The Kounin Model

Jacob S. Kounin

By: Tracy Eilerman

EDE 702
Summer 2002
Jacob Kounin
• Focuses on preventive discipline --
techniques and strategies designed to
prevent the occurrence of discipline
problems in the first place.
• Good classroom management depends
on effective lesson management.
Kounin’s Principle Teachings
• Teachers need to be attentive to all
aspects of the classroom.
• Effective teachers keep students
attentive and actively involved.
• Teachers should be able to attend to
two activities at the same time.
• Activities should be enjoyable and
challenging.
Kounin’s Key Ideas
The Ripple Effect
Withitness
Overlapping
Effective Transitions
Group Focus
Satiation
The Ripple Effect
• The "ripple effect"
occurs when the
teacher corrects a
misbehavior in
one student, and
this positively
influences the
behavior of other
nearby students.
Withitness
• Awareness of
what is going on
in all parts of the
classroom at all
times.
Overlapping
• Being able to
attend to two or
more issues at
the same time.
Effective Transitions
• Keeping lessons
moving with
avoiding abrupt
changes.
Group Focus
• The ability to
keep members of
the class or group
paying attention
to the task
Satiation
• Being satisfied or
having enough
Teachers can reduce satiation
by:

 Providing a feeling of progress

 Offering challenges throughout the
lesson
 Being enthusiastic
 Adding VARIETY to the lesson
 For more about Jacob
Kounin’s theories, check out
his book:
Discipline and Group
Management in Classrooms