Continuing Monday's theme of unpredictability as a useful weapon in a teacher's discipline-arsenal, I've found some nice examples in an as-yet unpublished book on classroom management. The author uses the cricketing analogy of the 'slow ball'. The American term 'curve ball' is perhaps more commonly used today for an unpredictable, unexpected delivery, but in the context of school discipline, I realise the cricketing analogy of 'slow ball' is better. As a non-cricketer, I needed to have this explained to me, but the gist seems to be that a slow ball is delivered with a rapid and energetic arm-movement, leading the recipient to expect an especially fast ball.
The classroom miscreant is EXPECTING a harsh reaction from the teacher, and is fully prepared for shouting, withering sarcasm, threats of detention etc. Such expected responses would, therefore have limited psychological effect, precisely because they are expected. Sometimes, the only way to make a psychological impact on the hardened miscreant is the slow ball.
An essential pre-requisite for the classroom slow ball is a moment's silence before the delivery. The teacher who reprimands loudly as soon as he/she registers the offence, is making several errors:
1) There's no time to think of a truly appropriate and measured response. The hasty response is liable to be ill-worded and to sound flustered, leading to a diminution in authority.
2) Without classroom silence, the teacher's response may not even be heard.
3) A 'pregnant' pause will disconcert the miscreant. Not knowing how the teacher will react, even for a few seconds, puts the miscreant instantly at a psychological disadvantage. The teacher, meanwhile, has regained sovereignty over classroom noise-levels. He/she now has a silent and rapt audience.
Now for the slow ball. The author wisely notes that, as in cricket, the slow ball can only be effective once in a blue moon. In the few seconds' silence you've just bought yourself, you can decide whether a slow ball will be appropriate. There were some entertaining examples in the book I was reading. My favourite, for its good humour and psychological cunning, concerned a girl from another class, who unobtrusively joined the author's class as a joke. Far from ejecting the mis-placed student, the author welcomed her and extended the warm invitation to break-time as well, leaving the joker with some explaining to do to her own form teacher. The author notes with satisfaction how the joker had "lost control of her own joke."
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