Controlling Our Children; Hegemony and Deconstructing the Positive Behavioral Intervention Support Model

by Thomas David Knestrict

Controlling Our Children: Hegemony and Deconstructing the Positive Behavioral Intervention Support Model represents the first steps in a protest movement. It is a microscopic look into a system that educators take for granted as a positive force for children. In a thorough and detailed fashion, Thomas David Knestrict deconstructs the troubling history, development, and eventual embrace of a ubiquitous system of control that our public schools and government now mandate for use. Knestrict uses a powerful social justice lens to reconstruct the framework of a more responsive and just system of supports that result in autonomy, not scripted control. Controlling Our Children is perfect for pre-service teachers learning how to manage a classroom that fosters autonomy and an internal locus of control. It is also a perfect book for a graduate-level course in discipline discourse or disability studies. This book is for anyone who is at all worried about imposed systems of control that hinder the development of free will, freedom of choice, and personal autonomy in an age of false news, political manipulation, and control.

130 pages, Hardcover

Published December 28, 2018

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot I loved about this book. It's one of the only comprehensive critiques of PBIS that exists and I valued so much how the author broken down various components of the model. In particular, I loved the sections on the lineage of PBIS and the not-so-hidden assumptions present in the model.

I did have a couple of issues with the text. The author seems to rely on a set of references that are on the older side. Some of this makes sense as he discusses philosophy and/or history that is well-established in those older texts. But there has been much writing on student behavior, social-emotional wellbeing, and learning in the past ten years, and very little of it is represented here. The author also cites Ruby Payne, which threw me off, as her work generally perpetuates stereotypes and has been discredited/debunked by other education authors and experts. Those two things combined made me question the author's engagement in the field and critical analysis of his sources.

Lastly, I understand this is an academic text, but I wished it were a smidge more engaging or had more examples or case scenarios.

All that said: this is an important book for educators and teacher educators who want to understand the potential danger of PBIS and related programs. And there are some great suggestions for alternate ways of building classroom community.

[Jeanie Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread this for a podcast episode (https://tiie.w3.uvm.edu/blog/vted-rea... - it's a good one!). Still chuckling about Alfie Kohn's response to the podcast, he uses a different acronym for PBIS - TKLP which stands for Treating Kids Like Pets.

I have been suspicious of PBIS for some time, this book outlines all of the reasons it SHOULD NOT be the go to in Vermont! Read it, then talk to your administrator!