This paper examines theories on discipline in education, discussing the effect of teachers' behaviors on their students. The issue can be addressed from psychological, critical, and feminist theoretical perspectives. Currently, the psychological method of handling student behavior dominates schools, with behavior modification programs in place to define behavior and recommend diagnosis and treatment for changing behavior. Critical and feminist theories question the workings of power and culture in school programs and address discipline in ways that create schools where children's emotions and feelings are considered part of their educational experience. The theories study how structures and systemic institutionalized practices reinforce systems of domination. Critical and feminist approaches examine relationships between teachers and their pupils within the school environment. They suggest that teachers are starting to understand the relationship between domination and societal violence, and they want schools to take responsibility for their role in promoting this situation. They encourage the use of democracy and respect when relating to students and suggest that administrators work harder to improve quality of instruction rather than techniques for increasing classroom control. It is suggested that boredom with course content so far removed from students' real world is one reason discipline is such a problem in schools, and teachers must enable students to utilize their minds and bodies and understand themselves and their relationships with others. (SM)