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There are many ways to discipline.
- If a learner is beginning to
 misbehave and you are busy, you can usually stop the misbehaviour by giving the child a long, hard look. This will show the child that you have noticed what is happening. Look from the transgressor to the values, principles (Links to an external site.)and rules poster.
- Draw the learner’s attention to the undesirable behaviour. Ask the learner which rule he or she has infringed.
- If some learners are getting restless, you can command them to pay attention. If many learners are getting restless, you may need to ask yourself if you are talking too much and becoming boring.
- Draw attention to good behaviour. For example, you could say, “Well done. Group Yellow is working nice and quietly.”
- Ignore poor behaviour and praise good behaviour. The learners behaving badly will notice this and try to get your approval.
- If learners are misbehaving while you are teaching, you can move towards them and they will usually stop the misbehaviour.
- If learners are consistently inattentive, seat them at the front of the class where it is not so easy to misbehave. You may even find they have a sight or hearing problem.
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- Ignore minor misbehaviour. Often it will pass.
- Encourage groups to discipline by disapproval. If one child is not working well in a group, the disapproval of his or her peers will usually encourage him or her to do better (Prinsloo and Van Schalkwyk, 2008:150-151).
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There are many ways to discipline (Links to an external site.). All teachers have their own way of doing things.You need to experiment and find out what works best for you.
Read this teacher's experience:
Case study
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Sarah was an ordinary farm school principal. She knew she was not the most outstanding teacher, but she was always looking for ways to improve her teaching. She felt that if she made the effort to ensure there was ongoing improvement, not only she would benefit but her learners would too.
Her new school had made her realise that teacher development did not necessarily mean that she had to obtain further qualifications. She could develop by reading, talking and planning workshops with other teachers, and going to conferences if she ever got the chance. Even her correspondence with her teaching friend in town could help her develop.
Sarah made a resolution never to be satisfied with her teaching but to constantly look for ways to improve. This resolution was adopted by Thabiso and Mokete too, as well as by the rest of the staff. They all resolved to take their school to the next level.
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Like Sarah, it is important for us too to recognise that we can always improve. It is also important to recognise that schools are about people, and people need to be able to  communicate well with each other if they are to work together productively.
In order to facilitate this, the school has to provide opportunities for staff and learners to work together in teams to identify and resolve problem issues.
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