Difference Between Guidance & Discipline

The key difference between guidance and discipline is that guidance does not involve punishment whereas discipline often involves rules and punishment. Guidance and discipline are two terms that have similar meanings in the education sector. Guidance refers to advice or information that helps to resolve a problem or difficulty, especially as given by someone in authority whereas discipline refers to the practice of training someone to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.

Key Takeaways

What is Guidance?

Guidance refers to advice or information that helps to resolve a problem or difficulty, especially as given by someone in authority. In other words, it is the act of guiding someone or help or advice that tells you what to do. A parent teaching a child how to deal with a certain situation, a teacher guiding a student, an experienced officer teaching a new recruit work ethics, etc. are some situations of guidance. However, these are some common examples of the word guidance.

In the education sector, guidance typically refers to ‘helping a child to help himself’. In other words, this involves helping children to develop control and a sense of responsibility for their own actions. For example, a teacher’s guidance helps a child to avoid hitting another because the child realizes he is hurting another. Here, guidance, not the child’s fear of punishment, is responsible for his behavior. Thus, guidance is a way of teaching that allows children to make ethical, intelligent, and socially responsive decisions in life.

What is Discipline?

Discipline refers to the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, typically using punishment to correct disobedience. In other words, it involves teaching someone to act in accordance with rules. Moreover, discipline is often associated with rules and punishment.

In the education sector, disciplining students refers to using rewards and punishments to keep students in line in order to keep the students under teacher’s control. Let’s look at the same example we used in the guidance section. Here, a child will not hurt another child because of his fear of punishment, not because he realizes that his actions hurt another person.

What is the Similarity Between Guidance and Discipline?

Guidance and discipline are two terms we use in the education sector.

What is the Difference Between Guidance and Discipline?

Guidance refers to advice or information that helps to resolve a problem or difficulty, especially as given by someone in authority whereas discipline refers to the practice of training someone to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience. Moreover, discipline involves both rules and punishment whereas guidance does not. Therefore, this is the key difference between guidance and discipline. Furthermore, guidance helps students to develop a sense of responsibility and control whereas discipline trains students to obey certain rules or a code of conduct. So, this is another significant difference between guidance and discipline. Finally, guidance focuses on learning and engagement whereas discipline focuses on rules and compliance.

Summary – Guidance vs Discipline

Guidance and discipline are two terms we use in the education sector. The key difference between guidance and discipline is that guidance does not involve punishment whereas discipline often involves rules and punishment.