Allen Mendler is an American author and educator born on October 21, 1949, in New York,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. He received his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

School Psychology School psychology is a field that applies principles from educational psychology, developmental psychology, clinical psychology, community psychology, and behavior analysis to meet the learning and behavioral health needs of children and adole ...

from

Union Institute Union Institute & University (UI&U) is a private university in Cincinnati, Ohio. It specializes in limited residence and distance learning programs. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and operates satellite campuses ...

in 1980, and he has spent over twenty-five years developing

discipline Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...

with

dignity Dignity is the right of a person to be valued and respected for their own sake, and to be treated ethically. It is of significance in morality, ethics, law and politics as an extension of the Enlightenment-era concepts of inherent, inalienable ...

classroom management Classroom management is the process teachers use to ensuring that classroom lessons run smoothly without disruptive behavior from students compromising the delivery of instruction. It includes the prevention of disruptive behavior preemptively, as ...

methodology for both regular and special

classroom A classroom or schoolroom is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other places where education ...

s. Mendler's emphasis is on developing effective frameworks and strategies for educators to manage

behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions and mannerisms made by individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or organisms as wel ...

and classrooms. He is an expert at helping youth professionals, teachers, administrators, and parents to help difficult youth succeed.

Discipline with Dignity method

Together with Dr.

Richard Curwin Richard Curwin (May 25, 1944 - December 26, 2018) was an expert in the fields of school discipline and classroom management, and taught at the State University of New York at Geneseo, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, San Francisco Stat ...

, Dr. Mendler developed the 'Discipline with Dignity' approach to

. This methodology attempts to involve students in defining classroom procedures,

rule Rule or ruling may refer to: Education * Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), a university in Cambodia Human activity * The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power * Business rule, a rule perta ...

s, and consequences based on

value Value or values may refer to: Ethics and social * Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them ** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...

s or principles compatible with

learning Learning is the process of acquiring new understanding, knowledge, behaviors, skills, value (personal and cultural), values, attitudes, and preferences. The ability to learn is possessed by humans, animals, and some machine learning, machines ...

. The basic strategies include prevention, action, and resolution. This concept relates problems faced in

inner-city The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists sometim ...

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

s as they are in rural and

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

schools. Discipline with Dignity is viewed by proponents of the theory as an in-depth flexible approach for effective school and classroom management. With a strong focus on developing responsibility, it is seen as a comprehensive, practical program that leads to improved student behavior through responsible

thinking In their most common sense, the terms thought and thinking refer to conscious cognitive processes that can happen independently of sensory stimulation. Their most paradigmatic forms are judging, reasoning, concept formation, problem solving, an ...

cooperation Cooperation (written as co-operation in British English) is the process of groups of organisms working or acting together for common, mutual, or some underlying benefit, as opposed to working in competition for selfish benefit. Many animal a ...

, mutual

respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also the process of ...

, and shared

decision making In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be either rati ...

Books

Dr. Mendler is the author or co-author of many books on classroom management and classroom discipline including: *''Discipline with Dignity'' (1988, ASCD) *''What Do I Do When...?: How to Achieve Discipline with Dignity in the Classroom'' (1992,

Solution Tree Solution may refer to: * Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another * Solution (equation), in mathematics ** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds * Solutio ...

) *''Discipline with Dignity for Challenging Youth'' (1999, Solution Tree) *''Power Struggles: Successful Techniques for Educators'' (2000, Solution Tree) *''Motivating Students Who Don't Care: Successful Techniques for Educators'' (2000, Solution Tree) *''Connecting with Students'' (2001, ASCD) *''MORE What Do I Do When...?: Powerful Strategies to Promote Positive Behavior'' (2007, Solution Tree) *''When Teaching Gets Tough: Smart Ways to Reclaim Your Game'' (2012, Ryan ASCD) *''The Resilient Teacher: How do I stay positive and effective when dealing with difficult people and policies?'' (2014, ASCD)

References

External links

Official Biography
American educators 1949 births Living people {{US-academic-bio-stub