1.

0 Introduction

Classroom discipline management is one of the most crucial task that must be carried out by
the teachers in classrooms. This is because, according to Ministry of Education (2019), the
classroom management rules help students to get a clear understanding of what is expected of
them as well as to allow them to understand clearly the consequences of their behavior that could
be desirable or undesirable. Automatically, its creates a set of expectations used in an organized
classroom environment. Effective classroom management paves the way for the teacher to
engage the students in learning. Therefore, it is important for the teachers to use the right
discipline management strategy in the classroom. In the case study entitled “The Worst
Punishment”, I am partially agreed with the discipline management strategies that has been used
by Mr. Alan. Thus, the purpose of this essay is to evaluate and give justification on the
effectiveness of the discipline management strategy in the case study. In this writing, the
effectiveness of the discipline management strategy used if it were to be applied to the Malaysian
context will be evaluated. The arguments will be justified by referring to Canter’s Assertive Model
and Jacob Kounin’s classroom management model. At the end of the writing, one alternative
strategy will be proposed. Before going through the analysis, the case study will be defined.

2.0 Description of the case

In the case entitled “The Worst Punishment”, the class teacher, Mr. Alan had identified his top
student in class named Intan has not been handling in all her homework. Firstly, Mr. Alan tried to
persuade her. However, Intan just ignored her teacher and gave excuses. Next, Mr. Alan took
another alternative by warned Intan that she would be punished if she continues to be indifferent
and lazy. Lastly, Mr. Alan decided to punish Intan with her three best friends who had all also not
handed in their homework. In spite of that, Mr. Alan found the note below his desk from Intan. In
the note, Intan wrote about the bad things in Mr. Alan’s class. She declared that she had received
the worst punishment and the teacher had embarrassed her in front of her other friends.

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3.0 The effectiveness of the discipline management strategy in the case study

The discipline management strategy used by Mr. Alan to handle Intan’s misbehavior is based
on Canter’s Assertive Model. This is because, assertive discipline teaches students to accept the
consequences of their actions (Kakkad, 2002). This can be seen when Mr. Alan warned Intan that
she would be punished if she continues to be indifferent and lazy. According to Lee (2008), a
system of rewards and punishments are devised by the teacher to let students know when they
have acted correctly or incorrectly. Increasingly unpleasant penalties are incurred by students
who continue to make improper choices. However, in this case Intan did not behaved accordingly
and still continues her misbehaviors.

Next, the Canter’s Assertive Model that has been used by Mr. Alan also can be identified
when he decided to punish Intan and her three best friends after he had persuaded and warned
them. According to Simonsen, Freeman and Goodman (2015), teachers should not ignore
inappropriate behavior. They should stop it with a firm reminder of what is expected. They should
decide in advance how they will handle a given situation. In my opinion, Mr. Alan had used the
broken record ploy. According to Allen (1996), the broken record ploy is effective when the student
makes excuses, argues, etc. The teacher then should calmly restate the original direction as many
times as necessary. This is used only when students refuse to listen, persist in responding
inappropriately, or refuse to take responsibility for their own behavior. Use broken record a
maximum of three times. After the third time, follow through with an appropriate consequence if
necessary.

However, in Mr. Alan’s case, referring to the note he had received from his student, it shows
that Mr. Alan’s punishment was not suitable for his students. This is because, according to
Intervention Central (n.d.), punishment procedures can in some cases lead to unintended
negative effects on student performance and attitudes toward school. Therefore, the type of
punishment component should be closely monitored. Thus, to improve the level of effectiveness
of this discipline management strategy, I am suggested the teacher to have the students to
provide input for the type of punishments. By using this way, the students are mentally prepared
with the consequences that they might receive if they are not behaving accordingly. In this case,
the teacher should give the student a voice in designing the behavior management plan in order
to avoid the unintended effect of punishment techniques whereby the target child may feel
powerless, a situation that could erode the child's investment in learning (Wong & Wong, 2009).

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4.0 The effectiveness of the discipline management strategy used if it were to be applied
to the Malaysian context

In Malaysian context, the number of students in a classroom is usually large which consists
of 35 to 45 students. According to Goh (2007), every child is unique individual with his or her own
personality traits. This can be one of the major reasons that cause teacher to be unable to manage
the classroom situation in a well manner. Hence, in order to enable teaching and learning to take
place, disruptive behavior must be effectively control by teachers and teachers have to manage
their classroom well so that teaching can be effective. By referring to Canter’s Assertive model of
classroom discipline management, Mr. Alan can use the same strategy as what he had done in
his classroom. By applying assertive discipline in classroom, he will be able to train the students
to apply positive consequences when expectations are met and negative consequences when
they are not met. This eventually will enable Mr. Alan to manage the classroom in a well-organized
manner. According to Canter’s assertive model, in order to be assertive, teachers need to be
aware of what behaviors they want and need from the students, especially in the large group of
students (Mohammad & Bpzorgmanesh, 2015).

Next, as the alternative strategies it is suggested for Mr. Alan to use Jacob Kounin’s
classroom management strategy. Jacob Kounin’s model consist of ripple effect, withitness,
alerting, and group management. According to Kounin (1970), ripple effect is correcting one
student’s behavior, while it tends to change the behavior of others. In my opinion, this strategy
will be effective to be used by Mr. Alan as it will help him to control the students’ behavior in a
large group. As mentioned by Robinson and Griesemer (2006), for effective teaching to take
place, teachers must be competent in managing student’s disruptive behavior so as to maximize
the time spent on learning. For withitness, Mr. Alan needs to always be with the students to know
what is going on in everywhere of the room at all times. This will help him to be aware of what is
happening in the classroom. This strategy is crucial because teacher needs to have focus
attention on entire class and must not talk over student chatter (Evertson & Emmer, 1982)

Next, for alerting strategy, according to Kounin’s Model, optimal learning takes place when
teachers keep students alert and held accountable for learning (Charles, 1996). Thus, Mr. Alan
can apply this strategy to teach students in a large group as it will help the students to participate
actively during the process of teaching and learning. Lastly, Mr. Alan are suggested to apply the
group management strategy. The group management strategy will help the students as a whole

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group to engage with the lesson. Jacob Kounin also believed that if students were engaged in
their lessons, they would be less likely to misbehave (Pianta, 2006). For example, despite having
one individual to answer, the teacher can have the students to answer questions for each other.
By applying this strategy, Mr. Alan can ensure all students have the important roles in the process
of teaching and learning. Thus, this will help Mr. Alan to have a good class-control.

5.0 Conclusion

In conclusion, there are a few strategies from Canter’s assertive model that I am agreed with
have been done by Mr. Alan. Namely, the system of rewards and punishments, three times
warning, and the broken record ploy strategy. However, referring to the feedback received by Mr.
Alan form Intan’s note, I am suggested Mr. Alan to have the students to provide input for the type
of punishments. This is to improve the effect to the students’ behavior after received the
punishments. For the alternative strategy, it is suggested for Mr. Alan to use Jacob Kounin’s
model, which consist of ripple effect, withitness, alerting, and group management. This is hoped
to help Mr. Alan to improve the effectiveness of the discipline management used in his class,
especially in Malaysian context.

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References

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