Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 5, 1998 Page: 7
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A metaphor story does not have any
proper names in it. For example, a stu-
dent keeps going to the nurse's office
two or three times a week. There is
nothing wrong with her, yet she keeps
going.
Adult to Jennifer, the girl: "Jennifer, I
am going to tell a story and I need you
to help me. It is about a fourth-grade
girl much like yourself. I need you to
help me tell the story because I am
not in the fourth grade. Once upon a
time, there was a girl who went to the
nurse's office. Why did the girl go to
the nurse's office? (Because she
thought there was something wrong
with her.) So the girl went to the
nurse's office because she thought
there was something wrong with her.
Did the nurse find anything wrong
with her? (No, the nurse did not.) So
the nurse did not find anything wrong
with her, yet the girl kept going to the
nurse. Why did the girl keep going to
the nurse? (Because she thought there
was something wrong with her.) So
the girl thought something was wrong
with her. Why did the girl think there
was something wrong with her? (She
saw a TV show...)"
The story continues until the reason
for the behavior is found and then the
story needs to end on a positive note.
"So, she went to the doctor, and he
gave her tests and found that she was
OK."
This is an actual case. What came out
in the story was that Jennifer had seen
a TV show in which a girl her age had
died suddenly and had never known
she was ill. Jennifer's parents took her
to the doctor. He ran tests and told her
she was fine. She did not go to the
nurse's office anymore.
A metaphor story is to be used one-
on-one when there is a need to under-
stand the behavior and what is neededTeaching Hidden Rules
For example, if a student from pov-
erty laughs when he is disciplined, the
teacher needs to say, "Do you use the
same rules to play all Nintendo
games? No, you don't because you
would lose. The same is true at school.
There are street rules and there are
school rules. Each set of rules helps
you be successful where you are. So,
at school, laughing when disciplined
is not a choice. It does not help you to
be successful. It only buys you more
trouble. Keep a straight face and look
contrite, even if you aren't."
That is an example of teaching a hid-
den rule. It can even be more straight-
forward with older students. "Look,
there are hidden rules on the street and
hidden rules at school. What are
they?" And then after the discussion,
detail the rules that make the student
successful where they are.
What Does This Information Mean
in the School or Work Setting?
* Students from poverty need to
have at least two sets of behaviors
from which to choose - one set for
the streets, and one set for school
and work.
* The purpose of discipline should
be to promote successful behav-
iors at school.
* Teaching students to use the adult
voice, i.e. the language of nego-
tiation, is important for their suc-
cess in and out of school and can
become an alternative to physical
aggression.
* Structure and choice need to be a
part of the discipline approach.
* Discipline should be a form of in-
struction. ESPStudents from
poverty need to
have at least
two sets of behaviors
from which to choose -
one set for the streets,
and one set
for school and work.is to move the student to the appro-
priate behavior.
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Tarleton State University. Effective Schools Project. Journal of the Effective Schools Project, Volume 5, 1998, periodical, 1998; Stephenville, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth201682/m1/13/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarleton State University.