Choice Theory in the Classroom

by William Glasser

Book Overview

William Glasser, M.D., puts his successful choice theory to work in our schools--with a new approach in increasing student motivation.

Dr. Glasser translates choice theory into a productive, classroom model of team learning with emphasis on satisfaction and excitement. Working in small teams, students find that knowledge contributes to power, friendship and fun. Because content and the necessary student collaboration skills must be taught, teachers...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060952873
• ISBN13: 9780060952877
• Release Date: July 1998
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

One of the Giants!

Glasser is defenitely one of the extra-sensory GIANTS! A great tool for anyone with an open mind to upgrade their teaching skills. If you only beleive in what your 5 senses tell you then this book is probably not for you.

It's "Control Theory" all over again.

This book is the updated of "Control Theory in the Classroom". If you have that book, you don't need this one. If you don't, this is a great book for educators.

When Gold Stars Don't Work

In the first paragraph of this book, Dr. William Glasser, captures the attention of everyone concerned with the state of education in our country today by immediately identifying our number one problem. At least half of the students in any given classroom are unmotivated to learn. In a world where all teachers are steeped in the behaviorist theories of psychology, through which we are taught to manipulate student behaviors with reward and punishment, it is refreshing to read an author who acknowledges the neglected role of individual freedom and self motivation in the classroom. The students who leave our elementary schools, high schools and universities with the best education possible are those who have chosen to actively participate in the learning process. In this book, Dr. Glasser lays out a strategy for teachers who want to get more of their students involved in that process and a strong rationale for doing so. While, I believe that he sometimes needlessly overstates the potential power of choice theory, in his discussion of migraine headaches and dyslexia, for instance, he rightly presents his solution to the problem of motivating students as one of many possible solutions. He argues for the benefits of the use of a cooperative learning strategy that effectively addresses the problem of motivation by fulfilling student needs he identifies as the desire for belonging, freedom, power and fun. Through this strategy, he argues, teachers can increase student involvement and depth of learning because the students are given the opportunity to become self motivated rather than teacher motivated. His theory should be part of every teacher's base of professional knowledge, as an alternative to behaviorism, and the techniques he shares should be part of every teacher's arsenal of strategies for teaching in today's schools.