We explain what discipline is and what discipline refers to as a value. Also, the types that exist and an example of discipline.
What is discipline?
It is understood by discipline (from Latindiscipulus, "Disciple, student") refers to a coordinated, orderly and systematic way of doing things, according to a method or code or some consideration of the correct way of doing things.
In principle, the discipline has to do with the teaching of this method, with the work of teaching or the organization of a group, in order to achieve a task more quickly or efficiently. In cases where an individual disciplines himself, there is talk ofself discipline.
There is talk of discipline in various environments, such as the family (in which the children are disciplined), the military (in which absolute obedience is required) or the school (in which the children are professionally or academically trained), and also in the ethical and moral, referring in that case to the necessary repression of certain individual drives for the sake of understanding, professionalism and the coexistence community.
From its original meaning, probably, it also derives the consideration of discipline as an ordered, structured, methodical set of knowledge, a crucial concept for the organization of the Sciences and from knowledge academic. This same sense applies to certain sports (sports disciplines) or even forms of art.
However, at certain times discipline can turn into something negative, when it becomes synonymous of repression, of censorship, of compliance with the orders of a superior, no matter how fair or unjust, of violence on the part of the powerful. In fact, in past centuries this word was used to refer to the physical punishment of slaves and also to the physical punishment that was exercised on children in a family.
Discipline as value
Discipline, understood as a positive trait of the individual, is valued when it is translated into the ability to follow instructions, to obey a logical and positive system of doing things, or even when an individual is capable of imposing a method on himself. and follow it to the letter (self-discipline).
For example: a disciplined worker will be one who obeys a work method with few distractions, great results and perseverance in doing. A disciplined student is one who undertakes study as a method to adhere to with commitment. That is, those who carry out their work in an orderly, systematic, methodical manner.
Types of discipline
There are different types of discipline, judging by the environment that fosters them:
- Military discipline. That which concerns the loyalty of the armed forces, whose role is as guarantors of the system and the protection of the nation, so they can but be disciplined and organized, with no margin for play or doubt.
- School discipline. That which occurs within the various institutions educational, from preschoolers to universities, and that guarantees the continuity in time of knowledge and a method of imparting it progressively.
- Labor discipline. That which has to do with professional performance, and which distinguishes work matters from personal ones, ensuring that work is carried out in an orderly and efficient manner.
- Self discipline That which, in any field, applies to oneself to carry out a task in a stipulated time and in an orderly way.
Examples of discipline
A classic example of discipline is constituted by writers such as the American Ernest Hemingway, whose extensive narrative work was produced daily, according to a fixed series of rules by which he adhered to and defended tooth and nail, such as writing daily ( and standing), stop writing when you still know what to do next, use the least amount of adjectives, etc. Hemingway was a disciplined writer.
The opposite would be a writer who writes when provoked, without following an order, alternating between texts and between forms, without a method. This would surely yield slower and chaotic results, less committed to the craft. That is an undisciplined writer.