Applying positive discipline in school and adolescents’ self-esteem

Starting from the general principles of the concept of positive discipline, the paper points out that schools and teachers can significantly contribute to the application of positive discipline to affect different aspects of a student’s personality development. The potentials of applying positive discipline in the school for developing adolescents’ self-esteem are particularly emphasized. Accordingly, this paper will present the results of a study that aimed to establish a correlation between assessing the presence of positive discipline in a school context and the level of adolescents’ self-esteem. The survey included a convenience sample of 195 high school students from three high schools - art, technical, and grammar school. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the scale for assessing the presence of positive discipline in the school were used to collect the data. The results showed that adolescents exhibit a high level of self-esteem, while their assessment of the presence of positive discipline in school is moderate. Also, it was found that with the increase in the assessment of the presence of positive discipline in school, the level of adolescents’ self-esteem increased, and the statistically significant moderating role of the measured variables was found only in the type of high school. The conclusion points to the need to sensitize teachers to manage the classroom according to the principles of positive discipline, as well as the importance of creating the conditions that, through the phenomenon of positive discipline, effectively raise the quality of schoolwork as a whole.