Assessment 1 Glasser

Glasser believed that people are driven by five basic needs: survival, power, love/belonging, freedom and fun. When people are aware of their needs and why they are acting in certain ways then they are able to make choices as to the reality they will create in their life. In the classroom the most important of these needs is the need to be loved and to feel a sense of belonging. A close relationship is essential before the other needs can be met and so Glasser listed habits that teachers should have in the classroom. These are supporting, encouraging, listening, accepting, trusting, respecting and negotiating differences. Opposed to this are the seven deadly habits.
Glasser also believed that if students are able to take responsibility for their own behaviour by making contracts with the teacher and by making appropriate choices then problem behaviour could be overcome.

Glasser's ideas about human needs and the focus on love and belonging are important and often overlooked aspects of a student's experience. As a teacher it is a central part of our role to see the student as a being who we respect and care for regardless of the nature of their behaviour. It is necessary that we present to the student by our own conduct and attitudes a picture of positive behaviour and relationships regardless of the negative behaviour they present to us. Glasser's focus on teacher's habits highlights the importance of the attitudes brought to the classroom and the choice that can be made to take respnsibility for one's own behaviour.
Glasser required students to take responsibility for their behaviour and believed that taking responsibilty would minimise misbehaviour. Taking responsibility could occur in a variety of ways such as entering into contracts with teachers that the students and teachers agree on.
This is a beneficial approach for a student at highschool level but I do not believe making contracts with children is appropriate for very young children who live out of their active wills. Having students reflect on their behaviour and how to improve it is an excellent skill that high school age students can master with practice.
I have difficulty with Glasser's theory that fun is a basic need as I see the need for fun as a positive adjunct to daily life and not a basic need. Fun is a quality we hope to experience at different times but I do not see it as a basic need central to human existence.

References:
http:wik.ed.uiuc.edu/index.php/Glasser,_William
http://raider.muc.edu/-schnelpl/Control%20Theory%20-%20Overhead.html

Glasser outlin