Consistency rules: a critical exploration of a universal principle of school discipline

Abstract

The current study explores the principle of consistency and its relevance in the discipline cultures of three middle and two high schools in a Midwest US school district. We explore how educators (1) evoke consistency as a necessity for school discipline and (2) attempt to be consistent in practice to develop disciplined students, encourage academic-oriented school cultures, and maintain safe and orderly schools. We found that while consistency is important for collegiality’s sake and provides a cognitive frame for teachers to think about how to improve discipline, it may undermine the decision-making and discipline practices of individual teachers who are more apt to rely on relational rather that behaviourist discipline approaches.

Keywords:

• school discipline
• school culture
• teacher beliefs
• education discourse

Funding

This research was supported by a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Education’s Institute for Excellence in Urban Education research award.