On the New Edition of Building Classroom Discipline

“I feel the book is the best overview of Classroom Management for an entry-level teacher. It has a strong theoretical basis and provides students with a sound overview of classroom management. . . . [E]ach chapter is easy to follow and . . . [t]he case examples and the application examples strengthen each chapter. . . . A true gem of a book!”

--Aubrey Fine, CA Poly University

[Two things] I like about the new edition that the [previous edition did] not have [are] the chapter on self-assessment, as well as [the] inclusion of the Be the Teacher Scenarios in all the chapters.  My students have enjoyed the Be the Teacher practice exercises a lot, and I am glad that with the new edition they will have even more opportunities to practice.”

--Madalina Tanase, University of North Florida

“Not only does Charles provide the essence of each model, but he focuses on how to execute the model in a classroom.  The step-by-step approach is exceptional.”

--Deborah Burris, Southern Illinios University – Carbondale

Appropriate for courses in Classroom Management and Classroom Discipline.

Charles is the leading classroom management models text.  It covers and applies the most important management and discipline approaches, from Redl, Wattenberg, Skinner, and Glasser through Jones, Kagan, Cook, and others). 

This book has two main goals. The first is to help readers understand and become highly competent in today’s major concepts, terminology, approaches, and strategies in discipline. Toward that end, information is presented on the nature of behavior and misbehavior, students’ behavioral traits, teachers’ obligations in discipline, and the goals and procedures of today’s most respected approaches in management.   The second goal is to assist teachers in organizing systems of management that best meet their needs and those of their students.  A comprehensive review of outstanding strategies and tactics is presented with further information and guidance to help teachers develop effective, well-rounded systems of management and discipline for any class.

C. M. Charles, PhD. is Professor Emeritus of Teacher Education, San Diego State University, Honorary Phi Beta Kappa, was a public school teacher from 1953 to 1959, then moved into higher education. He has held positions at the University of New Mexico, Teachers College Columbia University, Pepperdine University, Universidade Federal do Maranhao (Brazil), and of course, San Diego State University. At San Diego State, Charles directed innovative programs in teacher education, and five times received outstanding professor and distinguished teaching awards. He also served on several occasions as advisor in teacher education and curriculum to the governments of Peru and Brazil. Charles has authored or co-authored numerous books, most of them in education, that have attracted wide audiences in the United States and abroad, with translations into several foreign languages. Besides this new edition of Building Classroom Discipline, the texts he’s affiliated with and dealing most directly with school discipline are: Teachers' Petit Piaget (1972); The Synergetic Classroom: Joyful Teaching and Gentle Discipline (2000); Essential Elements of Effective Discipline (2002); Classroom Management for Middle Grades Teachers (2004); Elementary Classroom Management (5th edition 2008); and Today’s Best Classroom Management Strategies: Paths to Positive Discipline (2008), Charles, who resides in California and Australia, is married and has two children, both teachers.

Phase I Conceptual Grounding in Discipline