Formation of Habits of Disciplined Behaviour of First Grade Pupils

The training of conscious discipline is an important taslc of our General Educational School. It is necessary to start with this training as soon as the child starts to attend school, i. e. from the very beginning of the 1st grade. All our research has been focussed on this initial period.
The question is, how long this period should be, and how its length depends on the way the habits are formed. This problem was inquired into in two classes of the first grade, under approximately the same conditions. The only difference was in the methodical approach of the two teachers in forming the habits of disciplined behaviour: the teacher A proceeded slowly, frequently explaining to the pupils her requirements, and stating the reason for what they were required to do. The teacher B proceeded much more quickly, the pupils were supposed to acquire habits in a more rapid succession, and instead of accounting for her requirements, she used preferably a curt command.
A systematic pedagogical observation was carried out in the selected classes. At the end of the first semester discussions on disciplined behaviour were held With pupils in both classes. At the same time pedagogical observation in the classes was going on, which was to show to what extent appropriate habits Were formed on the basis of the respective knowledge.
By evaluating the results of the research, the author came to the conclusion that the methodical approach of the teacher A was the more successful one. She attributes this success mainly to the following aspects of the teacher A’s method: 1. The teacher did not presuppose that the children had any habits. 2. She trained individual habits in well thought-out stages. 3. She never altered her requirements, only supplemented them and made them more complex. 4. She checked consistently how pupils fulfilled her requirements. In addition, the teacher A acquainted the pupils with individual requirements systematically from the very beginning of the school year. When this method was used, four weeks were sufficient to form the most important habits of disciplined behaviour.