Chuck Tucker (991123)
Rick Marken (11/22/99 11:04:05 AM Eastern Standard Time) writes:
<< In fact, Bill and I made this easy by constantly explaining that we
believed that the RTP program is great, a "marvel", etc. I think even a
non-expert in PCT could have figured out that Bill and I were not attacking
RTP; we were suggesting ways to improve the way the RTP program is
_described_ so as to make that description consistent with practice _and_
with the theory (Bill's) on which the program is ostensibly based. >>
Please cite the post(s) wherein you or Bill offered how the program could be
changed to make it more consistent with PCT (or BCT)? I don't believe either
of you did this.
You claimed that the use of the "I see you have chosen .." phrase made the
program coercive which is contrary to PCT or BCT. You (Rick) have made no
observations of the program in action but simply claimed that Ed's
description was not consistent with PCT or BCT. Bill, whose knowledge of the
program is vicarious, has heard that someone was concerned about the use of
the "chosen" phrase and thus considered it inconsistent with PCT. I was told
that a discussion of this issue took place with Tom Bourbon at the 1998 CSG
meeting and I have the impression that Tom denied the problem existed. But
in either case, I do not believe the use of the phrase in Ed's program is
coercive OR inconsistent with the principles of PCT or BCT. Here is my
argument.
One has to remember that the RTP is not just "dropped" into a school w/o any
explanation or discussion. Ford in his second book on discipline (1996)
outlines the requirements for the process to work properly. As Tom states in
the Forward:
This book shows the Ed's program is not about something you do to
students to make them behave, one and for all. Instead, it is a
continuing process, build on mutual respect, that can make a profound
difference, but one if people work diligently to help children, not to
control them. The program works best when the educators understand that
everyone, children and educators alike, behaves to control their own
experiences. When the program works, children understand that, too.
Ed spends a great deal of time working with the people in a school to make
certain that they understand the program as well as the theory behind it.
LeEdna Custer-Knight notes the ongoing nature of the RTP by pointing out the
"toughest" part of the program is:
... the day-to-day operation of the school as the program took shape and
form, as our attitudes toward each other began to change. The attitude
changes happened in all of us, teachers, administrators, school support
staff, parents, and, even more importantly, the students themselves. It has
be a significant transformation in how we look at ourselves, and at each
other, especially our children
.
the daily struggles were in:
*keeping a large group of people and procedures aligned.
*making written copies of all rules, procedures, and changes in
forms available to all staff, students, and parents.
.........................
*exhibiting personal vigilance and always adhering to the process.
*renewing our commitment to responsibility thinking as a staff on a
regular basis
continuing to talk, talk, talk, realizing that earnest dialogue
concerning the success as well as the difficulties of all staff
are critical to the maintenance and growth of the program (Ford,
1997: 95)
The book contains "reports" by fifteen other educators who have been involved
in the RTP which have similar material about the program. Certainly, no one
who has attended the CSG meetings (I have viewed the tapes for the meetings I
have not attended) where Ed and his colleagues have made presentations would
deny that RTP is a continuing ongoing work within a school. Even Powers
notes:
Ford's Responsible Thinking Program teaches the basic principles of PCT
to everyone in the school system, in a framework of simple and consistent
procedures that are easy to teach and learn. For example, the question,
"What are you doing?" (if asked as a genuine respect for a description) can
jog a student (or teacher!) up a level sufficiently to cut a potential
incident short.
When parents, teachers, student, administrators, cafeteria workers, bus
drivers, and security personnel all learn these principles and how to
apply them, result can be quite impressive -- even in juvenile offender
lockup facilities. At the very least, the PCT approach to conflict between
people seems to be worthy of further development. (Powers, 1998:108)
This ongoing work is important for understanding the phrase "I see you have
chosen .."
If you said to a student in an ordinary classroom "I see you have chosen to
go to the RTC" she would say "What are you saying? I don't understand." This
is because she has not learned the RTP. In the RTP the statement "I see you
have chosen to go to the RTC" is a statement that follows a series of
questions which the student has learned as part of being trained in RTP. As
Bourbon writes:
Questions and the RTC
When a student disrupts, the teacher asks a few simple questions, in
a calm and respectful voice:
"What are you doing?"
"What is the rule?" or "Is that OK?"
"What happens if you break the rule?"
"Is that what you want to happen?"
"What will happen the next time you disrupt?"
The questions afford a choice to a student who disrupts: either he
can stop disrupting and remain in the class, or he can continue to
disrupt, and thereby choose to leave the classroom and go to the
Responsible Think Classroom (RTC). For students who stop
disrupting when they answer the questions for the first time, nothing
else happens. After teachers use the RTP for a while, the first
question is often all they need. When the hear that question, most students
who are disrupting immediately stop and indicate that they understand
what they are doing and how it violates guidelines for the ways people
should treat one another. On the other hand, if a student continues to
disrupt after hearing the questions for the first time, the teacher
says, calmly, "I see you have chosen to go to the RTC." (Powers,
1998:155)
Thus the student has learned that the meaning of the "chosen" phrase, which
is used only after he continues to disrupt, is that she goes to the RTC where
she will work out a plan to cease disrupting the classroom and thereby be
able to return to that classroom. On this point, Ford writes:
Children do not perceive what I suggest doing as mean or unfair. I can't
remember a single child getting more upset that before. And the best
evidence comes from parents trying these ideas in their homes. I am
talking about scores of parents, all enthusiastic about the results (Ford,
1997:85).
Thus, the use of the "chosen" phrase is not coercive since negotiations about
the rules and the procedures have occurred in setting up the program and are
continually restated throughout the working of the program so that everyone
understands the meaning of that phrase in the context of the program.
) What does "buying" into a theory