TASK 2: INDIVIDUAL TASK A. Gather and analyse relevant information related

to students’ problematic behaviours and

discipline problems in the classroom.

B. Predict possible causes of each of these

behavioural problems.

In a classroom, some pupils display inappropriate or problematic behaviours which make

them difficult to focus and learn, cause harm to other pupils, and they will be isolated ad

hated by their peers. During my previous School Based Experience (SBE) at SJK (C)

Simanggang, I conducted a classroom observation and also interviewed the Penolong

Kanan Hal Ehwal Murid of the school to gather information related to pupils’ problematic

behaviour. I observed four problematic problems in this school.

The first problematic behavior that I observed in Year Two Kuning is “nonstop talking”

pupils (The Chatterbox). During my SBE, we are required to implement a lesson on

Language Arts. In the teaching and learning lesson, when I started with the set induction and

presentation, they did pay attention. However, when I proceed to the practice stage of my

lesson, I realised that two of the pupils started to talk with the person sitting next to them. At

first, they only whispering, but they started to get too excited and make noise and even

gestures. I did scold them and warn them, however, they just kept quiet for a while and

started to talk again. I prepared pictures and wordless picture book as my teaching aids, but

when I continued my lesson without any teaching aids, they will lose interest and continue

talking about the pictures that they have seen earlier. They talked and related the pictures

with cartoon and movies that they have watched in the television. Some of them also started

to scribble and move around the class. This will drag their attention away from my lesson.

However, when I introduced songs or other pictures, they stopped talking and they pay

attention again. This problem will occur every time they are not interested to the lesson and I

have to scold them. This caused many time wasted and my lesson was delayed most of the

time.

According to McDonald, E. (2014)., she stated that there are two main reasons for this

problem. The first one is ‘talking is natural’. Research done with small children shows that

youngsters who are constantly talking are also constantly thinking. When the lesson

captivates pupils’ interest, they will think, imagine and talk about the issues that the teachers

are presenting. Same goes to adults, when an idea catches our attention, we immediately

want to talk, give comments and opinions about it and share our thoughts on the topic with

others. Talking is a way for us to not only share our ideas with other people, but it is also a

way to formulate and organize thoughts (McDonald, E., 2014). In my opinion, I should have

given the pupils time to talk about the pictures to their friends before I proceed to the next

step in my lesson.

The second reason is students are bored. Pupils or young children will turn to talk

about subjects that do interest them. McDonald, E. (2014) stated that maintaining pupils’

attention span is a very important way to curb talking. This explained why they only pay

attention to my lesson when I used pictures and picture book as my teaching materials.

Young children love colours and illustrations. Besides, they love cartoon as they are

exposed to toys, movies and pictures since they are babies. In my own opinion, I should

prepare more interesting materials and activities for them so that they are interested and

engaged in my lesson. Surprises and suspense will make pupils think and engaged in the

lesson. According to two of the pedagogical principles by Wickham, R., 2013, culture and

interest are important to be considered by the teachers when planning the lesson because

when the lesson relates with their prior knowledge and interest, they will pay full attention to

the lesson. Teachers must prepare a lot of interesting teaching aids so that the attention

span of the pupils can be maintained.

The second problematic behaviour is “the attention seeker”. During the lesson also,

there is one boy who always seek for my attention. He always shouted loudly when I asked

questions. He also always did something that is different from others. For example, when I

asked the whole class to sit in a circle, he stand in the middle of the circle and dance the

“Oppa Gangnam Style” dance. When I asked for volunteers to answer questions, he shouted

loudly and punched others that I have chosen. When I ignored him, he will suddenly punch

and kick any of his friends sitting next to him. However, when I always acknowledge him, he

will listen and be very boastful by showing off to his classmates. He will make unwanted

facial expression by showing his tongue to his friends. This behaviour is very annoying and

caused to discomfort other pupils. As one of the classmates cried because the boy punched

him at his stomach. As a teacher, according to the humanistic theory by Maslow, apart from

providing conducive classroom for the pupils, I should also ensure that the pupils must be

comfortable and safe in the classroom. Being bullied or hurt by other pupils will make pupils

scared and will be a filter for them to learn. Therefore, I must always prevent this boy to

continue his undesirable behaviour. I have to acknowledge him most of the time to prevent

him from bothering his classmates.

I consulted the Penolong Kanan Hal Ehwal Murid of SJK (C) Simanggang and asked

about this pupil. She told me that this child has a family problem. His parents divorced and

this gives a big impact on their children. The pupil is a very hot-tempered person and always

hurt his friends. He does not like his friends to be praised by the teachers. The teacher said

that he needs attention probably because he is not given attention and love from his family.

According to the research paper entitled Child Development Critical Issue, there are those

children who are not very perceptive of the world around them, so when the separation of

the parents comes, anger and hatred fills the heart of the child. The child could become

depressed because he or she may feel isolated and unwanted. The result of depression

would be a lack of production in school, or the lashing out at other students. The lashing out

would only include in retaliation by screaming, but it could also lead to violence. This boy

needs to go for a special counselling so that he can control his unwanted behaviour.

The third problematic behaviour is leaving class too frequently. One girl always asked

for my permission to go out of the class. They gave me many excuses. For example, “May I

go to the toilet?” “Can I go and sharpen my pencil outside for a while?” “May I go to the

teacher’s room?”. Leaving the classroom too frequently will make the girl being left out from

the lesson. Lastly, I announce that 1 person only can leave my class once only during the

lesson. Only then I can solve that particular problem. Besides, I prepared a plastic bag for

them to sharpen their pencil and only one person can sharpen their pencil in a time. They

also must show their pencil to me before they sharpen it to make sure that they are not lying.

The reason for leaving the class too frequently is they do not like the activities that the

teacher prepared for them. Maybe they are too easy or too challenging until they wanted to

leave the class. Therefore, we should know our pupils’ level of proficiency as stated in

Krashen’s input Hypothesis theory. We must know their language level and teach one step

higher than their current level (i + 1). The remedial and enrichment activities are also very

crucial for them. Teachers must prepare remedial activities or worksheets for the weak

pupils and enrichment for the advanced pupils. This is to avoid them to get bored and they

will achieve mastery learning.

Moreover, the other reason that the girl wanted to leave the class is because she has a very low proficiency of English language. Language enables the person to express

emotions, share feelings, tell stories, and convey complex messages and knowledge.

Language is our greatest mediator that allows us to relate and understand each other

(Imberti, 2007). This is a SJK (C) school, where Mandarin language is the medium of

communication and English language is only the foreign language. She did not understand

most of my instruction, and I predict that this might be another reason that she always

wanted to leave the class.

TASK 3

In small groups consisting of not more than three

members, discuss and suggest how each of the

discipline management models may be used to

address one of the discipline/behavioural problems

in the classroom you have observed.

TASK 4 In small groups, design your own EFFECTIVE

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT PLAN by

employing one of the DISCIPLINE

MANAGEMENT MODELS.

APPENDICES

This boy shouted loudly.

When I am teaching, they talk with their friends.

This boy kicks his friend for no reason.

They fight suddenly.

This boy likes to disturb his friend. He is trying to seek for attention.

When his friend ignored him, he started pulling him.

He tried to make fun. He wants people to notice him.

He pushed his friends that tried to dance with him.

When his turn to perform the song comes, he dance the “Oppa Gangnam Style” dance.