Setting the Tone: A Connected School Approach to Creating Bully-Free Classrooms

New from New View Publications: To prevent bullying, educators need to shift their thinking, shift their actions, and start modeling noncoercive intervention. Getting everyone connected, establishing firm bottom lines, forming agreements, and holding everyone accountable to the agreements are the critical elements to creating schools that are achieving, caring, and safe. Setting the Tone asks educators to self-evaluate their present beliefs and practices in light of the latest research on behavior and bullying prevention.

When it comes to bullying, Setting the Tone opens our eyes to the power of establishing realistic expectations of students, staff , and communities and moves us beyond blame and shame, excuses, and rote apologies. Establishing a connected school that won’t stand for bullying empowers our future leaders by teaching them how to implement core beliefs when it comes to respect, relationships, and restitution. Setting the Tone is a must have tool for all building leaders. Tommy Schmolze, EdD, Assistant Superintendent and Executive Director of Pupil Services, Fort Mill School District, South Carolina

Setting the Tone transcends the current reward/punishment ideology toward bullying with one founded in Perceptual Control Theory, emphasizing positive and respectful interpersonal relationships, shared agreements, and accountability for promoting learning communities, which are safe, connected, and conducive to academic achievement. These strategies need to be brought to all school districts yesterday! Patty Weigand, MS, BCBA Program Support Specialist, Behavior Santa Fe Public Schools

Reading this book, I realized how many school-based behavior management programs are coercive in nature. As educators when we model coercion, we teach coercion. Setting the Tone lays a nice framework for the importance of building relationships using class meetings and group discussions. Educators who view behavior as purposeful, focus on the social environment by forming shared agreements, and intentionally devote class time to bullying prevention will help students become members of a connected school community. Patti Agatston, PhD Prevention/Intervention Center

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"Take Charge!" Improving Fayetteville School

Reid Ross Classical School reports significant results implementing Take Charge! in the Fayetteville, NC, year-round North Carolina middle school. Principal Tom Hatch sends us a great affirmation and real evidence of positive change in his letter:

Hello Perry,

I want to tell you how much Take Charge! has helped us change the landscape of our middle school. We have seen a decrease in the number of disciplinary issues during the first 65 days compared to last year without Take Charge!

52% decrease in our parent disciplinary conferences
57% decrease in In-School Suspensions
60% decrease in the number of students suspended out of school

We have also seen a 5% to 10% increase in the number of students making A’s, B’s and C’s and a decrease in the number of students making D’s and F’s. Our teachers have enjoyed getting to know their students better and have been able to guide students to revisit various questions for self evaluation to help them continue to realize that they can only control how they react to another student or teacher. Teachers have found this extremely helpful for them as well because they are improving on how they react to their student’s behavior.

Thanks so much for helping our students and teachers Take Charge!!!

Tom Hatch

Principal, Reid Ross Classical School Fayetteville, NC 28301

Get more information about our upcoming Take Charge! Intensive Workshops

Welcome to a Connected School

Welcome to A Connected School web site. It is the result of several decades of studying efforts to improve schools in the United States, Canada, and Australia while also learning and then teaching the concepts and applications of Perceptual Control Theory (PCT for short) to thousands of teachers and administrators in the United States, Canada, Australia and several European countries.

A Connected School is a staff development program which offers a comprehensive school improvement approach grounded in a scientific model of behavior originally introduced in 1973 by William T. Powers in his seminal book entitled Behavior: The Control of Perception. PCT has since been embraced by scientists and human services practitioners from a wide variety of disciplines worldwide.

Take Charge! is a curriculum for adolescents based on E. Perry Good's book, In Pursuit of Happiness. The book offers a straight forward and easy to read introduction to the concepts of internal motivation and purposeful behavior derived from PCT.

Learning the fundamentals of PCT and its applications in the real world takes time. Unlike so many school reform programs, A Connected School is based on a set of principles rather than just on what has come to be known as "best practices." Applying the principles derived from PCT requires a basic understanding of the model and the development of skills which are far more sophisticated than just memorizing a set of instructions or prescriptions which can then be applied to situations according to a simple set of guidelines. Learning PCT requires concentration and hard work. It is not a quick fix. The model challenges existing notions of behavior, in many ways redefining our understanding of how and why we do what we do.

We encourage you to spend some time on this site and those we have listed in our "links" section. We also hope that you will give us some feedback as you begin to explore the rich world of Perceptual Control Theory. Please do not hesitate to contact us with your questions.

Intensive Seminar in Applied Control Theory June 18-21, Chapel Hill, NC

ACT I, ACT II, ACT III, and ACT IV in Chapel Hill NC, on June 18-21 2012.

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Intensive Seminars in Applied Control Theory are designed to teach the principles of Perceptual Control Theory and how to apply them personally and professionally. These principles include the ideas that people are internally motivated and that all behavior is purposeful.

These four-day, hands-on sessions include connecting activities, small group work, discussion, and practice using role-playing and self-evaluation exercises.

Learning to apply the principles derived from PCT requires time, commitment, and practice. The ACTs build upon one another, providing participants with both analytical as well as practical problem-solving skills.

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