The ‘problem’ of discipline in light of modern post-modern discourse

Abstract This article argues that pedagogical assumptions underlying disciplinary practices require radical revision. The needs of today's globalised society, with the resultant broad interaction and communication among different persons, challenge the pedagogical principles that have prevailed across Europe from the Enlightenment to the end of the 20th century. There are three basic assumptions upon which the disciplinary systems of today's schools are based and which require rethinking, as follows: the nature of the ‘rules’ which are defined by the indisputable acceptance of rationalism in everyday life and in all school relationships; the insistence on similarity of behaviour and the tendency to categorise students according to common behaviour (the bright ones, the lazy, etc.); and discipline based on a system of punishment and reward. In contrast, the meta-modern approach highlights the promotion of social and emotional development in a personalised and reflective world through communicative and interactive action.