Dear Colleague in Education,

“There’s a Monster in my Classroom” – A Workshop on Creating a Positive Discipline Environment for the Z and Alpha Generation.

An essential 2 Hour Workshop for Primary and High School Educators.

• Venue: Your school
• Time: You choose
• Cost R 195-00 per member of staff

• Workbook and full manual
• Certificate
• SACE accredited certificate (CPTD allocation/Type 3/10 Points/ Leadership and Management.)

Please see optional parent talk below

Introduction

Millennial Parents and their Gen Z and Alpha Children, think, act, interoperate and process everything very differently. It is critical, as an educator, to understand the psychology behind these generations if we have any chance of fighting the ongoing battle against ill-discipline in the classroom.

One of the key elements that affect the health of the school’s environment is the issue of managing learner behaviour through the disciplinary processes of a school. Management, educators and other staff are dealing with problematic behaviour from the learners on a daily basis.

We live in a time where there appears to be a real decline in the area of discipline in general. The result of this decline is seen and felt by educators and school management who deal with the learner. Learners are lacking some basic character elements, such as a good work ethic, taking responsibility for their actions, self-control, open disrespect, defiance to name a few.

There are many factors that contribute to this, such as family life, rights based thinking without responsibility, exposure to violence, learners influence on one another, poverty and/or wealth, conduct of our countries leaders and learners’ developmental difficulties.

Workshop Content

Section A

An in-depth psychological profile on understanding the behaviour and actions of:

1. Generation Alpha (Born, or will be born between 2010 and 2025)

Generation Alpha is the first generation to experience remote classrooms, streaming services and portable devices from early childhood. Generation Alpha has been shown to develop characteristics such as hyper-connectivity, independence and visual learning. Alpha children are connected more than ever due to their technologically based way of living. They also prefer to learn visually, especially due to their technological involvement. A lack of relational and communication skills, a sense of responsibility, and compassion and thoughtfulness toward others are critical qualities missing from Generation Alpha.

1. Generation Z (Born between 1995 and 2010)

Generation Z, aged 10 – 25, comprises one of the largest group of passionates – those who report the most intense feelings about a range of global issues. A typical Gen Zer is a self-driver who cares about others, strives for a diverse community, is highly collaborative and social, values flexibility, relevance, authenticity and non-hierarchical leadership. These characteristics cause huge discipline issues when traditional methods are utilised in the school environment.

1. The Millennial Parent (Born 1981 to 1996)

Millennial parents tend to be more open minded than any of the generations before them and do not ascribe to overly specific parenting styles but rather find value in positive parenting over authoritarian discipline. The biggest challenges millennial parents face include dealing with stress, finances, raising children in a digital age, parental guilt and balancing work and family life. These parents often become hostile when approached because of their child’s ill-discipline.

Section B

• Discipline vs punitive implementation
• Understanding the purpose of discipline in the school environment
• An introduction to positive discipline
• The various paradigms that influence our approach to discipline
• Staff and personal discipline

Section C

Classroom management

• An educators ethical responsibilities in respect of discipline
• Diligence and co-operation
• Implementing the schools code of conduct and managing effective punitive action
• Dealing with a belligerent learner

Section D

Using emotional intelligence as a discipline base-line

• Empathy
• Effective communication
• Social skills
• Motivation
• Conflict resolution
• Dealing with emotional triggers

Section E

Teaching techniques to keep Gen Alpha and Z engaged in the classroom. The creation of a meaningful learning experience leads to a disciplined environment:

• Use of technology
• Short visual content
• Interactive learning
• Collaborative learning
• Real world application
• Gamification
• Social media integration

Optional parent talk

Positive discipline in the Millennial Home Duration: 1 Hour Cost: R3,000-00

Millennial parents tend to be more open minded than any of the generations before them and do not ascribe to overly specific parenting styles but rather find value in positive parenting over authoritarian discipline. The biggest challenges millennial parents face include dealing with stress, finances, raising children in a digital age, parental guilt and balancing work and family life.

Topics

The 10 big discipline mistakes Millennial  Parents make

Setting cyber boundaries

Parental roles and responsibilities

Supporting my child’s teacher

Dealing with gaming addiction

Challenges facing teens in South Africa today – setting parental boundries