Jacob S.

Kounin
Classroom Management
Techniques

Who is Kounin?
Kounin is a classroom behaviourist theorist
Best known for his two studies done in
1970
He wrote the book, "Discipline and Group
Management in Classrooms"
Kounin worked to combine both discipline
and learning in the classroom
Kounin believed that organization and
planning are key to engaging students
This relationship is characterized by
proactive teacher behaviour along with
student involvement in learning

Rationale
Focuses on preventative discipline:
using techniques and strategies to
prevent misbehaviours from
occurring.

Case Study:
Give suggestions of what proactive
discipline is
Examples of proactive discipline (what
does it look like in the classroom?)

Achieving Classroom
Management Through
Preventative Discipline
Key Ideas:
Ripple Effect
Withitness
Overlapping
Movement Management
Smoothness
Momentum
Group Focus and Accountability

Strategy 1: Ripple Effect

By correcting the misbehaviour of
one student it can positively
influence the behaviour of another

Strategy 2: Withitness
Awareness of what is going on in all
parts of the classroom
Teachers have eyes on the back of
their heads!
Classroom layout benefits the
teachers ability to see all students at
all times

Strategy 3: Overlapping
When teachers can effectively tend to
two or more events simultaneously
Students are more likely to stay on
task if they know that the teacher is
aware of what they are doing (body
language)

Strategy 4: Movement
Management
Smoothness:
Smooth transitions between
activities
Momentum:
Appropriate pace and progression
through a lesson
Group Focus and Accountability:
Keep the whole class involved and
interested

When Managing the

Classroom, Try to AVOID
Dangling:
Teacher leaves a topic and
introduces new, unrelated material
Flip-flop:
like dangling, except that the
teacher inserts left-over materials
from a previous lesson

Avoid
Thrust:
teacher forgets to give clear instructions
at the appropriate time of a lesson.
Teacher must then re-explain the
instructions to each student on an
individual level
Stimulus-bound:
Teacher is distracted by an outside
stimulus and draws the classs attention
to it

Classroom Applications
Be aware of what is happening around the
classroom.
Intervene before misbehaviours escalate.
Use routines, explanations and smooth transitions to
gain the attention of the students.
Keep all students involved through constant
supervision and accountability.
Reduce off task behaviour and boredom by creating
challenges, extending tasks, providing progress and
adding variety.
Be able to attend to more than one event at the
same time.
Note: Classroom management is most effective when
these applications are applied at the beginning of
the school year.

References
Kounin 1970
http://www.educ.uvic.ca/epls/faculty/rowles/kounin1.htm
Jacob Kounin
http://scied.gsu.edu/Hassard/mos/10.2.html
Kounin, Jacob from WikEd
http://wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Kounin,_Jacob
Learning Environment Article from The Premiere Website for Health and Physical
Education http://www.pecentral.org/climate/april99article.html
Maine Education Association
http://www.maine.nea.org/index.htm
The Kounin Model from Approaches to Discipline
http://www.solwebs.net/sgfl/teaching/discplan/koun1.htm
West Dunbartonshire Council
http://www.wdcweb.info/home/