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
teachers 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
Krashens 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

When I am teaching,
they talk with their
friends.

This boy kicks his friend

for no reason.

They fight suddenly.

This boy shouted loudly.

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