Analysis of Classroom Discipline-Related Content in Elementary Education Journals

For most elementary teachers, maintaining classroom discipline is a daily concern, one that can be rewarding and at the same time a source of frustration. The inclusion of students with emotional or behavioral disorders and other students with behavioral problems can strain even the most competent classroom teachers and may add to the already increasing demands to maintain discipline in today's classrooms. Because maintaining positive classroom discipline is one of the foremost concerns of teachers and other education professionals, we analyzed the discipline-related content of a purposively selected sample of 13 elementary education journals published over a 10-year period, determining the number and type of articles published and the articles' thematic content. We found that only 1% of the articles were about classroom discipline, and the content often failed to define specifically and substantively the teacher's role in identifying and mediating behavior problems. We argue that the attention to classroom discipline in elementary education journals is not commensurate with teachers' level of concern about classroom discipline and that scholars in elementary education may not perceive this topic to be an important curriculum issue and/or a primary responsibility of the classroom teacher.