Assessment Post 4: Glasser

Glasser

William Glasser is a psychiatrist who developed both Reality Therapy and Choice Theory. In education Reality Therapy is implemented and discussion between student and teacher takes place. The aim of this discussion is to determine what the individuals goals are for the future, how they can best achieve these goals and also discusses why they are behaving in certain ways at that moment. Reality Therapy asserts that misbehavior is caused by unsatisfying personal relationships (http://www.wglasser.com/rt2000.htm )
Choice theory asserts that all human beings are driven by five genetically encoded needs:
- Survival
- Love/belonging
- Power
- Freedom
- Fun
These needs compose an individuals ‘Quality World’. Glasser asserts that from birth individuals note what they derive pleasure from e.g. certain relationships, what they may derive pleasure from e.g. desirable relationships, and a variety of other things, e.g. a beautiful sunset pr systems of belief, and store these as their Quality World. Throughout ones development the Quality World is what is being aimed for and is always being contrasted with the Comparing World. Individuals aim to bring that Quality World as close to reality as is possible in that Comparing World ( http://www.wglasser.com/Intro%20to%20RT%20case%20study%20article.pdf ).
As a future teacher Glasser’s theory is of critical importance to the way in which I will not only teach but the way in which I will manage my classroom. Reality therapy allows a teacher to engage directly with a student and form a partnership in overcoming obstacles the child may have in their learning through collaborative effort. Placing this kind of confidence in the student suggests that you are confident that the individual can recognize challenges in their learning and overcome them. This gives the student a sense of responsibility which is vital is satisfying their basic needs. Glasser’s theory provides valuable insight into the cause of behavior problems within the classroom and provides teachers with a goal of satisfying the basic needs of their students; inevitably resulting in improved behavior and a more successful environment for both teaching and learning. This approach allows teachers and students to work as a team to achieve established learning aims; eliminating the possible alienation the student may feel from the teacher in other situations, such as an authoritative classroom. Certainly as a teacher I will be using Reality Therapy both as a classroom management strategy and a reflective tool; this effectively combines discipline with learning encouraging the development of teacher-student relationships. This approach will empower the child and consequently nullify discipline problems at grass roots level ( http://raider.muc.edu/~schnelpl/Control%20Theory%20-%20Overhead.html ).