Learning From Dr. William Glasser

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by 83 year old Dr. William Glasser and his wife at BYU. When introducing him Dr. Tim Smith mentioned that while education fads come and go, Dr. Glasser's education principles live on.

The reason that Dr. Glasser's theories are still alive and well today is because they are built upon sound principles such as:

• Relationships must be built upon trust and respect.


• Learning must be based upon competency and quality work, not grades--The lowest grade one can receive is a B.


• School must be a joyful and welcoming (and as William Purkey would say, "inviting") place because of a supportive, caring environment and healthy relationships.


• All the school's stakeholders (students, parents, principal, teachers, staff, etc.) must rely on the choice theory principles of survival, love/belonging, freedom/power, and fun rather than the seven deadly external control habits: criticizing, blaming, complaining, nagging, threatening, punishing, and bribing.


• The message students need to receive from teachers must be: "My job is to teach you to learn, my job is not to find out what you don't know and punish you for not knowing it."


• Teach what is useful which is more than acquiring knowledge and memorizing facts


• Don't teach with threats or punishment.


• By changing one's acting and thinking rather than a focus on what one is feeling will help one feel better.


• Make all tests open book and open help from classmates and the teacher.

What is wonderful about these principles is that they work! The lives of delinquent girls at the Ventura School in California and hard core students in a Cincinnati school were turned around when these principles were used with them.

Dr. Glasser recommends that everyone who works in a school should read the research called Protecting Adolescents from Harm (Resnick et. al, 1997). Glasser says that what this important extensive research points out conclusively is that only two groups of people can prevent adolescents from harming themselves and others: parents and teachers.

Also, Dr. Glasser has a book called Every Student Can Succeed that can be ordered from his website http://www.wglasser.com/ At this time it is $14 inclusive of postage and handling.

Both Scholarly and Religious: Dallin H. Oaks

Dallin H. Oaks served as the President of BYU (Brigham Young University) from 1971-1980. From 1980 to 1984 he served as a Utah Supreme Court Justice and was closely considered by the Reagan administration in 1981 to be a nominee for the Supreme Court Justice. On April 7, 1984 Oaks was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which is a life long calling.


Obviously Dallin H. Oaks is not only a well-educated and scholarly man of high distinction, but he is also a deeply religious man as well. Therefore, when he speaks, I listen knowing his words convey an extremely important message that I need to apply to my life.


Yesterday as I read his LDS (Latter Day Saint) Conference talk Good, Better, Best given at the October 2007 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Conference, I thought of its application to how we serve our diverse learners.

At the beginning of his talk he reminds us that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason to do it. He goes onto say that there are so many good things to do in this world there isn't enough time to do them all. We must give priority to the best of the good.

Elder Oaks tells of when he was a youngster how they used the Sears and Roebuck catalog as we use malls and the internet today. In the catalog there were three quality categories for shoes--good, better, and best--with a cost increase as the quality increased. He compared this to choices we have in life. Even though something may cost more (in time, energy, or money), the added cost may be well worth it because of the added value it brings.

This counsel relates to our service to diverse learners in a variety of ways:

First, there are now thousands of people who give speeches, write books, and make videos about what we need to do better serve our diverse learners. The majority of them are good, but we don't have time to respond to them all. We must choose the best from the good. I would define the best as those who are focused on what works either because research and/or experience support their claim.

Second, we must think not only of the good things we can for our diverse learners, but rather the best things. For instance, a good thing is for all educators (teachers and leaders) to become ESL endorsed. A better thing would be to apply what is learned. The best thing would be to make sure that the lives of the students are changed and improved because of the efforts. In other words, rejoicing just because more educators are ESL endorsed is not sufficient.

We move from good to best when our desire to serve our diverse learners is founded in love rather than out of duty or arrogance.

Quality work

I had worked literally hundreds of hours on a research paper for my class with Dr. Julie Hite. I was so proud that I had even turned it into her early. Therefore, when she contacted me to say that she strongly recommended that I revise it, I was stunned.

I didn't think I had it in me to give the paper one more ounce of energy, time, or thought. Yet, once the shock subsided, I realized the great opportunity she was giving---to do better.

Through this experience I was reminded of Dr. William Glasser's work and his definition of quality: Quality is constant improvement. There is also another quote that is relevant: Dr Al Mamary has defined quality work as “… the best that a student can do at this time”. This is a useful definition as it suggests there are a number of variables involved and that the pursuit of quality is an ongoing journey.

As soon as I acknowledged that my first submitted paper really was the best I could do at the time because of a variety of variables, it didn't mean that it was the best I would be capable of doing. In other words, once my knowledge was expanded, I would have the tools to improve it.

Thank you, Dr. Hite, for causing me to stretch by:

1. Understanding I was doing the best I could at the time
2. Acknowledging the strengths of the paper....and my personal strengths as well
3. Giving me suggestions on how to improve
4. Being there to guide and support me on the journey

...so that I can constantly improve.

Approaching our diverse learners like a Dr. Julie Hite will be giving them a most valuable gift.... even if they may not realize or appreciate it at first.