Conscious Discipline logo; used in accordance with the U.S. Fair Use Act for the purposes of critique and review.
By Lois Putnam
Conscious Discipline, the creation of Dr. Becky A. Bailey, is a program used in hundreds of educational settings the world over–Head Start, private schools, day cares, Montessori schools, Christian schools, public schools and more. This discipline program loudly touts its shift from a reliance on “fear to love,” and from “punishing to teaching.” Shockingly, this seemingly wonderful program is filled with principles and teachings directly out of the New Age “Bible” — A Course in Miracles! And here is how I found out:
While teaching in a public school preschool class I noticed a “S.T.A.R.” poster hanging on the board with the words beside each letter: “S-Smile.; T-Take a deep breath.; A-and; R-Relax!” Exactly what this star was a part of I had no idea. But, a red flag flew when I read the word: “breath!” Shortly after, I was in another preschool room with another “S.T.A.R!” Right there I was introduced to “The Conscious Discipline” program–yes, right there in a school in which I often teach. And, immediately I knew I had to find out more. Well, find out I did, and what I was about to discover would make me understand just how deceptive and how huge is the influence of this widely acclaimed program–Conscious Discipline!
Conscious Discipline Creator: Dr. Becky A. Bailey
Not long into my research I found out the Conscious Discipline creator Dr. Bailey was a very vivacious, gregarious long time educator, the author of fifteen best-selling books and a host of other materials. Her books alone were said to have a circulation of 1.2 million, while her SEL (social-emotional learning) program is purported to have impacted 15.8M children. Click here to continue reading.
(Lois Putnam is the author of various Lighthouse Trails booklets. The newest one on Mindfulness that she will be co-authoring will be released soon.)