NCJ Number
58782
Date Published
1978
Length
24 pages
Annotation
THE POSSIBILITY THAT SCHOOLS CAN REDUCE THEIR CRIME PROBLEMS BY FOCUSING ON STUDENTS' AFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT IS EXPLORED, WITH REFERENCE TO THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF TWO AFFECTIVE EDUCATION PROGRAMS.
Abstract
LEARNING IS DIVIDED INTO THREE DOMAINS: (1) COGNITIVE (THINKING OR INTELLECTUAL ACTIVITIES), (2) AFFECTIVE (FEELINGS AND ATTITUDES), AND (3) PSYCHOMOTOR (PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES). IDEALLY SCHOOLS SHOULD TEACH IN ALL THREE DOMAINS. HOWEVER, SCHOOLS TRADITIONALLY HAVE PLACED GREATER EMPHASIS ON COGNITIVE AND PSYCHOMOTOR SKILLS THAN ON AFFECTIVE SKILLS, IN PART BECAUSE COGNITIVE AND PSYCHOMOTOR OBJECTIVES CAN BE MORE EASILY MEASURED. BY NOT ATTENDING TO THE AFFECTIVE DEVELOPMENT OF STUDENTS, SCHOOLS MAY HAVE INDIRECTLY CONTRIBUTED TO THEIR OWN CRIME PROBLEMS. AFFECTIVE EDUCATION PHILOSOPHIES AND PROGRAMS CAN REDUCE SCHOOL CRIME BY IMPROVING STUDENTS' SELF-ESTEEM. THIS CONTENTION FINDS SUPPORT IN EXPERIMENTS WITH TWO AFFECTIVE EDUCATION CONCEPTS--SCHOOLS WITHOUT FAILURE, AND VALUES CLARIFICATION--IN SEVERAL SCHOOLS DISTRICTS. THE SCHOOL-WITHOUT-FAILURE APPROACH FOCUSES ON DEALING WITH STUDENTS' PROBLEMS IN CONSTRUCTIVE, RATIONAL WAYS, RATHER THAN BY LABELING STUDENTS AS 'FAILURES' OR 'BAD.' THE MAJOR TECHNIQUE OF SCHOOLS-WITHOUT-FAILURE PROGRAMS IS THE CLASSROOM MEETING, WHICH IS USED FOR A VARIETY OF PURPOSES (E.G., STIMULATING STUDENT INTEREST, DEVELOPING STUDENT-TEACHER RELATIONS, EVALUATING PROGRESS, SOLVING PROBLEMS), IN MADISON, WIS., A SCHOOLS-WITHOUT-FAILURE PROGRAM WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR REDUCING TRUANCY, VANDALISM, FIGHTING, AND OTHER DISTURBANCES. VALUES CLARIFICATION IS TEACHING STRATEGY AIMED AT HELPING STUDENTS DEFINE AND EXPLORE THEIR VALUES. ONE EXPERIMENTAL APPLICATION OF THE STRATEGY FOUND THAT THE SELF-CONCEPTS OF STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED VALUES CLARIFICATION INSTRUCTION IMPROVED. THE THEORY AND GROUND RULES OF SCHOOLS WITHOUT FAILURE AND VALUES CLARIFICATION ARE DISCUSSED, AND RELATED RESEARCH IS SUMMARIZED. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS PROVIDED. (LKM)