Billy Glasser's Choice Theory

Billy is a new grade seven student at Lyle Middle School. This is his third school within three years. As such, he has no established relationships with peers, teachers, or administration. He has an average IQ, but is achieving quite poorly in his classes and often displays blatant physical aggression and disruptive behaviours.

Billy often displays behaviour consistent with conduct disorders, including temper tantrums, no knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, blatant disregard for social norms, and displays of physical aggression (Winzer, 2008). The school psychologist has also found that he may have a slight learning disability in addition to conduct disorder. As such, he has been recommended for special education services, but

This theory relies on the opinion that because behaviours are the result of choices driven by our genetics, only students can control their actions and behaviours, and inappropriate behaviours are the product of unmet needs (Bradley, 2014; Lyons, Ford & Arthur-Kelly, 2011). Glasser’s Choice Theory is centred around fulfilling students’ basic needs; specifically, their needs for survival, love and belonging, power, freedom, and fun (Gabriel & Matthews, 2011). Most of these needs can be elaborated upon to become more specific to the classroom environment. For example, the need for survival can be expanded to incorporate safety, security, and order in addition to the physiological needs that all humans have (Irvine, 2015). The need for power revolves largely around feelings of competence, and the need for freedom can be framed around the need for true choice (Irvine,

This theory, put forth by the Canters, promotes a teacher-centred environment that requires teachers to be assertive, while remaining approachable (McIntyre, n.d.; Lyons, Ford & Arthur-Kelly, 2011). Assertive teachers react both quickly and with confidence in situations where management is required, yet remain approachable when they engage in simple practices including greeting students as they enter the classroom (McIntyre, n.d.; Lyons, Ford & Arthur-Kelly, 2011). Greeting students would also work to gauge the ever-fluctuating classroom environment to adjust management strategies before disruptive behaviours occur. Approachable teachers also engage with students in meaningful ways, learning their passions and interests along with their names (Lyons, Ford & Arthur-Kelly, 2011). In addition, this model values and encourages teachers to use positive recognition as a form of behaviour management (Tauber, 2007). In fact, the theory revolves around the thought of catching students when they display positive behaviours, and providing appropriate feedback and reinforcement to ensure that behaviours remain positive (Malmgren,