Nobody answered. I didn't answer, because at the time, I was wondering the same thing. That was before I understood the difference between the outer brain, which is unique to our own species, and the inner brain, which we share with our cousins in the Animal Kingdom.
The outer brain is responsible for writing notes, taking exams, and writing term papers, which is what we do in education courses. The first time we step into the classroom, however, we are faced with people who look different and act different from ourselves. That's when the outer brain clicks off and the inner brain clicks on. We forget that we are in an institution designed for the benefit of these creatures and instead think we're on a battlefield. We stop seeing helpless children in need of our loving guidance and instead see invaders bent on our destruction.
The techniques which we memorized and parroted back are unlikely to come to mind. If they do, they seem ridiculous. Let's look at some of those techniques and imagine how laughable they would seem on the battlefield:
positive reinforcement
Instead of dealing with an invader who is swinging a club over your head at the moment, praise all of those invaders who are not swinging clubs over your head! You think that would work? Of course not! That's because invaders are not seeking your approval.
positive goals
When an invader is swinging a club over your head, that invader is not interested in how his performance could improve by your standards. That's because the invader doesn't care a flip about your standards. If you want to have a skull left, it is more expedient to focus on the invader's unacceptable performance at the moment.
Likewise, in the classroom, we are tempted to focus on how poorly the student is performing at the moment and overlook ways in which the student's work could improve.
empathy
In prehistoric society, foreign language and anthropology courses are unknown. When an invader is trying to crash in your skull, it is pointless to say, "I understand that you have frustrated needs. Let's sit down and take some time to talk about how we can fulfill those needs."
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