Discipline in Schools: Is This Working?

This American Life, Episode 538: Is This Working?

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/538/is-this-working

This is a really powerful and honest exploration of discipline in schools; what is the purpose, what are the methods, what is working and what is not working. Some of the stories told are all too commonplace, some of them are very unique and tragic situations. However, all of them represent a dilemma or debate in the education community about how we should think about and implement appropriate and effective student discipline methods in schools, and what that may mean for different communities. The show also reflects on the parallels of school discipline policies and those of the criminal justice system.

It starts by surveying a number of middle school teachers on their response to a behavior scenario which has a student refusing to comply with a no hats school policy. There is a wide range of answers from a full-fledged…