TASK 1: ACADEMIC WRITING

1.0 INTRODUCTION

According to American Journal of Public Health, camping is one of the most

beneficial outdoor activities because spending some time outside in the sunlight can even
out the levels of melatonin in the brain. Apparently camping not only has tons of benefits
from the aspect of health and emotion, but also can revamp the misbehaviour of pupils. It is
normal that pupils misbehaved in the classroom due to different reasons such as lack of
interest in the lessons being carried out and the inability to understand the lesson.
Misbehaviour among pupils vary from the slightest misbehave to some serious misbehaviour
problems and the example of slightest misbehave can be not being able to sit still at their
respective places throughout the whole lesson. In this academic writing, the first
misbehaviour problems that is being faced by the teacher is the pupils did not pay attention
to the lessons and also disturbing their friends while the teacher is delivering the lessons.
The second misbehaviour problems is regarding punctuality and also some serious
discipline problem which are pupils coming late to class and also, playing truant. The third
misbehaviour problem is trying to get teacher’s attention by misbehaving and making the
teacher feel intimidated or incapable with their actions. In order to overcome this
misbehaviour problems, the school administration and teachers have agreed on organising a
uniform unit camping because it is believed that these pupils can turn over a new leaf given
the chances to prove their worth and potential. This camping will be held at Sekeping
Serendah Retreat in Selangor from 23rd of August until 25th of August 2019. This 3 days 2
nights long camp will be attended by the selected pupils from Year 1, 2 and 3 as it is very
crucial to shape and mend their behaviors while they are still young. These selected pupils
are chosen based on their teacher’s recommendation on how they behave in class.

2.0 OBJECTIVES

There are a few objectives of this camping and one of the most prominent one is to
inculcate teamwork skills among these pupils as it is believed that cooperation is one the key
tools in molding the pupils’ behaviour. The second objective is attaining the goals of little to
zero discipline problem among students in the post camping period as the organizer and the
school administrations believe these pupils can turn over a new leaf if they are given the
right guidance and teachings. The last objective of this camping and also one of the prime
objective is shaping the behaviour of a model student and discard the problematic ones
through this camping as deep down, all of these pupils have the potential to be model
students if they are given the exposure and the chances.

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3.0 PURPOSE

The purpose of this camping is to revamp these pupils misbehaviour problems

through the execution of the activities throughout the camping. If the objectives of this
camping is fulfilled and the misbehaviour problem among pupils are declining then the
purpose of this camping is achieved and this program should be repeated should there be
any misbehaviour problems arise in the future. The rational of this program is that the school
administration and the teachers believe that these pupils can change themselves with the
help of the implementation of activities that are planned in aligned with the models of
classroom behaviour.

4.0 SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

There are a few activities that can be done in order to fulfil this camping objectives
and also overcome the behaviour problem stated in the earlier paragraph.

4.1 WILDERNESS SURVIVAL GAMES

One of the activities that will be held in order to fulfil the objectives and also
overcome the behaviour problem is wilderness survival games. This activity requires the
pupils to get into groups with 5 to 6 members in each group. They will be dispatched into the
forest with some food supply and essential pack such as knives and match box. They have
to find their way out using the compass and directions given. Along the way, there are
several checkpoints they have to go through and each checkpoint have different tasks. For
instance, at the first checkpoint they have to build a gadget according to the given situation.
As an example, the given situation is “ what gadget should be build on a campsite to ward
the campers from wild animals?” So they have to figure out the best gadget to build in order
to fulfil the the given situation and this can also foster decision making and stimulate learning
based on their own experience . These components are the focal point in Alfie Kohn Beyond
Discipline Model. This activity will also develop a sense of community and shared
responsibility among them which is also one of the main principle in constructivist teaching
that is being adopted in Alfie Kohn model. By being able to work together, this will enhance
the concept of classroom as a community and equal participation by all (C.M.Charles, 2005).
Not only that, these kind of activities will nurture cooperation skills between the members of
the group as they have to work together in order to accomplish the respective task.
Cooperation is one of the most highly soughted value in Alfie Kohn Beyond Discipline Model.
By asking them to figure out the solution themselves, it is also indirectly involving them in

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resolving classroom problems thus removing aversive control such as negative
reinforcement and positive punishment and they would feel appreciated because their
opinion and views matter to other people. This such activity can overcome the problems in
classroom stated earlier whereby the pupils did not pay attention to the lessons and also
disturbing their friends while the teacher is delivering the lessons since they have learn that
they have shared responsibility as a community in the classroom and they should not disturb
their friends who are trying to learn and instead, engage in the lessons themselves. They
would also learn to solve the problems that are happening in their classroom by themselves
as a result of opposing aversive control, and thus the problems of pupils refusing to pay
attention during lesson are solved. This activity also fulfil the desired objective which is to
inculcate teamwork skill since they learn to work together to solve and accomplish the given
task and the Alfie Kohn Beyond Discipline Model also encourage the pupils to cooperate as
this can develop their sense of community and shared responsibility in the classroom.

4.2 MORNING ASSEMBLY AND MARCHING

Another activity that can be done to accomplish the desired objective as well as
overcoming the behaviour problem is morning assembly and marching in which the morning
assembly consists of roll call and campsite check. These roll call and campsite check will
ensure the pupils are punctual and adhering to the allocated period of time. They have to
plan their morning schedule wisely in order to make certain that they have enough time to
shower, change clothes, clean their tents and campsite and still be on time for roll call.
These such schedule will train them to be punctual at all times and mold them to be
discipline pupils. After the morning assembly, they will march in their assigned marching
groups around the retreat. Marching is inevitably one of the activity that is very fitting to train
one’s discipline as there are lots of steps to memorize and one’s cannot move unless the
marching group leader told them to do so. Marching can be militaristic at times, but ones
learn to discipline themselves (Courtney Ruth, 2016). Apart from that, the camp commander
can also establish a set of rules throughout the camp in order to cultivate their discipline
such as be punctual or else they will be reprimanded. This kind of assertiveness is aligned
with Canter Assertive Discipline Model in which the teacher have control over the classroom
and the students in a firm but positive manner. This model states that teacher must establish
a set of rules in the classroom to define the limits of students’ behaviour and set
consequences for students. Good behaviour will be rewarded while the bad ones will be
punished. These activities of morning assembly, marching and setting a set of rules
throughout the whole camp is precisely accurate with Canter Assertive Discipline Model as
the pupils have to obey the camp rules, obey their marching group leader instructions and
also be punctual to the morning assembly. It is undoubtedly that these kind of activities will

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overcome the problem stated earlier which are punctuality such as pupils coming late to
class and also discipline problems such as refusing to listen to their teachers and serious
misbehaviour problem such as playing truant. The activity they have executed will be able to
mold their behaviour so that they will be punctual and refuse to engage in discipline
problems. These activity will also attain the objective which is to ensure there are little to
zero discipline problem among students since they have to undergo intensive training during
the three days in which they have to be punctual and adhering to the camp rules at all times.
Even when they have finished camping, they will stay punctual and disciplined as the habits
has been carved into their actions and it will feel out of sync with their minds to break the
rules and cross the teachers.

4.3 TALENT NIGHT

Another activity that can be carried out to achieve the objective and also overcome
the behaviour problems is talent night. Pupils get to exhibit their talent in different aspects
such as dancing, singing, acting and hosting since these such talents are not acknowledged
in normal lessons and some introverted and shy students never get to display their talents
due to their introverted behaviour. Hosting such activity will provide a chance to the pupils to
show their talents and strengths in different aspect and also, their sides whom they have
never shown to their friends and teachers before. This such activity is akin to Dreikurs
Logical Consequences Model as Dreikurs always recommends teacher to set up situations
where the students can exhibit talents and strengths and ultimately experience acceptance.
He said that teachers should encourage students who display inadequacy, by offering these
students encouragement and support for even minimal efforts. His overall goal was that
students would learn to cooperate reasonably, without being penalized or rewarded,
because they would feel that they are valuable contributors to the classroom (Floy Pepper,
2015). In Dreikurs model there are four types of goals that motivates children misbehaviours
which are attention, power, revenge and also inadequacy and usually these children
misbehave because they want to attain these goals. Rather than reprimanding them,
Dreikurs suggests that teachers have a democratic classroom and teaching style, in order to
help students gain a sense of belonging. Children just want to belong, and hosting a talent
night is the perfect activity to achieve this goal and also allowing them to experience
acceptance through praises and encouragements from teachers and friends. Talent Night
will overcome the misbehaviour problem of pupils in classroom such as trying to get
teacher’s attention by misbehaving, making the teacher feel intimidated or incapable with
their actions because deep down, these children just want to belong and to feel accepted.
Getting praises and encouragements will help them to ultimately experience these feelings
and thus they will lose the need to misbehave and intimidate the teachers. This activity will

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also fulfil the objective of shaping the behaviour of a model student and discard the
problematic ones because as the pupils get the recognition from their respected teachers
they would want to do greater things in order to strive for more acknowledgements from
them and this would in return, make them discard their problematic behaviours and leave
only the good ones behind. This is one of the process in the making of a model student and
with time, it is certain that these pupils will end up being good model students.

5.0 CONCLUSION

This camping activity will help to overcome these discipline and behaviour problems
through the implementation of Alfie Kohn Beyond Discipline Model, Canter Assertive
Discipline Model and Dreikurs Logical Consequences Model in all of the activities being
executed. The objectives of this camping can also be fulfilled through the activities and the
misbehaviour problems among the pupils can be overcome if the teachers carried out the
implementation of the activities correctly and consistently and with good intentions of helping
the pupils to turn over a new leaf.

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