can say to the child. vent children from going to the failing "Is what you ore doing helping you?" side Of the fence or. if they already are I haven't stressed feelings very much on that side of the fence, this will help because feelings are just part of the us get them back. Children have had process. Peelings accompany behavior. munch experience with historians. and .As behavior becomes more responsible. they're prepared for this approach. If better feelings will accompany it. When you don't use it. they will say to them- behavior is irresponsible. when it's de- selves. "Gm% he's not talking about all linquent or withdrawn. then you have the stuff that I thought he would." The bad feelings and pain along with it. But kid's disappointed. You didn't say he you can't work with the feelings. When kicked the ball across the playground a child is crying and upset and miser- 43 times this semester. You just said. able. you have to let hint sit there until "What (lid you do?" This disarms the he calms down. Then you can ask child. especially the little ones. hint."Is what you're doing helping "What did you do?" Thai's all yon you?" CO hint to make a value judg- need to say-nothing else. You don't ment of his own behavior. If he can do have to find a long string of things to that. if he can make it value judgment talk about: you don't have to go any of his own behavior, he is on the road further than this. With little children. to becoming more responsible. But don't this works pretty well. They say to you make the value judgment. The child themselves. "Holy smoke, he's asking has little dials in his head, and he turns MI! what I did!" Then he will begin to them right off %viten yon say, "All right. think. Because little kids are basically kid, you're no good." Ile doesn't want responsible. he'll think. "Well. I guess to hear it: it doesn't make any differ- Imust be responsible for what 1(lid. ence: he's heard it a thousand limes be- Ile's asking what I did. I le's not saying fore. But you can get a lot of attention on did it: this is the 3811t time you did front many kids by asking. "Is what it. Ile'S not saying you're no good be- you are doing helping you, really?" cause you (lid it. Ile's just saying 'What Suppose this little ten-year-old is cut- dill you do?'" This gives the child ting school. not coming regularly at all. a new outlook. and he says. "Well. I'll and yon say. "Look, isit helping yon. come over to his side. Ile's approaching staving home from school?" You have me as a worthwhile person." to be tough about it, and this is hard "What did you do?" Why don't you with little children. but it's important. try this simple approach when you get "Well." he says." I don't think school's back to your school? any good. it's not helping use to come The third step which leads to inolve- he re." ment is to refrain from another natural And then you say. "Okay, that's it. human tendency which is to be not only Good-by." This is also very hard to (lo. a historian lint also a preacher. moraliz- almost impossible. but you have to let ing and preaching all the way through him take the responsibility for his own the "history." "That's sinful, the way decision. De won't want this responsi- you behave. And I'll make a value. judg- bility. Ile will expect you to preach at ment thatyou are going down the him, beg him to crime to school, tell drain." We have to refrain from this. hint he won't geta good job unless What we have to do is to try to get the he makes the fifth grade. Don't do it. child to become his own preacher. This Say. "Well, look. we have a school here, gets to the basis of what we are trying and if you thinkit.isn't helping you,

r A.. maybe you ought to go home for a few pathways. then the ball game is over days." Ile won't like this at all. You right there. But in 99.99 percent of the destroy his whole identity as a failure cases, especially in elementary school. when you put it that way. Then he has you can come up with a plan. Some to start living by his values, and he kind of plan hos to be made. You can't 'almost never wants to. go back to just what was before. be- You have to be tough enough to let cause that wasn't working. Take time. children make their own decisions. work with the teacher. and come up Fortunately. for your sake, in elemen- with some kind of plan so that this tary school most of them make the child will succeed in school. Then get correct decision. When they get to high a commitment from the child to follow school. it's a little trickier. But when the plan. they are in elementary school, most of That's step fivethe child's commit- the kids will decide that what they are ment to follow the plan. Get it in writ- doing is not helping them or anybody ing: there's nothing wrong with writing. else very much. And if you let them Get a contract made out that says what make the decision,they'll decide to he is going to do, and let him sign it. come to school. You keep a copyon your desk. on the Then you have to go to the next step. wall, on a commitment board. You can't The child is not cutting school now. emphasise thistoo much: kids love but let's say he's upsetting the class these commitments. Commitmentis and the teacher sends him to the office. what makes the whole thing really Be warm and friendly.lethim sit viable. Commitment is what seals the there and cool down. and then say to involvement. Without it there is no real him. "What have you been doing in involvement. class?" And he tells you. lie usually Now, there are two snags in this pro- tells the truth: he's rather proud of it. cedure. One of them is that many chil- "Is it helping you?" dren don't follow through on the plan: Ile's not used to that question. He'll commitment means nothing to them. So think about it and probably say. "No, we have two more steps to take, and it's not helping me. but it's what I do." both of them require toughness. You And you say. "Do vou want to keep have to be tough inthis business. doing this kind of thing? Is this the People can be warm and 'friendly and way you want to behave in class'?" And loving and involved, but that doesn't he'll say, "No. I guess I'd like to do mean you have to be easy or permis- better, but... ." Thenhe'll give you a sive. Toughness ispart of the pro- few "huts." and you listen to the buts cedure. up to apoint. You continually stress.the Step six. then: You have to be tough fact thatitis possible for him to do enough not to excuse any behavior that better. the child has already said was bad for If he decides he can do hetter. you go him. lie made a value judgment that to the next step (step four)you work his behavior was not good for him or out a plan with the child. The plan must anyone else, and you have to be careful follow the two success pathways. It not to accept any excuses whatsoever has to lead the child toward becoming for his continuing that behavior. This more worthwhile: it has to lead him takes real toughness, because our whole toward hecoming more involved with world is founded on excuses. Not long responsihle people in a warm, friendly ago. in a class discussion. we were way. And rememher this: if the child talking about lying, and a sixth-grade has said, "Look. I want to do better." girl in the group was using lies as an and you can't come up with any kind excuse for things. She said."Dr. Glasser. of plan for him to follow these two ifI slopped lying my whole world 15 would collapse." We have to be tough enough not to take excuses. If the child said he was going to behave in certain ways, you just ask, "What did you do? IThat's your judgment now? What's yonr plan now?" Go through the whole procedure again if you need tn. but don't accept any excuses. Excuses break the involvement: they always undercut the responsible behavior. If you want to help children become responsible, don't accept excuses. It doesn't make any difference whether excuses are valid nr Excuses are all the same: don't take any of them. If we could only get rid of excused absences in our schools,it would give even parents a chance to he responsible. You should he able In say In parents: "Send ynur child to school: we want to teach him. If he is not here. we will assume there is a good mason." And you'd have as many children. probably more, in school. The last step. step number seven, is whereIalways lose my audience. That's why I held it for the last point. Don't use any punishment whatsoever. This is where I really get grumhlings and mnanings: "flow can ynn deal with these kidsif you don't whack them around a little bit?" And believe me. there areplenty ofkids who get whacked around. The kids rather like it; it gets them off the honk, and everything is kind of nice afterwards. They get even by vandalizing your school over the weekend. I advocate very strongly, no punishment. This doesn't mean that I'm per- missive: it doesn't mean that I am advocating giving up rules nr regulations nr discipline. I am just saying. don't he punitive. I define punitive as causing children pain for certain kinds of he- havinrphysical nr mental pain. Puni- tive means hitting them: it means ridi- culing them, using sarcasm. downing them, nr any of the punitive things that we dn. And, incidentally. downing a child is worse than hitting him. Don't 16.' do any of these things: they %won't work. gives you a ticket: you accept the ticket. If you have a child that is absolutely If you are success-oriented. this %rill nut of control in your school, you may probably be a fairly effective %Yarning have to send him home: you may have for you to slow down. This is no punish- to suspend him from school. T don't ment. in a certain sense. You broke a consider this punishment. If you follow rule. and he is saying you will have to the steps I'm talking about. say pay the small consequence in order to to the child. "We want yon in school. learn to heed the rule. That's all he is P we haven't been able to fi,gure out. doing. you and I. how you can behave so you But suppose that after he gives you a can remain. So go home and think about ticket. he pulls nut his service revolver it for a day. Come back tomorrow, and and puts a hole through your accelera- we'll try again." This is not punitive. tor foot. Pow! "It has also been my Have rules and regulationswhatever experience," he says.that people with you think is fair and your community a sore right foot don't press the gas %sill stand for or sants in have. But pedal so hard." This will make you very don't have any rules and regulations angry and upset. You will consider this that you don't enforce. That's always a to be excessive. and many people would very bad thing. Its one of the reasons consider it to be punitive even thongh shy our teen-agers are in such trouble. the patrolman says. "I'm just trying to 1.11e have a whole bunch of laws that are help you." It doesn't help you. and it foolish, and we don't enforce them be- doesn't make a better man of you. You cause se all recognize their foolishness. gel upset and antagonistic. We should have only laws that mean Well. when we put holes through our something; then we should enforce Mlle children's feet. we fail them. and them and make sure that they do mean we get antagonism and nothing else. To something. exclude them from school or from class To explain this matter of punishment for a lime until they can make a better more clearly. let's take an illustration. decision. that's one. thing. To be extra Suppose you live in Los Angeles and punitive. to be in any way mean and you drove to Las Vegas for this meet- nasty. to pour sarcasm and criticism ing. its a pretty good highway and on and ridiemle on a childall of these the way hack, around about Bakersfield. things are unnecessary. They don't help you are moving along at ninety miles an anybody. and they break the involve- hour. The highway patrolman pulls you ment that yon are trying desperately over. and he says, "Look. yon are going to make. The child won't he angry with ninety, and it's been my experience that you if yon say. "Look. T guess sye can't people who go ninety get themselves make it in class for a couple of hours. killed in large quantities. I'm going to Maybe you'd better stay out for a while. give yon a ticket." You knew yon were You figure something out, and well get going ninety. or if you didn't know you back in." But he'll be angry with you were going ninety you knew you you if sTm are punitive, if you separate were exceeding the speed limit a little yourself from him through some kind hit. The policemaniscourteous. He of punitive action.

17 NOW letus look at what failure and they've never had any experience means to a child. When a child with the technique. I demonstrate these feels failure, he doesn't just feel failure meetings over and over again.Iesti- here. there, or some place else; it per- mate that I've had somewhere between vades his whole system. Ask a child, and fifteen hundred and two thousand meet- I've asked plenty of them in the schools ings in the lastfive or six years. at whereIwork. "What happens when Ventura and in the public schools. you get a low grade on your report For the purpose of these teacher- card? What does it mean?" The kids all student meetings. the class should be say. "I'm a had person." Invariably they in a circle. You can't have a meeting say that. When you gave the grade, to unless people are in a circle. I can Ivc- you it was just a low grade: but to the tore to you like this-you out there in child it means that he is a had person- rows and me up here at a lectern. Rut somebod y who is no good.It means after I leave you today. that is it. Any failure identity. We have to be very other interaction would have to he in a careful about this kind of label. Any- circle where we interact together.I thing we do that makes a child feel don't understand how people can lec- failure causes him to further interpret ture, week after week, and expect in- that feeling of failure as. "I'm not only a volvement failure in school, I'm a failure. period. You have the class in a circle for the I'm a had person." express purpose of getting the teacher Let's imagine %ve had the. word "edu- tolistento what the childrensay. cation- written on a blackboard, and Teacherstell me. "The thingthat's let's say we had two lines drawn from wrong with all my classes is that the the word. This line over here would children don't listen." Well, one reason lead In involvement. and involvement they don't listen-the major reason.I is basic to the whole procedure. Some believe-isthattheteacherdoesn't procedures for getting individual in- spend very much time listening to them. volvement were discussed earlier. Rut Or she just listens to a very select few, we have to figure out more ways to get the hand raisers in the front row-the children involved. others are out of it. In a circle, nobody's I have one major suggestion. The sug- in the front row or the back row: every- gestion is to inaugurate the procedure body's the same. In a circle the teacher in your school of having systematic- can listen to the children, and they can type class meetings in which teachers listen to each other. This mutual listen- meet with their students in a nonjudg- ing is the basis of social responsibility mental way for the very simple. purpose in action. This is social responsibility of listening to what the students say. in action-the ability to listen and inter- I firmly believe that by getting involve- act with each other, give each other a ment going. you can change your whole chance to say what's on their minds, ex- school. Teachers need to learn how to press their own feelings, their own opin- hold these. meetings. Many of them inns, their own ideas. These meetings don't like the idea at first. It's different. or discussions in the schnols can be the 18 basis for getting involvement going. and this involvement can change teachers' personalities drastically.Ihave seen teachers who were withdrawn become warm and pleasant and friendl' after they started these meetings and began to appreciate their students as real little people. This kind of meeting helps get involvement going. and this prevents kids from going over to the failure side. The details of how we conduct these meetings are written up in great detail in my book. and you could start from this basic information. As principals. you are the ones who have to start. Perhaps you can start by going to a teacher you feel will be interested and supportive. Say to this teacher, "Let's have one of these meetings. We heard about it in Las Vegas. and maybe it's a crazy idea but let's try it anyway and see what happens.- Don't just have one or two meetings. See what happens in a class when you get a series of meetings going -maybe you have meetings every day for ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes. With 30 such meetings. you can change a class, and it takes about 30 to really get this thing done. The next thing you have to do is to examine your educational program for relevance. I know relevance is an over- worked word. but it's a very important word. Education has to be relevant. By relevant I mean it has to mean something to the child. Most of the courses in the curriculum mean something: they are relevant: they were included because they are important to a child's education. But what we failto do in school (and a lot can be accomplished in these circular meetings) is to teach the relevance of what we are teaching. It's not enough to tell a child that we are going to learn about history. We have to teach him why we are learning about history-that's the important thing. Then we can motivate him to do some work. We spend far too much time teaching him history and not enough time teaching him why it's important 19 to learn it. The second partwhy its and we're going to have another one." important to learn the subjectis edu- Now, hereis where things really cation. The subject alone is not really went wrong. There's nothing wrong education. For example. I had a meet- with teaching Roman numerals. I sup- ing with some third graders up in Sac- pose we could figure out that they are ramento a few years ago, and before relevant to some degree. But to test I met with the group the principal said. people on Roman numerals, and to fail "Check on relevance." and I said. "Fine." them because they don't know Roman I decided to check on relevance in numerals, to give them a failure iden- the mathematics area, so I said to the tityin one important facetintheir kids, "What are you doing in math?" school programmathhecause they "We're learning Roman numerals." don't know Roman numerals, that's Icouldn't believe my ears. Roman wrong. Kids shouldn't fail Roman nu- numerals! Great! "Why are you learn- merals. The Romans failed; that was ing Roman numerals?" bad enough. Whatever you teach chil- "Because the teacher teaches them." dren. don't evaluate them on anything A very good answer! that is obviously irrelevant. Don't let Next I said, "Why do you think she's them begin to identify themselves as teaching them?" failures on irrelevant material. "Because someone tells her to."Again The kids got nervous after this dis- a very good answer. cussion so Ifinally ended it.I said. So I said, "Why do you think the "Well. look here. kids. some day you'll person who tells her to teach Roman go to Rome. You'll knew Roman nu- numerals thinks they should be taught?" merals, and you'll be all set." One little One little kid said, "Well, I have a boy raised his hand and said, "I spent set of encyclopedias at home in the the whole summer in Rome. Dr. Glasser, basement, and the front covers have and I never saw a Roman numeral." Roman numerals on them." All right, The next thing that's very important that's why. is thinking. Thinking is like being in "flow many encyclopedias do you favor of motherhood and against sin. have?" Every educator says, "We teach think- "Twenty." ing." But actually, if you look at the "flow far are you learning Roman little girls in your local high school who numerals in school?" get the A-plus goody-goody grade aver- "Up to a thousand." (There was a age and become valedictorians. you will little discrepancy here!) find that most of them didn't get there Another child said. "I have a book by thinking. They got there by being with Roman numerals for the chapters." sweet and kindand memorizing. (Same discrepancy; not many books Thinking is very important. and think- have a thousand chapters.) ing is antagonistic to memorizing. It is So I said, "What are you doing with almost impossible for a person who the Roman numerals?" memorizes extensively to he thought- "We're adding and subtracting them. ful; and a person who is thoughtful sees And we try to multiply and divide little reason to memorize. Memorization them." hasn't been necessary since the Guten- Well, you can't multiply and divide berg Press. Prior to that time, it proh- that was a serious problem of the Ro- ably was necessary. I write hooks. and man Empire. But you can add them and I hope that many people read my hooks; subtract them. I suppose. So I said. Ihope that nobody memorizes them. "Okay, this is fine. Do you have any Read them, think about them, agree tests on them'?" with them or disagree with them, but "Oh, yes, we've had two tests already. don't memorize them. 20 1.0's go back to that word "educa- Well. I guess that's the kind of information- and the two lines drawn from it. tion you will have to have to get in.- You go clown one line and you see So he memorized the presidents. in or- nwmorizufion written. and you see cer- der. and he got a II in the course. Later. taint and measurement written. On Isaid toit son. "Tell your teacher the other side you see involvement. that your father thanks her for this test relevance. and thinking-and the im- question because he can use itas an portant phrase. "feels good.' On the example all over the united States.- memorization side. you see -not bad.- "Nothing doing. Dad. I don't want to because the best feeling you can get out flunk." of this kind of education (memoriza- Now the next item is certainty. Itis tion.certainty. measurement) is "not very unfortunate that we get so con- bad.- Anybody %im has any sense at cerned that what we teach in school is all knows it's relatively worthless ex- certain and correct. W'' may wish the ceptthatitgets you through grade world were that way. all neatly ordered. school and prepares you for more of but that's not the way it is. There is no the same later. certain one right answer for any of the tough problems that we face-in our Education personal lives. or our work. or our edu cation. or the world in general. Yet in Not Bad Feels Good school we delude students. starting in elementary school. with the idea that Memorization Invo d ye nlent there are answers to the problems of Certainly Relevance our life. This is a very had thing to do. NIvasurement 'Thinking and itraises a group of non-thinking people. Then when they get older and I was arguing with a college faculty they meet life. they start to react and one day. and I said. "Your methods of some of this reaction is the non-think- grading and selection are very poor." ing violence that we see all over this They said. "Well. we select students country. We have to let students know with high grades from high school be- that there are no right answers. and we cause we find this correlates very highly have to help them see that there are with what they do in college.- I couldn't many better alternatives to certainty argue with that; they certainly had a and "right- answers. point there. Whether it correlates with Tlu, certainty principle can. unfor- higher education is another story, but tunately. be locked into memorization. it correlates very highly with what we That history leacher. I am sure. could now do in college. write down the 37 presidents in a list. Memorization is ridiculous. When my Then she could take the lists the stu- son was in the eleventh grade. he came dents prepared. put the lists together. home one day and said. "Dad. I've got and see who got what. This I am sure a history final. and guess what it's on." she was capable of doing. and she was I said. "I won't guess: yon tell me." doing it because she was operating un- "We have to memorize the presidents der the measurement principle. She was of the. Iinitrd States in order." told, or she had some kind of a strong I started laughing. and he said. "What feeling in herself if she weren't told. are you laughing about?" I said. "If that you have to rank students. You weren't laughing. I'd he crying." can't give them all good grades or all fir. asked me what he should dn. Well. had grades: you have to spread them I'm atypical parent. so 1said. "Yon out. Giving this kind of test is one way memorize the presidents-you; want to you can spread them out very well-- go in a first-rate university. don't you? some students will learninpresidents: 21 some will learn 37. In my son's class. rometer to the ground. and measure the I'm sure some students were 10-37. length of the string." Not a bad answer some were 20-37, some were 37-37. but the student flunked the test. The Therefore. they could be graded. be- teacher said his answer was wrong. and cause those are numbers and numbers the two argued back and forth. Finally are very sacred in our society. When we the teacher said. "Let's go to the head convert everything to a number. we of the science department and let him think we really know something. What judge." The student said. "Fine. What- we ought to know is that we have con- ever he says. I'll accept.'' verted to something we can neither un- The head of the science department derstand nor use for any intelligent read the answer and said."It's no educational purpose. Knowing more or good." The student was upset. The head fewer presidents has nothing to do with or the science department saw that he history or education. Students are tested was upset. so he said. "You sit down on such an item for one purposeto right now and see if you can write the rank grade them. It would have been answer. I'll give you another chance." just as meaningful to grade them by The kid said. "Great!" Ile sat down. their height or weight. but he didn't write anything. Finally the We measure far too much, and this head of the science department said. is another unfortunate girt from my pro- "You're not%yr:linganything. Why fession. Don'tlelyourself be oer- not?" whelmed with the value of measuring "Well." the student said. "Idon't instruments in education. They may know what to write:I have so many have some value in building widgets for answers. Can I give them orally?" General Motors, but they don't have The science chairman agreed to this. much value in education. And it's not so the student said, "Well. yon want a important to measure students against physical principle. I assume. You didn't one another. What's important is to gel like measurement." them thinking and to come up with "Yes." thoughtful alternative answers to diffi- "Well. you take the barometer to the cult or even easy problems. One of the top of the building. You hold it over the reasons thinking has gone out of style edge. You look at your watch. and once is because you can't measure it. We the second hand gels to twelve, you are so imbued with measurement and drop the barometer. Then you check certainly that we have been willing to the seconds until it smashes into the sacrifice thinking. Thinking is never ground. and.using theacceleration certainif it were certain. itcouldn't formula. you figure the height of the be thinking. building." Let me give you an example. Itis "No good. Try again." about a test. and it was written up in a "All right. !low about proportion? magazine. A student had a physics test You take the barometer; you set it up in high school with one question. seem- on the ground like this: you measure its ingly a pretty good question. lie wrote shadow and the height of it: you mea- an answer to it. and the teacher sent it sure the shadow of the building. and back with an F on itfailed. The stu- youfigure the height of the building." dent was bitter. "You can't fail me." he Again the professor said. "No good." said. "I had the right answer." This time the student said. "How The test question was: How do von about logic?" measure the height of a building with a "Logic sounds good. Give me a logi- barometer? The student had written. cal answer." "Go to the too of the building. attach a And the student said. "You take the string to the barometer. lower the ha- barometer: you go around to the base- 22 ment of the building: you knock on the door of the janitor. Von say to the janitor. 'Ell give you this beautiful ha- mmier if you'll tell me the height of the The story may be apocryphal. but it makes the point. There is no one good, right answer to any question. Now I'd like to discuss what I consider to In! the five educational medi- ocrities that are related to the general principles of memorization. certainly. and measurementprinciples that are causing students to follow failure pathways. One of these is the reporting system. The first thing that we have to do is get rid of the A-B-C-D-F-F report card. This is going to be hard to do. but we are doing it in selected elementary schools in the City of Los Angeles. Many administrators have been trou- bled by regular report cards. and they have been looking for a way to do away with them. We are helping them to provide a structure to do it with the so- called model schools that our Educator Training Center* is involved with. A- grades are destructive. for all the reasons you know. and I xvon't in- sult your intelligence by going through all of them. Basically, the, only passing grades are A and 11: every other grade is a failing grade. unless you have such an enlightenedand communicative school that everybody accepts C as a good grade. It's not a good grade in most places. and this is verified by older brothers incollege and every place else. Nobody wants a C student: he's a dud. If a student gets a D or an F, he's even more of a dud. The system I'm advocating in elementary school is based on the philosophy that you don't fail anybody. Instead of having report cards, you should do the hest you can during the six years you have the children in elementary school. As long as you have

'Funded by the W. Clement and Jessie V. Slone Inundation In reduce failure. The Center is located at 2140 West Olympic Boulevard. Los Angeles. California. 1-23 them in one class with essentially one their children were talking. teacher. this will work. When you get We've told every parent in every into separating classes. you have to use school that if he wants a report card. another system. which is equally good he can have it. We're not fighting any- but different. But get rid of the A-B-C- body: we're not going to ruin our whole D-E-F grades. and give the child a per- procedure for one stubborn parent. Let sonal evaluation from the tcacher. You him have the report card. But his child may try another method. but this is is not going to take it home: we don't what I personally advocate. The teacher believe in that. We'll mail it to the par- and the student should sit down at least ent. It's his need: he can have it! And once or twice during a semester. and then if he wants to discuss it with his the teacher should say to the student: child. that's his option. But we are ad- "This is where you are doing %veil: this vocating teacher-child discussion. with is where you need to improve. What the parents invited. It has worked. and are the problems? I.et's work out some it will work. It's hard to do: it takes a ways for you to improve." A personal little technique: and you have to go discussion between teacher and student slowly. Don't just suddenly start at your is important: it's important whatever school. Co slowly and carefully. maybe the. age of the student. The teacher starting at the lower grades. But if we levels with the child and does it con- don't getrid of this grading system. structively. Ile doesn't say. You are a we'll continue to lock children in fail- failure." ure. You can't tell a child he's succeed- Ialso advocate thatat least once ing when you use a report card that during a semester you invite a parent labels him a failure. It won't work. to sit in on this discussion as a passive, The next thing we have to get rid of listening participant: and maybe later is the normal curve. It's abnormal. and as a questioning. helping kind of partic- it shouldn't be used. The only time a ipant. But the basic contractis be- normal curve should be used in any tween the student and theteacher. kind of grading system is when the Teaching, children is the school's re- teacher is absolutely certain he's taught sponsibility. Ton many little children nothing. Then he still has a normal dis- think that what they are doing in school tribution. But the object of education is is for their parents. and that's a very to skew the norm. If you still have a destructive kind of idea to get into their norm after you've taught all semester, minds. you've done one of two things, either of Before you can successfully get rid which isalmost impossible: You've of report cards. you have to convince taught nothing. or you've taught every the parents that this is a wise move. In single person exactly the same amount. one of our schonls in Los Angeles re- The idea of the normal curve is ridicu- cently. we had a big PTA meeting on lous. Inlife we don't go on normal this subject. We brought in a group of curves: we go on proficiency. School sixth graders. and I had a discussion should be related to the way lifeis. with them to try In shot,. the parents That's why its so important to ';et rid how destructive the A-B-C-D-E-F grades of the ridiculous concept of the normal are. The parents were really apprecia- curve that has been foisted on us by tive of the chance to get rid of report statisticians who don't know what they cards. In fact. it was only the kids who are doing when they start using the were hanging on to report cards, and normal curve in education. they were hanging on to them because The third thing we have to get rid of they knew nothing else. But the par- is the objective lest for personal evalu- ents began to see the destructiveness ation purposes. Objective tests are kill- of the grading system, just by the way ers of kids. They lock children into the r24 memorization. certainty. tneasuremeat be incorporated into the system. I low- pattern. Tests that require memoriza- ever. it should be done very carefully tion are deeply ingrained and hard to and thoughtfully. and it should involve get rid of. But how wonderful it is when the things the child can do. Don't give you do get rid of ;. few! We have to the homework to the parents: the par- learnto use subjective'gists where ents aren't in elementary school any- children can thoughtfully express their more. They don't understand this new opinions and their ideas about what's math anyway. You're torturing them to going on within the subject area. Chil- death. not to mention what you are do- dren should be taught how to look up ing to the kids. information and how to think about it Homework has to be thoughtful. It and what it means. Memorization is not has to be something the child ran do. the answer. Don't require childrea to A lot of homework should involve the memorize anything. Your tests will have child in dialogues with his family. Chil- to be shorter. but you can teach children don't talk enough with their par- dren to write. We are trying to develop ents in a meaningful, constructive way. skillsthe skill of reading, the skill of Too much antagonistic dialogue goes listening, the skill of writing thought- on. Send a child home with an assign- fully and reasonably, the skill of speak- ment to ask his father what his first job ing thought fully and reasonably, and the was like and to report back to the class skill of understanding some basic arith- on that. Or what was it like to live metic processes. Memorized knowle4e without television? When did Dad get is chancy.itwill go along with the his first dog? Where did mother live. teaching of skills, but skills are what and what was the neighborhood like will pay off in the real world the child when she was growing up? Give this has to live in. kind of homework assignment. Parents The fourth thing, is no closed hook love to talk about such things to their tests. Let the books be open. That's kids. If you give this as a homework what they are written for. Keep them assignment, the child will listen. and open at all times. That totally eliminates this will do a lot of good for the parent. cheating. Many students learn to cheat. Itwill bring about 'happiness in the even in elementary school, in order to family instead of the antagonism and cope with the present testing and grad- fighting that accompanies many home- ing system and in order to overcome work assignments.ithink excessive the pressure to give their parents a good and unreasonable homework is respon- report. in a sense, we sow the seeds of sible for much of the friction in homes our own society's destruction by teach- with teen-agers. Teen-agers aren't your ing little kids that cheating pays off. immediate problem. but the elementary Under my system. there could be no schools can set the stage for reasonahle cheating. There's no failure: there's no and rational homework. And we should evaluation in terms of "you are low." try to impress on the secondary schools Instead, there's "let's work for some- that they ought to go in this direction, thing": "let's see how you are doing": also. "let'sset high standards and try to These are the things I wanted to say meet them, but there's no sense cheat- to you. I've talked for a long time. but ing because you are not graded against I don't often get a chance to talk to so fohnny or Billy or Suzy: you're graded many principals, and I appreciate your against yourself and what you can do." listening to me this long. I suggest for The fifth thing is this: Be very, very details you read my books. Reality careful about homework. Homework is Therapy and Schools Without Failure. a good thing. Probably in the later This is a suggestion, not a required grades of elementary school, it should homework assignment! 25