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SKRIPSI
IMPLEMENTING REWARD AND PUNISHMENT TO
IMPROVE CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE OF PRESCHOOLERS
IN MUSIC AND NUMBER LESSONS
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the Sarjana Pendidikan Strata Satu degree
By:
PRIMARY EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITAS PELITA HARAPAN
KARAWACI
2012
NAME : YOHANNA OKTAVIA ENGGELINA SIAHAAN
STUDENT ID NO. : 31420080027
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ABSTRACT
Yohanna Oktavia Enggelina Siahaan (31420080027)
IMPLEMENTING REWARD AND PUNISHMENT TO IMPROVE
CLASSROOM DISCIPLINE OF PRESCHOOLERS IN MUSIC AND
NUMBER LESSONS
(xiii + 99 pages; 1 figure; 6 tables; 18 appendices)
Based on the observation which was done in ABC Preschool, a private
Christian preschool in West Jakarta, it was found that disruptive behaviors often
appeared in the classroom. One of the reasons was that the rules were not enforced
through consequences. Thus, the researcher decided to implement reward and
punishment in order to deal with this problem. The aim of this research was to
investigate the effects of implementing reward and punishment on
preschoolers‘classroom discipline in music and number lessons.
The method of this research was Classroom Action Research (CAR),
which was conducted from July 26 to November 4, 2012. This CAR consisted of
two cycles and involved 26 students. A qualitative descriptive analysis was the
technique used to analyze the data.
The data result from the instruments which were mentor‘s checklists, the
teacher educator‘s observation sheets, and the researcher‘s journal reflections
supported the conclusion that the classroom discipline had been improved through
implementing the reward and punishment system in both music and number
lessons. Therefore, despite its limitations, a reward and punishment system could
be an alternative disciplinary technique to improve discipline in a classroom,
especially at the preschool level.
Key words: reward, punishment, classroom discipline, consequences
References: 50 (1971-2011)
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ABSTRAK
Yohanna Oktavia Enggelina Siahaan (31420080027)
PENERAPAN HADIAH DAN HUKUMAN UNTUK MENINGKATKAN
DISIPLIN KELAS KELOMPOK BERMAIN DALAM PELAJARAN
MUSIK DAN ANGKA
(xiii + 99 halaman; 1 gambar; 6 tabel; 18 lampiran)
Berdasarkan observasi di kelas Kelompok Bermain TK ABC, sebuah
Taman Kanak-Kanak Kristen swasta di Jakarta Barat, ditemukan perilaku-perilaku
yang mengganggu pembelajaran sering timbul. Hal ini dikarenakan tidak adanya
konsekuensi yang disediakan bagi siswa yang mengikuti maupun melanggar
aturan yang telah disepakati. Maka, peneliti memutuskan untuk menerapkan
hadiah dan hukuman untuk mengatasi masalah ini. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah
untuk mengetahui efek penerapan hadiah dan hukuman terhadap disiplin kelas
Kelompok Bermain dalam pelajaran musik danangka.
Penelitian ini adalah sebuah Penelitian Tindakan Kelas (PTK) yang
dilaksanakan pada 26 Juli sampai dengan 4 November 2011. Penelitian ini terdiri
dari dua siklus yang melibatkan 26 orang siswa. Data yang didapat dianalisa
dengan menggunakan teknik analisis kualitatif deskriptif.
Hasil data dari instrumen-instrumen seperti checklist mentor, lembar
observasi dosen pembimbing lapangan, dan jurnal refleksi peneliti mendukung
kesimpulan bahwa disiplin kelas telah meningkat melalui penerapan hadiah dan
hukuman di kedua pelajaran, baik musik maupun angka. Maka dari itu, tanpa
mengesampingkan kelemahannya, sebuah sistem hadiah dan hukuman dapat
menjadi sebuah alternatif teknik pendisiplinan untuk meningkatkan disiplin dalam
kelas, khusunya pada kelas level bawah.
Kata kunci: hadiah, hukuman, disiplin kelas, konsekuensi
Referensi: 50 (1971-2011)
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FOREWORD
There are no other words which could express my gratitude, but ―Praise the
Lord!‖ for His enduring mercy and showers of blessings that enabled me to teach
and conduct this research. To God be the glory, all praises and honor.
These people have been inspiring, helpful, and supporting to me during the
days of the ―uphill battle‖. Therefore, I would like to deliver my deepest gratitude
to:
1. Dr. (HC). Ir. Jonathan L. Parapak, M.Eng., the Rector of Universitas Pelita
Harapan.
2. Gary A. Miller, Ph.D, the Vice Chancellor of Universitas Pelita Harapan.
3. Connie C. Rasilim, M.Pd, the Dean of Teachers College; for her inspiring
and strengthening words in many occassions, especially during Morning
Devotion.
4. Dr. Sylvia Primulawati, the Research Supervisor; for her dedication to
supervise me, to guide my thought, and to revise my words. Her spirit and
excelent works have been inspiring me.
5. All lecturers of Teacher College Faculty, who were and are teaching me
during my study in this university; for their teaching has transformed my
life.
6. All Staff of Teachers College Faculty; for their great work and ministries in
ensuring that TC program might run properly.
7. My parents, Yan Sihar Siahaan and Berliana Limbong; for their loving care,
supports and prayers.
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8. My lovely siblings, Meiline Harliana Siahaan, Desria Ayu Putri Siahaan,
Boas Fabian Siahaan, Sara Aprilia Siahaan, Tesalonika Nava Lee Siahaan,
and Yabestin Siahaan; for your being.
9. My ―Eben-haizer‖ Utidang (Rusti Febrina Siagian), my prayer tower,
Diannita, my lovely friend, Jilly, Anita, Benny Blessing; for your presence,
supports and for being thoughtful.
10. Kak Melda; for your generousity and care.
11. Pak Novel Prijatna, my counselor; for your encouraging words.
12. Opung Andreas Hutagalung and opung boru; for your supports and prayers.
13. My LADORE Family; for such great experience we had.
14. My roomates 609 family; for such learning and sharing moments.
15. My class 3ED1; for evey moment we had together.
16. TC HoPe Ministry; for your prayers.
17. All TC students; for the word ―Semangat!‖ when passing by.
18. Many more people whom I cannot identify here.
The writer realizes that in this study there are still many weaknesses.
Therefore, critiques and suggestions from readers will be very beneficial for the
researcher. Hopefully, this final project can be useful for all people who read it.
Karawaci, March 16, 2012
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... v
ABSTRAK ............................................................................................................ vi
FOREWORD ....................................................................................................... vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................... ix
TABLE OF TABLES ........................................................................................... xi
TABLE OF FIGURES ........................................................................................ xii
APPENDECES ................................................................................................... xiii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 1
1.1 Background of The Study ......................................................... 1
1.2 Research Question ..................................................................... 3
1.3 The Purpose of The Study ......................................................... 4
1.4 Benefits of The Study................................................................ 4
1.5 Definition of Terms ................................................................... 4
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................ 6
2.1 Discipline .................................................................................. 6
2.2 Reward and Punishment .......................................................... 15
2.3 Moral Development Stage of Preschoolers ............................. 30
2.4 Music Lessons ......................................................................... 31
2.5 Number Lessons ...................................................................... 32
2.6 The Relationship of Reward and Punishment and Classroom
Discipline ........................................................................................... 34
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................ 37
3.1 Research Methodology............................................................ 37
3.2 Research Setting ...................................................................... 39
3.3 Research Procedures ............................................................... 42
3.4 Data Collection and Research Instruments ............................. 48
3.5 Data Analysis .......................................................................... 53
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS ........................................... 55
4.1 Precycle ................................................................................... 55
4.2 Cycle One ................................................................................ 57
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4.3 Cycle Two ............................................................................... 76
4.4 The Comparison of Cycle One and Cycle Two ...................... 90
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................... 92
5.1 Conclusions ............................................................................. 92
5.2 Recommendations ................................................................... 93
REFERENCES .................................................................................................... 96
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TABLE OF TABLES
Tabel 2.1 Finding from Stage and Quiroz Study .................................................. 34
Table 3.1 Time Allocation .................................................................................... 42 Table 3.2 Mentor‘s Checklist ................................................................................ 51 Table 3.3 Summary of Variables, Instruments, and Indicators ............................. 53 Table 3.4 Coding ................................................................................................... 54
Tabel 4. 1 The Comparison of Cycle One and Cycle Two ................................... 91
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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 3. 1 Spiral Model by Kemmis and McTaggart .......................................... 38
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX A Lesson Plans & Mentor‘s Feedback
APPENDIX B Mentor‘s Checklists
APPENDIX C Teacher Educator‘s Observation Sheets
APPENDIX D Journal Reflections
APPENDIX E Photographs
APPENDIX F Christian Education Transformational Reflection Journal
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of The Study
Many educators believe that discipline is very crucial for a successful
teaching-learning process in a classroom. Classroom discipline is a classroom
with an orderly condition where students follow the rules that are set (Rachman,
1998, p. 168). This order condition helps the students to act and behave in ways
that contribute positively to the classroom learning community (Van Brummelen,
2009, p. 184). Jones & Jones (2007, p. 323) explicitly stated that student learning
is significantly affected by the creation of safe, calm settings in which disruptions
to the learning environment are minimized. Besides, Wong & Wong (2009, p.
107) added that a classroom can be said to be effective when the students can
learn well, give greater attention towards the lesson, are being cooperative,
apreciate each other, show high self-discipline and work on tasks diligently.
Obviously, learning will not run well if there are many distractions. Therefore, it
is inevitable that classroom discipline is very needed in terms of educational
success in the classroom.
It is true also for Christian teachers from a godly perspective. The
Scripture has described that God is a god of order (I Corinthians 14:33 & 40). He
created all things in order. He sustains all systems in this earth to keep them in
order by giving laws. Not only gives the laws He also maintains the laws working
consistently. As God loves order, Christian teachers are also called to build
orderliness in their classroom so that the students can be equiped well to develop
their God given potentials.
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Nevertheless, the fact in the field was not like that. When the researcher
ran her internship in a preschoolin West Jakarta, she found many disruptions
emerged during the learning sessions. Rather than contributing positively, the
students were being reluctant toward the researcher‘s instruction about the
activity. Some of the students tended to disturb friends and ended up with
fighting. Some students just went outside of the classroom without asking
permission. Even though for each session, the researcher had communicated what
the students must do and must not do during the session, the students just broke it,
anyway.
That condition showed that the classroom discipline was not beiing
applied yet in the researcher‘s classroom. Consequently, the teaching-learning
process was hindered. The researcher had to put so much energy in order to keep
the students on-tasking and all at once to deal with any distraction which
appeared. This classroom really needed a system that guided the students to be in
the right track. Because there was no such a system, in order to have the students
stop their disruptive behaviors, the researcher gave threats such as bringing them
home or taking their bags, etc. These threats worked at first, but then it even
caused other disruption to emerge. Instead of teaching the students to behave
appropriately, the existence of those threats only showed the researcher‘s
inconsistency that might lead the students to disrespect the rules and the authority.
The students that were entrusted to be taught by the researcher were
preschoolers whom Piaget classified into the stage of ―morality by constraint‖.
His study indicated that young children were not capable to understand why
certain behaviors are acceptable or unacceptable (Fields & Fields, 2006, p. 49).
Adding to this, Kohlberg (as cited in Riyanto & Handoko, 2004, p. 22) classified
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the preschoolers into ―pre-conventional stage‖. She characterized children‘s
behavior in this stage based on the desire to avoid punishment and to gain rewards
(Hetherington, Parke, Gauvain, & Locke, 2006, p. 596). Both of these views
agreed that the preschoolers need adults‘ guidance to help them understand about
what is regarded as right and wrong. Hence, it could be said that the students
became indiscipline because their understanding about morality was blur. Long
before these studies was made, God has been mentioned in the Old Testament to
teach children about the Laws repeatedly (Deuteronomy 11:19). It means that
these preschoolers still needed help to understand and to behave the acceptable
behavior in the classroom.
Therefore, the researcher intended to implement a reward and punishment
system in order to improve the preschoolers‘ classroom discipline. By
implementing such concrete consequences, it was expected that the students could
understand more about what was regarded as acceptable and unacceptable
behavior in the classroom so that it became their provision before entering the
school age. The implementation focused on two learning sessions which were
music and number lessons.
1.2 Research Question
As outlined above, the problem found in this study was related to a lack of
classroom discipline of the prescholers. The research question was to be ―what are
some effects of implementing reward and punishment in improving preschoolers‘
classroom discipline in music and number lessons?‖
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1.3 The Purpose of The Study
The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of implementing
reward and punishment on preschoolers‘ classroom discipline in music and
number lessons.
1.4 Benefits of The Study
By doing this research, it is expected that it will provide beneficial
contributionsto teachers, and the researcher.
1.4.1 For teachers:
a) Teachers will have another alternative to establish a well-disciplined
classroom.
b) Teachers will get suggestions and information about preschoolers‘ moral
development from theories and a Christian worlview to apply suitable
ways of disciplining and nurturing them in the classroom.
1.4.2 For researcher:
a) The researcher will get the experience of doing classroom action research
and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of implementinga reward and
punishment system.
b) The researcher will be able to improve her skill in handling students‘
discipline problems in class.
1.5 Definition of Terms
1.5.1 Reward
A reward is an appreciation that is given after someone follows the rule
(Wong & Wong, 2009, p. 195).
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1.5.2 Punishment
A ppunishment is a penalty that is given after someone breaks the rule
(Wong & Wong, 2009, p. 195).
1.5.3 Classroom Discipline
Classroom discipline is a classroom with an orderly condition where
teachers and students follow the rules that are set (Rachman, 1998, p. 168).
1.5.4 Preschoolers
Preschoolers are students who are at the age of two years seven months up
to three years eight months (ABC Preschool).
1.5.5 Music Lessons
Music lessons are lessons in which the preschoolers sing repeatedly so that
they can sing it precisely using lyrics and melody (Eggen & Kauchak, 2007,
p. 213).
1.5.6 Number Lessons
Number lessons are lessons in which the preschoolers learn to recognize the
basic concepts about numbers (Heruman, 2008, p. 3).
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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, there will be discussions about classroom discipline,
reward, punishment, moral development stage of preschoolers, musik lessons and
number lessons as viewed from theories and Christian perspective.
2.1 Discipline
2.1.1 Classroom Discipline in Christian Perspective
God is a god of order (I Corinthians 14:33 & 40). He created all creatures
in a good order. There are laws and rules that maintain all the systems in this
earth. God also loves a community that runs in order not in chaos, including the
classroom community. He wants the students to live in order; to be discipline.
Therefore, Christian teachers are called create a well-disciplined classroom.
Classroom discipline was a provision for students‘ life as they go mature
and live among the community. Dobson said (2004, p. 11), ―they need favor to
learn how to deal with challenges and obligations in life‖. Discipline training in
the classroom helps the students learn to develop self-regulation so that to work
on responsibilities and talents that God has given them in their life. Moreover,
God gives promise to those who live a discipline life, as written in Proverbs 2:7,
―God gives helpful advice to everyone who obeys him and protects all of those
who live as they should.‖ He promises wisdom, understanding, and protection to
those who live with discipline. All of these are keys of successful life in this earth.
For not prosperity that makes people rich, it is wisdom and understanding which
always lead them to manage their life better.
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On the other hand, the aim of discipline according to Van Brummelen
(2009, p. 65) is to make students become Christ‘s disciples and live in His way.
He added that discipline is an opportunity strive against sin, to figure out
weaknesses, to build peace and generousity, and take part in the holiness of God
(Hebrews 12:10). Tan & Chan (2004, p. 35) said that discipline is a proccess of
learning thoughts and character to yield self-control. To train discipline in the
students is to help the themdevelop their self-control and self-direction towards
their sin nature and weaknesses and that leads them to be Christ-like.
Hebrews 12 verse 11 has been stated that ―no discipline seems pleasant at
the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness
and peace for those who have been trained by it. ‖Discipline will be unpleasant
for the students—and also for the teacher whom firstly learnt to be disciplined and
one who implements the consequences. It takes time and engages emotion.
Somehow, studentslacked understanding about the motivation of the teacher
establishing discipline allows the teachers to confront many conflicts in the
action. No person likes to be controlled. However, those who have grown up in a
positive discipline training, will more easily to live the values of the Christian life,
such as self-control, obedience, and respect. Inspite of the unpleasant moments,
teachers must establish the discipline in their classroom. So that the students may
harvest peace in their life journey as they have been trained to battle their sinful
nature and to maximze God given opportunity to grow and become like Jesus.
Last, but very important, teaching discipline is actually an act of love.
Hebrews 12:5-6 clearly stated that, ―do not make light of the Lord‘s discipline,
and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he
loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son‖ (compare to Proverbs 3:11-
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12). It is explicitely stated that it is because God loves us therefore He disciplines
us. It is also true for the students. A teacher who loves their students will train
their students to be discipline because she realizes that it will influence the
students‘ future. She realizes that living in a lack of discipline will cause the
students to difficult to adjust with life obligations, even more it can cause them
very difficult to live a godly life for they were not used to control themselves.
2.1.2 Classroom Discipline
The word of discipline comes from the same word as ―disciple‖—one who
learns from or voluntarily follows a leader (Hurlock, 1999, p. 392). In a classroom
context, the leader who is in charge is the teacher. Santoso (1979, p. 127)
described that discipline means obedient to rules that prevail in the society,
whether in the form of law, custom or other association manners. In line with this,
Rachman (1998, p. 168) suggested that a disciplined classroom is a classroom
with an order condition where students follow the rules that are set. Adding to
these suggestions, Van Brummelen (2009, p. 184) said that discipline in a
classroom help the students to act and behave in ways that contribute positively to
the classroom learning community. Thus, it can be concluded that classroom
discipline means a condition of orderliness in which the students follow the rules
that are set in the classroom so that they cancontribute positively in the learning
process.
According to the above definition, a disciplined classroom is indicated by
the students who follow the rules that are established in the classroom. Wong&
Wong (2009, p. 85) briefly mentioned some characteristics of a well-managed
classroom, they are:
a) students are deeply involved with their work, especially with academic, teacher-led
instruction,
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b) students know what is expected of them and are generally successful,
c) there is relatively little wasted time, confusion, or disruption,
d) the climate of the classroom is work-oriented but relaxed and pleasant.
To be more detailed, Thompson (2007, p. 350) shared three important
characteristics of well-disciplined classes. First, students and teacher know and
understand the rules and procedures that guide the entire class. It means there are
rules established in the classroom and which surely have been explained to the
students. The rules could be ―obey the teacher‘s instruction‖, or ―raise your hand
if you want to go to the toilet‖, and so on. Second, the focus is on learning and
cooperative behavior. Students who are focused on learning, usually are shown by
their eyes being kept on the teacher. Third, there is a persistent tone of mutual
respect and even affection among students and between students and their teacher.
A well-discipline classroom will have less students interferring with the teacher‘s
teaching or their friends‘ learning. The students will follow the teacher instruction
in relation to the learning process. They will also communicate when they are
going outside of the classroom. Specifically, Thompson‘s (2007) well-discipline
basic characteristics were synthesized to be the indicators of classroom discipline
in the ABC Preschool context. They were:
1) follow teacher‘s instruction,
2) eyes on the teacher,
3) no disturbing friends, and
4) raise hands when asking to outside of the classroom.
Those are the classroom discipline‘s indicators that are going to be attained in this
research.
Before going further in exploring how to improve discipline in a
classroom, it is better to firstly discuss why discipline is significant to be
established in a classroom.
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2.1.3 The Importance of Classroom Discipline
An effective teaching-learning process is desired by all teachers. However,
the fact has been shown that the teaching-learning process will always deal with
classroom discipline problems. Many cases have shown that classroom discipline
problems have a negative impact on teacher effectiveness and even career
longevity (Levin & Nolan, 2007, p. 34). It was reported some teachers spend as
much as 30% - 40% of their time addressing discipline problems (Walsh, 1983as
citedin Levin & Nolan, 2007, p. 32). If teachers can cope with it, they will feel
satisfaction on their profession; otherwise, it might cause a depression and lead
them into retirement.
In addition to this, recent studies reported that disruptive behavior reduces
the time spent on learning, encourages misbehavior in other students because of a
ripple effects, and may cause fear in other students, with a resultant decrease in
school attendance and academic achievement (Levin & Nolan, 2007, p. 37).
Marzano (2003, p. 53) added that if teachers and students do not feel safe, they
will not have the necessary psychological energy for teaching and learning. These
arguments actually make sense since the students are human being who have the
feeling of security and insecurity. A student who is often being teased by his
friend may feel insecure to be in the classroom and rather to find protection at
home.Moreover, when fightings are often happened in the classroom neither the
teacher nor the students will feel safe to be in the classroom.Some studentsare
difficult to concentrate whenever the other students keep being off-task and
interfere with their learning. Besides, the teacher could be also frustating and it
affects his or her teaching. If the teachers do not find ways to cope with this
situation, consequently, it likely causes the academic achievement to decrease.
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Otherwise, both teachers and students enjoy a classroom that less
distractions and disruptions in the teaching learning process.The students realize
that in the classroom they are free to learn, their friends are respectful and they are
protected by the teacher. The teacher also addresses the lesson optimally. This
condition will only happen if classroom discipline has been established. This
thought is supported by Bafadal (2004, p. 12) who suggested that a learning
management program must be directed toward the attempt to create an orderly
and positive learning situation which means to create classroom discipline. No
matter how well a learning activity is designed and prepared, if the students in the
classroom are undisciplined, the learning objective will not be met. Thus, it is not
excessive if Moelichatoen (1993 as citedin Bafadal, 2004, p. 37) said that
students‘ discipline is the most important factor that determines the success of
education.
Afterall, Ryan (2008, p. 114) mentioned that attitude affects achievement.
No matter how smart the student is, if he is not disciplined, he will not achieve his
maximum points. This is confirmed by Rua‘s statement (Rusdinal & Elizar, 2005,
p. 131) that said, discipline is the key of success. Because, people who are already
trained in discipline have a greater chance to be successful than the undisciplined
people.
Connecting to child development, discipline is actually very important in
fulfilling the development needs of children. Hurlock (1999, p. 393) mentioned
some childhood needs that are fulfilled by discipline:
- Discipline gives children a feeling of security by telling them what they may and
may not do.
- By helping children to avoid frequent feelings of guilt and shame for misbehavior—
feelings that inevitably lead to unhappiness and poor adjustment—discipline enables
children to live according to standards approved by the social group and, thus to win
social approval.
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- Through discipline, children learn to behave in a way that leads to praise that they
interpret as indications of love and acceptance—essentials to successful adjustment
and happiness.
- Developmentally appropriate discipline serves as an ego-bolstering motivation which
encourages children to accomplish what is required of them.
- Discipline helps children to develop a conscience—the ―internalized voice‖ that
guides them in making their own decisions and controlling their own behavior.
Rimm (2003, Rusdinal & Elizar, 2005, p. 135) added that the purpose of
discipline in children is to direct them to learn about what is regarded as goodas
they prepare for the maturity when they must depend on self-discipline. Simply,
discipline protects children from frequent feelings of guilt and shame that lead
them into unhappiness. If children are trained to be disciplined early on, it will be
to their advantage as they mature and live among the community with high
demands.
From above discussion, it can be concluded that there are so much
advantages when a classroom supports discipline. It is beneficial both for the
teacher in delivering the lesson as well as the students in achieving academic
success. Moreover, discipline training actually contributes to children‘s
development needs. It protects them from the feeling of guilty and shame. For
they have been trained to develop self-regulation and self-control among the
demanding community. That is why the researcher also concerns in improving the
discipline of the preschoolers. In the next section, there will be suggesstions of
how to improve a classroom discipline.
2.1.4 Improving Classroom Discipline
To improve the discipline in a classroom, firstly, it must be identified the
common discipline problems arise in the classroom. From the common discipline
problems, target behaviors were set followed with implementing a good
disciplinary system to address the target behaviors in the classroom so that the
classroom discipline improves.
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2.2.3.1 Identifying Discipline Problems
A classroom is identified as having discipline problem if the students show
either off-task or disruptive behaviors. A student is off-task when he is not
attempting to follow the teacher‘s directions, to listen, nor to contribute to the
discussion had been directed (Cangelosi, 2004, p. 10). Other common day-to-day
off-task student behaviors are talking and walking around the classroom (Levin &
Nolan, 2007, p. 33). Nevertheless, not all of off-task behaviors interfere others‘
learning. Changelosi (2004, p. 5) said, although younger students‘ behavior
problems might be bothersome, in most cases these students neither pose a threat
nor act violently. Some of off-task behaviors need to be addressed because they
distract the teacher and other students. Off-task behaviors such as students‘
talking to one another during times allocated for listening to a presentation,
interrupting a speaker, being generally discourteous, clowning, and acting out
violently are usually disruptive (Changelosi, 2004, p. 10). In the preschool where
the researcher conducted this research, discipline problems that most arised were
not following the teacher‘s instruction, fighting with friends, and going outside of
the classroom without the teacher‘s permission. Those were to be the target
behaviors that were going to be addressed.
2.2.3.2 Implementing A Good Disciplinary System
The target behaviors have been set, next is to find a good disciplinary
system. Van Brummelen (1998, p. 69) mentioned at least four ways that a teacher
should exercise discipline in their class:
1) first and foremost, structure your classroom learning so that pupils can work
productively and have a measure of responsibility of their own learning decisions.
Pupils who are engaged in well-planned, meaningful activities are less likely to
disrupt and more likely to develop self-discipline,
2) secondly, be a role model for pupils, particularly in showing and demanding respect,
3) thirdly, establish and enforce rules that encourage obedience to God‘s laws,
especially those relevant for the classroom situation,
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4) fourthly, set and enforce consequences that attempt to refocus pupils‘ eyes on serving
God in all their actions while helping them experience His grace.
He listed structured and meaningful activities as the first and the foremost
component that improve classroom discipline, than the teacher as a role model,
rules that are enforced by consequences. Boyntons (2005, p. 3) also outlined four
components that, when implemented directly, are crucial for establishing an
effective classroom discipline system. They are positive teacher-student relations,
clearly defined parameters of acceptable student behaviors, monitoring skills, and
consequences. Wong & Wong (2009, p. 152) confirmed those two statements, that
rules must have consequences. They argued that some students know that they can
break the rules because the aftermath is consistent and predictable: Nothing will
happen to the violator. It sounds like students test their teachers. In fact, that is
true. First, because the students have fallen into sin and their tendency are towards
rebellion against the law, and second, Hurlock (1980, p. 126) also mentioned that
some preschoolers do violation in testing the authority to see how far they can do
something out of punishment. That is why a good disciplinary system must
include consequencesthat follow after the rules; and certainly structured and
meaningful activities, a roled-model teacher, and positive relationship between
teacher and students or among the classroom community cannot be regardless.
From above discussion, it has been mentioned that a good disciplinary
system provided rules which are followed by consequences. In the next section,
there will be discussion about consequences that is spesifically explained about
reward and punishment.
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2.2 Reward and Punishment
2.2.1 Reward and Punishment in Christian Perspective
In the Scripture, it is described that God gives not only reward but also
punishment. In Romans 2:6-12 clearly stated that:
―God will reward each of us for what we have done. He will give eternal life to everyone
who has patiently done what is good in the hope of receiving glory, honor, and life that
lasts forever. But he will show how angry and furious he can be with every selfish person
who rejects the truth and wants to do evil. All who are wicked will be punished with
trouble and suffering. It doesn't matter if they are Jews or Gentiles. But all who do right
will be rewarded with glory, honor, and peace, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. God
doesn't have any favorites! Those people who don't know about God's Law will still be
punished for what they do wrong.‖
The most powerful example of combined reward and punishment is the death of
Christ on the cross. God gives punishment to His Son in order to reward all sinful
men an eternal live.
God gives different kinds of reward. He gives are eternal life for those
who believe and follow the life of Jesus. For those who obeyed their parents He
gives long living. Even God also rewards Job with materials after his
perseverance tested. God also gives different kinds of punishment. In the Old
Testament, He made people die if they do not obey the rules of entering His Holy
Temple. Moses was punished for being not obedient to God‘s command. For Saul
and Samson, God punished them by took away His Spirit from them. It caused
them suffer for being driven by their self-desires.
The Scripture describes that God gives reward and punishment is aimed to
have the men live according to His will. That is true that the punishment that God
has given to Moses, Saul, Samson, and many other examples in the Scripture
became an alarm for us to keep aware about our way of living.
God is a god of order. He gives either rewards or punishments within a
procedures. Firstly, He gave the expectations, commands or rules to be enacted by
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His children. One of the example is, in Matthew 19:29, Jesus said that ―everyone
who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields
for my sake (expectations) will receive a hundred times as much as will inherit
eternal life (reward). In terms of King David‘s, God gave warning to Him in order
to give chance to be repentance. Besides, He is also very strict and consistent in
applying consequences. Jesus stated on Matthew 25:28-29,
―Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents (punishment). For
everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not
have, even what he has will be taken from him.
In the parable of the Talents, God gives social encouragement before giving the
rewards. He said, ―Well done, good and faithful servant!‖. If it could be
sythesized, God implements reward and punishment by firstly telling the rules,
telling the reward and the punishment, consistently implement them, and giving
social encouragement to support the behavior. God also gives warning for whom
God sees will repent after he was warned.
From above descriptions, reward and punishment was given by God the
Highest Authority to men His creature. In the classroom context, teachers are
given the authority to give reward and punishment in terms of disciplining the
students. Nevertheless, they must be carefull in roling the authority. Unless, they
give reward and punishment for the sake of their power. Therefore, before
implementing a reward and punishment system, the researcher would like to dig
deeper her understanding about reward and punishment as well as the
characteristic of the students that were entrusted to the researcher during the
internship.
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2.2.2 Reward
2.2.2.1 The Definition of Reward
Educators often use the word ―reward‖ with its synonym ―positive
reinforce‖, ―positive consequence‖, or ―support‖. Robinson (1992, p. 149) gave a
definition of reward (support) as an implementation or disappearance of some
stimulus that will increase the frequency of the attitudes. Further, Lang & Evans
(2006, p. 187) said that a reward is something desirable that students earn for
suitable behavior. To be effective, a reward must be pleasing and loved by the
students (Rusdinal & Elizar 2005, 167). Thus, a reward can be defined as
something desirable that students earn for suitable achievement, effort, or
behavior.
2.2.2.2 The Types of Rewards
There are many types of rewards which can be used in the classroom. As
has been discussed before reward itself already has the strengths and weaknesses,
thus teachers who are given wisdom, must thoughtfully consider which type of
reward that is most effective for their students regarding their level and their
interest. Here below are some of the types that are suggested as well as the
explanation of their restrictions.
a) Social Encouragement/Recognition
Social encouragement refers to behaviors of other people that increase the
frequency student‘s behavior. It could be a smile, saying positive things to
students, saying ―great‖, ―good‖, ―nice‖, and ―super‖ (Jones & Jones, 2010, p.
398). Unfortunately, this form of reinforcement does not provide the students with
specific information on which aspect of behavior is being reinforced. Therefore, it
is important to describe the behavior being praised. Rather than saying, ―That‘s
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nice, Bill,‖ when Bill listens attentively, the teacher might say, ―Bill, I appreciate
the way you are listening to the discussion. It should help you do well on the
assignment.‖ This social encouragement may be given after a positive behavior
demonstrated. However, the studies had shown that social reinforcement is not a
powerful enough reinforce to bring about prompt or significant change for all
students (Jones & Jones, 2010, p. 400).
b) Activity Reinforcement
Activity reinforcement involves student in various preferred activities
when demonstrating the desirable behavior. There are several suggestions that
could be used as activity reinforcers, such as being group leader, going first,
running errands, collecting materials, helping clean up, helping teacher, playing
games in class, etc. The common problem that arises when using this reinforcer is
delayed gratification (the student becomes frustrated while waiting for the
reinforcement) (Jones & Jones, 2010, p. 403).
c) Token Reinforcement or Tangible Reward
Token reinforcement refers to a system in which students receive
immediate reinforcement in the form of a check, chip, star, or other tangible item
that can be traded in for reinforcement at a future time. Before introducing a token
system, teacher should determine specifically how each step will be
accomplished. There are five basic steps to implementing a token reinforcement
system in the classroom (Jones & Jones, 2010, p. 402):
1. Determine when and with whom the program should be implemented.
2. Select the specific behaviors to be reinforced.
3. Decide when tokens will be dispensed. There are two ways that are
suggested, randomly and in a timeframe.
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4. Determine how to dispense tokens. It can be giving mark on the students‘
desk or dispensing to them one by one.
5. Select a procedure for recording tokens earned. Most token systems
involve earning tokens over a specified period. Thus, it is necessary to
devise a system for recoding the number of tokens each student has
accumulated. Likewise, because students can trade tokens in for preferred
activities, a record of tokens spent and remaining must be kept.
Marzano (2005, p. 43) emphasized two critical points about applying tangible
rewards (token reinforcement): (1) explain the meaning of the tokens along with
the rationale behind using them, (2) continually monitor the use of them to ensure
that students do not view them as a bribe or a form of coercion, but rather as a
healthy motivator. Research has demonstrated that tokens are most effective if
awarded for positive behaviors and taken away for negative behaviors (Kaufman
& O‘Leary, 1972 as cited Marzano, 1998, p. 36).
d) Curtailment of Activity
Activity curtailment refers to any situation in which inappropriate student
behavior is followed by removal of a desired activity. The problem is students
may behave inappropriately in order to receive what appears to the teacher to be a
punishment but the student views as a relatively positive consequence. Continuing
to use a curtailment of activity might prevent the student from dealing with
important social skill deficits that causes problems on the playground (Jones &
Jones, 2010, p. 404).
From all those types, ―token reinforcers‖ are much a part of school life. It
promises to provide a reward if students behave appropriately for a designated
period (Jones & Jones, 2010, p. 39). Hurlock (1999, p. 400) stated that to younger
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children, a more tangible reward, in the form of a gift, is usually better understood
than a special treat. There are several tokens suggested, such as sticker, pictures,
stars, etc. (Djamarah, 2005, p. 120). Thus, in this research, token reinforcer in the
form of star sticker was used for the reward and it was designed to be given at the
end of the session. As it suggested by Elizar & Rusdinal, the reward was recorded
in a poster called Bintangkuposter so that after the students could gain five or
more reward at the following week, they were given two big stickers as the
―prize‖. Social encouragement was also used to support the students who did the
appropriate behavior during the session.
2.2.2.3 The Importance of Reward
A classroom that has rules must provide an appreciation to those who
follow the rules. Thordike (1913 as cited in Seefeldt & Wasik, 2008, p. 185)
hypothesized that every behavior that is followed by reward or reinforcer will be
repeated; every behavior that is not followed by giving reward or unreinforced
will be decreasing. Shortly, reward enforces rules. However, reward also has a
restriction, which is a student likely becomes dependent upon praise or reward to
do the appropriate behavior (Djiwandono, 2006, p. 277). Thus, Arends (2008, p.
199) said that giving rewards must be followed by a thorough discussion about the
rationale behind so that the students may see the aim of the reward given.
2.2.2.4 The Implementation of Giving Reward
To have an effective reward that increases students‘ positive behavior, the
teacher needs to understand the students closely so that stimuli that used
beneficial for them. Rusdinal & Elizar (2005, p. 167-169) suggested several
conditions of giving reward in Preschoolers, they are:
1. pleasing and loveable for children,
2. there are balance between material reward and social encouragement,
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3. given systematically,
4. given only after a desirable behavior conducted. It is not a bribe,
5. stable and consistent, every day is the same,
6. enough, not too much.
2.2.3 Punishment
2.2.3.1 The Definition of Punishment
Punishment is synonymous with ―penalty‖ or ―negative consequence‖.
Wong & Wong (2009, p. 195) mentioned that punishment or negative
consequence is a penalty that is given after someone breaks the rule.Lang &
Evans (2006, p. 187) stated that a penalty (punishment) is something undesirable
that occurs because of inappropriate behavior. Robinson (1992, p. 149) gave
another definition about punishment as an implementation or disappearance of a
stimuli that will decrease the attitudes frequency. While Purwanto(1991 as cited
in Djamarah, 2005, p. 197) defined punishment as an infliction that is given or
intentionally caused by someone (parent, teacher, etc.) after an offense, misdeed,
or fault occurred. Therefore, punishment is something undesirable earnedbecause
of inappropriate behavior. Purwanto (1991 as cited in Djamarah, 2005, p. 197)
suggested that punishment should be able to make the convicted person feels the
sorrow that he has made a mistake and he regret that. In Djamarah‘s opinion,
punishment is an educational tool (Djamarah, 2005, p. 197).
2.2.3.2 The Types of Punishment
Some types of punishment that has been found effective includes the
following (Eggen & Kaucak, 2007, p. 173):
a) Desists. Desists are verbal or nonverbal communications teachers use to stop a
behavior (Kounin, 1970). A simple form of presentation punishment, such as a
teacher putting her fingers to her lips, signaling ―Shh‖. When administered
immediately, briefly, and unemotionally they can be effective (Emmer et al., 2005;
Evertson et al., 2003);
b) Timeout. Timeout involves removing a student from the class and physically
isolating him or her in an area away from classsmates. Typically used with young
children. It is effective for a variety of disruptive behaviors (Pfiffner & Barkley,
1998);
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c) Detention. Similar to timeout, and typically used with older students, detention
involves taking away some of the students‘ free time;
d) Response cost. Response cost involves the removal of reinforcers already given
(Zhou, Goff, & Iwata, 2000).
The punishment chosen for this research was response cost that was
implied by taking away one sticker.
2.2.3.3 The Aim of Giving Punishment
Djamarah provides three perspectives of punishment with a significant
different aim. They are punishment from the perspective of the law, punishment
from socio-anthropological perspective and punishment from an educational
perspective or so-called pedagogical punishment. From law and socio-
anthropological perspective punishment is aiming for revenge, improvement,
protection, amelioration, indemnification or frightening. In regards to nurturing
students, these two perspectives are inappropriate to be used. While in
pedagogical perspectives, punishment are aimed to smooth the pathway for
education and learning objectives. Its intention is to improve students‘ attitude,
behavior and action toward better alignment with moral ethics and values in the
society (Djamarah, 2005, p. 202). Robinson (1992, p. 161) added by stating that
the core of punishment is to attract child‘s attention so that he knows that his
attitudes are unacceptable in the society. As they experience the punishment, the
students may realize that they are out of line and thus they deserve to get the
punishment.
In conclusion, pedagogical punishment is the aim of using punishment that
is appropriate for students which emphasizes improving behavior not for
frightening the students.
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2.2.3.4 The Implementation of Punishment
Both reward and punishment cannot be given randomly. There has to be
system that applied to them. Djamarah (2005, p. 197) says that a punishment is
given when there is fault. Once the offense occurs, the punishment must be given
in a manner that do not stop the lesson. Wong & Wong (2009, p. 197) stated that,
―when you see a violation of one of the rules, immediately implement the penalty
(punishment). Implement the penalty (punishment) quietly as you continue the
lesson and the class continuous their work.‖
Van Brummelen (2009, p. 193) suggested that punishment is necessary
when there is deliberate and repeated violating of the rules, but it should come
only after warning. He emphasized that when students need to be warned or
reprimanded, avoid doing so in demeaning, belittling, or sarcastic manner that
could strip them of their self-worth; they are entitled to as persons made in God‘s
image (Colossians 3:21). One suggestion offered as a warning is calling name.
Eggen & Kauchak (2007, p. 212) who said, calling on students by name is one of
the most powerful attention-gathers. In administering reprimands or punishment,
teachers need to make sure that they are in full control of theirselves. Punishing in
anger often leads to regret.
If necessary, after the punishment was given, teachers communicate with
the student about why he gets punished. Van Brummelen (2009, p. 193) suggested
―to communicate with the punished students at appropriate times that it is not your
actions but theirs that cause punishment‖. Because, the best opportunity to
communicate is often appeared when after a punishment implied (Dobson, 2004,
p. 45). Probably at the end of the session the communication may take place.
After the session, there was cognitive approach for one of the offendee. This
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opportunity was made to teach about life virtue which was every behavior had its
consequence. It guided the student to reflect on his behavior and to remind him
about the appropriate behavior. This idea was in response to the suggestion of
Dobson (2004, p. 45) who said that the best opportunity to communicate is often
appeared when after a punishment implied.
2.2.3.5 Pros and Cons of Punishment
There are many pros and cons about using punishment in a disciplinary
system. Some people say that punishment can cause trauma or stress. A Christian
psychologist, Robinson,opposed this argument by saying that it is not the
undesirable situation which causes the trauma, but the inconsistency of the
punishment giver. He said, there is nothing more difficults for children than
receiving the contrary signals administered to them. The inconsistency that yields
the unsureness can be the key that causes psychological conflict that caused the
trauma. He even said that it is to be the key of effective brain-washing. This is
arguable, for example, a student who is given the same punishment as what has
been set in the classroom, whenever he violates the rule, he will know that it is the
consequence of his fault. While, a student who are not told the punishment for
violating the rule and once at a time he is punished with different severity of
punishment, he will have the feeling of trauma.
Rousseau (Djamarah, 2007, p. 189) extremely opposed teacher‘s
intervention regarding students‘ behavior improvement. He agreed with natural
punishment or logical consequences. For him, education must give full freedom to
the students. Because all children are born in purity, thus let them learn the
education from nature. In regards with punishment, he suggested natural
punishment. For instance, when a little child touches the ember, once he touches
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it, he feels that the ember causes his hands burned. The consequence of his
attitude is his hand blister. Therefore, he will not repeat the same action.
Christians believe that children is the fallen image-bearers of God. Since
the falling of sin (Genesis 3) all men that are born have inherited the sinful nature.
This perspective opposes the Rousseau‘s believe that children is born in
purity.From an educational perspective, particularly in classroom context, this
kind of natural punishment is not effective to be applied. This does not mean to
neglect the importance of the natural consequence, but it is very needed by the
students to be facilitated with concrete consequences. Through teacher‘s
intervention, students will learn about values, moral ethics and develop their
common sense as their preparation to live in the community as well as in their
spiritual life. It is so unfair, if a child is expected to act as what the community
demanded him without anyone tells him so. Consequently, the child will suffer
mal-adjustment or even become anti-social (Hurlock, 1999, 393). In addition to
this, Djamarah (2007, p. 198) said that the natural punishment can be harmful to
children and sometimes destroy them. There is also concern that children who are
allowed to grow up by themselves will live their life to fulfill their lush, rebelll,
and meaningless about life. Rousseau‘s natural punishment is not an intentional
and purposeful punishment, whereas pedagogical punishment has the aim to
educate students. Moreover, pedagogical punishment contains educational values
and is covered by love. Love is the boundary of giving a punishment by Christian
teacher as the Scripture says that ―Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it
does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it not selt-seeking, it is not easily
angered, it keeps no record of wrongs‖ (I Corinthians 13:4-5).
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Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1746-1827) and Maria Montessori (1870-
1952) are another two early childhood educators who disapproved of rewards and
punishments. They believe that child‘s self-dignity could best be developed by
intrinsic motivation. Nevertheless, children, like everyone, alter their actions
based on short-term anticipated consequences. Robinson (1992, p. 161) added that
the core of punishment is to attract child‘s attention so that he knows that his
attitudes disapproved in the community.It is confirmed by Eggen & Kauchak‘s
view (2007, p. 183). They said that student who breaks a classroom rule, and is
not reprimanded (offendee) is more likely to break the rule in the future. That is
why a consequence must be concrete particularly for the youngsters so that they
know that they have done wrong and in advance they will choose to obey the rule.
In the Scripture, it is said that Jesus is The Great Shepherd (Hebrews
13:20) used rod and staff to guide and redirect the sheeps into the right pathway
(Psalms 23:3-4). It sometimes causes unpleasant experience for the sheep, but the
Shepherd has the aim to save the sheeps from danger. As the Spirit who always
guides, Christian teachers are also called to guide the students in their classroom.
The illustration about ―rod and staff‖ refers to rules, reward and punishment that
keep the students on the right track. Even though giving punishment is unpleasant
both for the students and the teacher, however, as long as it is consistent and the
aim is to redirect the students into the right path, Christian teacher must do it
obviously based on principles that have been discuss before.
2.2.4 Combined Reward and Punishment
From those studies above, it hasbeen discussed that a reward will be
effective when it is combined with the punishment. However, using reward and
punishment is also required skills and thoughtful ways in order to make it
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effective. Arends (2008, p. 197) had shared three steps in designing an effective
reward and punishment, which are (1) identify the desired behavior, (2) identify
the stimuli that effective, and (3) use skill in using the reinforcer to support the
desired behavior.
After the three principles had been accomplished, the reward and
punishment now can be applied in the classroom. There are several characteristics
of implementing an effective reward and punishment in the classroom. Firstly,
explaining the rules from the beginnning of the session. As Cangelosi (2004, p.
128) said that the sooner students know about the standards and procedures, the
more time they will have to practice following them. According to Manning &
Bucher(2007, p. 268), rules must be set in positive tone—listing the things
students should do rather than the things they should not do. Thus, rules must
consist of positive statement rather than negative statements. Van Brummelen
(2009, p. 187) said, give clear directions, and tell students exactly when they are
to follow your instructions. It was obviously needed in explaining the rules,
teachers must discuss how to apply it in a concrete examples. For the rules must
be understandable so that the students could follow it. Besides, Good and
Brophy‘s (1997 as cited in Levin and Nolan, 2007, p. 149) said that when
communicating the rules, it entails a clear communication in discussing of what
the rules are and a rationale for each and every one.Riyanto & Handoko (2004, p.
27) also suggested that teachers need to give reason when applying rules in the
classroom and the important of being obedient. It means that after the rules are
discussed about the application, teachers must emphasize the purpose or the
rationale behind each rule. For purposefully stated rules appeal to the common
sense of students and lead them to be thoughtful about their behaviors (Cangelosi,
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2004, p. 123). For instance, by saying, ―if you disturb your friends, can he learn
well?‖ the students will think of their distructive behavior could inflict others.
Secondly, reward and punishment need to be introduced to the class.
Arends (2007, p. 200) suggested that consequences must be also mentioned after
the rules were explained. It means to inform the students about the reward for
following the rule and the punishment for not following the rule. For instance,
giving star for following the rules and not given star for not following the rules.
This also requires information about the technique used for giving the reward as
well as the punishment. For instance, sticking star sticker on the poster at the end
of the session and after the end of the week those who get the most will get two
big stickers. A reward and punishment system that is explained in the beginning
of the session makes the students encouraged to regulate their behavior during the
session.
Thirdly, be consistent. Reward and punishment will only work well when
it is applied consistently (Arends, 2007, p. 200). Consistent means a degree of
uniformity or stability (Hurlock, 1999, p. 400). Stability to those who follow the
rules must be given the reward but to those who do not follow them must be given
the punishment. To be consistent also means to conform the procedures of giving
the reward and punishment system. If the reward is promised to be given at the
end of the session, it must be fulfilled, or if the punishment is given after 3 times
warning, it must be done so. Hurlock (1999, p. 401) said, consistency fosters
respect for rules and for people in authority. A teacher who commits to be
consistent, deserves students‘ respect, and thus he is actually roling the God given
authority in the classroom. For students—and all people respect person who is
consistent with his words.
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Fourthly, give encouragement and support. This is suggested by Rusdinal
and Elizar (2005, p. 168) who said, in giving rewards, teacher can balance it with
giving social encouragement. Social encouragement refers to behaviors of other
people that tend to increase the frequency of which a student emits a behavior
(Jones & Jones, 2010, p. 398). It could be a smile, saying positive things to
students, saying ―great‖, ―good‖, ―nice‖, ―super‖, etc. Social encouragement can
function to maintain the students‘ appropriate behavior and to confirm what they
had done so far was in the right track.
In applying reward and punishment, teacher-students relationship cannot
be regardless. Because, the quality of teacher-child relationships is related
concurrently and productively to children‘s scholastic and behavioral competence
in the early school years (Hamre, Pianta, & Rollins, 1995 as cited in Goldstein &
Brooks, 2007, p. 9). Canters (1992 as cited in Manning & Bucher, 2007, p. 54)
believe that:
A system based on positive interactions and positive recognition will ―encourage
students to continue appropriate behavior.‖ As a result, the students‘ self-esteem will
improve, behavior problems will be reduced, and there will be a positive classroom
environment for the teacher and students.
As what has been mentioned in the previous section, a good disciplinary system
put teacher-student relationship as an important element. For if the students do not
have the sense of being loved by the teacher, neither they will listen to the teacher
nor will learn the educational value of the discipline.
Afterall, the weakness of implementation both reward and punishment
system is, it needs more time and energy (Arends, 2007, p. 202). It is true
because, to explain the system, evaluate it, to stick the reward on the poster and to
supervise the offense need more time and energy even costs. Using a system at the
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first time always requires time and energy at first, but later, until it becomes usual,
it results more efficient time and energy as it goes by.
Again, to implement any disciplinary technique, good teachers must
consider about the level of the students. Therefore, in the next section, there will
be discussion about the characteristic of the preschoolers. Since this study deals
with character and morality, thus, the discussion will focused on the moral
development stage of preschoolers.
2.3 Moral Development Stage of Preschoolers
To have a realistic expectation to the students in preschool, it is
significantly important to know at what level of development stage the students
are. According to Piaget, moral development occurs in year seven below is called
―stage of moral realism‖ or ―morality by constraint‖. They judge acts as ―right‖ or
―wrong‖ in terms of their consequences rather than in terms of the motivations
behind them. They totally disregard the intentionality of the act. An act is
regarded as ―wrong‖ because it results in punishment either from other human
beings or from natural or supernatural forces (Hurlock, 1999, p. 390). Lawrence
Kohlberg sees that, ―pre-conventional stage‖ is identified in preschoolers up to
grade three (Riyanto & Handoko, 2004, p. 22). She characterized children
behavior based on the desire to avoid punishment and gain rewards (Hetherington,
Parke, Gauvain, & Locke, 2006, p. 596). Both of these views agreed that the
preschoolers need adults‘ guidance to help them understand about what is
regarded as right and wrong. Long before these studies was made, God has been
mentioned in the Old Testament to teach children about the Laws repeatedly
(Deuteronomy 11:19). It means that these preschoolers still needed adult‘s help to
understand and to behave the acceptable behavior in the classroom. To strenghten
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this statement, Proverb (19:18) says that, ―Chasten your son while there is hope,
and let not your soul spare for his crying‖. Not regardles its context, this verse
even speaks out that the children need to be punished whenever they did wrong.
In conclusion, reward and punishment is needed to develop their
awareness about the acceptable and unacceptable behavior in the classroom.
2.4 Music Lessons
The main learning objective for music lesson in this research was to sing
the song ―1234‖ precisely with the lyric. Preschool children retained sequential
verbal information using melodies (Wolfe & Hom, 1993 as cited in Greata, 2006,
p. 115). When presented with a new song, children will first learn the rythm and
then the melody song to increase familiarity (Bentley, 1996; Davidson,
McKernon, & Gardner, 1981 as cited in Greata, 2006, p. 117). Children enjoy
repeating familiar songs (Pound & Harrison, 2003, p. 27). Joanne Grieat (2006, p.
124) said that very young children learn songs in bits and pieces and need
repetition. Therefore, in learning the song, the students would do more in
repetition. In order to have the students able to remember the lyric, one technique
suggested by Carol Seefeldt and Barbara A. Wasik (2008, p. 313) is using hands
movements; means following the song lyric with hand-movements such as up and
down or drinks the medicine. This idea was implemented in the lesson when this
research was conducted. By learning singing, students can be also invited to give
thanks to God for they have been given voice to sing nicely and they can use it to
worship God (Psalms 149:1). Reflecting to this, at the end of the session, the
researcher invited the students to say thanks to God in prayer for giving them
voice so that they could sing nicely.
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2.5 Number Lessons
The objectives of number lesson in this research was to recognize the
number three concept. According to Heruman (2008, p. 3), the first step of
teaching mathematical concept is instiling basic mathematical concepts; it is
indicated by the word ―recognize‖. In this step, media and teaching tools are
expected to be used in order to open the bridge of students concrete thingking into
the new abstract concepts. Rusdinal and Elizar (2005, p. 26) also stated that
teacher has to design learning environment in order to have the children actively
explore, interact with their peers, teacher and teaching tools. Thus, to have the
students achieve the concept, they must be provided concrete materials. As they
interact with it they experience the learning actively. Teacher‘s role in learning is
to guide and direct the students learn actively and productivelyRusdinal & Elizar
(2005, p. 26).
There are certain kinds of cognitive activity that engages children. Gifford
(2005, p. 17) identified five main cognitive activities:
1. Rehearsing
2. Making connections
3. Representing and symbolizing
4. Predicting
5. Spotting errors and incongruity
Gifford said that children readily corrected their friends‘ and their own mistakes.
A readiness to spot errors and incongruity is important for revising
misconceptions. This process was called ‗accommodation‘ by Piaget (1951;
Gifford, 2005, p. 20) and involved ‗cognitive conflict‘, which he recommended
that teachers should promote by providing contradictory evidence and discussion.
Brunner (1966 as cited in Gifford, 2005, p. 18) suggested that children
represented ideas using ‗enactive‘, then ‗iconic‘ (pictorial) and ‗symbolic‘
models. Enactive representation involves actions, echoing Vygotsky‘s (1978 as
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cited in Gifford, 2005, p. 18) suggestion that children‘s first marks were gestures.
This may be true with ‖finger numbers‖. Researchers found that some young
children responded to number problems by consistently holding up the right
number of fingers while saying the wrong answers (Young-Loveridge et al., 1995;
Jordan et al., 2003 as cited in Gifford, 2005, p. 18). It seems that children attach
number words to previous images for number, which might be enactive or visual
(Ansari & Karmiloff-Smith, 2002; Donlan, 2003 as cited in Gifford, 2005, p. 18).
When conducting the Number Three concept lesson, the students were
asked first to check the error of the symbolic number three. Then, the students
were to make up their own number three in the air and repeated the name.
Afterwards, they pointed up three fingers and counted them one by one. As the
main activity, as it had suggested by Gifford as well as Elizar and Rusdinal,
therefore, a pail of plastic balls were used as the teaching tool in order to connect
the concept number three directly by with the number of the plastic balls taken. At
the end of the session, the students applied the concept in to pictoral object—
ducks and stars—provided by the researcher.
As students able to understand about one concept, there is supposedly a
grateful heart insilted in them, for man‘s ability to undertand and work with
numbers, as well as with other subjects, is a gift from God. It was said in Job 32:
8-9, ―But there is a spirit in man; and the breath of the Almighty gives him
understanding. Great men are not always wise: nor do the aged always understand
justice.‖ Reflecting to this verse, students may be invited to give thanks to the
Lord for giving them understanding.
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2.6 The Relationship of Reward and Punishment and Classroom Discipline
Some people make some useful points about inappropriate use of
disciplinary technique and the overreliance on punishment. However, research
and theory strongly support a balanced approach that employs combined reward
and punishment. Scott Stage and David Quiroz (1997 in Marzano, 1998, p. 28)
included 99 studies, 200 experimental comparisons, and more than 5,000 students.
Four of the categories of disciplinary behaviors are (1) ―reinforcement‖, (2)
―punishment‖, (3) ―no immediate consequences‖, and (4) ―combined punishment
and reinforcement‖. ―Reinforcement‖ involves recognition or reward for positive
behavior whereas punishment involves some type of negative consequences for
inappropriate behavior. As the name implies, interventions that are classified as
―no immediate consequence‖ do not involve immediate consequences for
inappropriate behavior but do involve some type of reminder when an
inappropriate behavior appears imminent. For example, the teacher might remind
a student who typically acts out at recess that she should remember to keep herself
under control. Finally, the category of ―combined punishment and reinforcement‖
involves recognition or reward for appropriate behavior in conjunction with
consequences for inappropriate behavior.
Table 2.1Finding from Stage and Quiroz Study
Disciplinary Technique Average Effect
Size
Number of
Effect Size
Percentile
Decrease in
Disruptions
Punishment and
Reinforcement 0.97 12 33
Reinforcement 0.86 101 31
Punishment 0.78 40 28
No Immediate Consequence 0.64 70 24 Source: Stage and Quiroz, 1997; Marzano, 1998, p. 28-29
According to the findings, the intervention that does not include either
reward or punishment has the lowest effect size: 0.64 while the combined one has
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the highest: 0.97. Apparently, contradicting the position of those who reject any
form of punishment as a viable disciplinary activity, the effect size for
interventions that use punishment is quite respectable (0.78). This note should not
be interpreted as an indication that any form of punishment is viable.
The second research about using combined reward and punishment were
done in 60 kindergarten-aged children by Witte and Eugene (1971).They were
compared under three reinforcement conditions (reward only, punishment only,
reward and punishment). Reward and punishment were non-verbal, consisting of
tokens which were exchanged for a toy. The numbers of correct responses for the
two punishment groups did not differ; both groups made more correct responses
than the reward only group. The results of this study indicated that punishment,
either alone or in combination with reward, leads to better performance than does
reward alone.
From those studies above it clearly said that combined reward and
punishment attained the highest effect in decreasing disruptive behaviors. This
findings were line in line with Hurlock‘s statement (1999, p. 401-402) that said,
children who discover that rewards always follow approved behavior but
punishments always follow forbidden behavior will have a far stronger desire to
avoid forbidden acts and to engage in approved acts than they would have if they
were uncertain about how these acts would be treated.
If two researches have shown the effectiveness of usinga combined reward
and punishment in dealing with the 5000 students‘ and the 60 kindergarten-aged
children‘s behavior, in this research the researcher would like to know whether it
also works effectively for the preschoolers.
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses about research methodology, research subject,
place and time, research procedures includes cycles, method of data collection,
research instruments and data analysis.
3.1 Research Methodology
The aim of this research was to see if using reward and punishment is able
to increase students‘ discipline in the classroom so that the atmosphere established
was conducive for learning. Since this study deal with changes and improvements,
the researcher used an action research method called Classroom Action Research
(CAR). Kemmis (1983 as cited in Wiriaatmadja, 2009, p. 12) gave definition
about action research that it is a self-reflective, self-critical, and critical enquiry
undertaken by professionals (teachers) to improve the rationality and justice of
their own practices, their understanding of these practices and the wider contexts
of practice. Hopkins (1993 as cited in Wiriaatmadja, 2009, p. 11) describes
classroom action research as a research that combines research procedures with
substantive action that is done in inquiry discipline, or in other words, it is one‘s
effort to comprehend what is happening and to involve in the repairing and
changing process. Several features about this classroom action research
highlighted by Barry and King (1998, p. 654) are:
- The teacher is integrally involved in conducting the action research both as a planner
and as a participant.
- The link between theory and practice is classroom specific, in that teachers generate or
apply theory in relation to their classrooms alone,
- The outcomes of the research are non-generalisability beyond the context of the
classroom under study.
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By above descriptions, it can be concluded that a classroom action research is a
set of action undertaken by teachers as the planner as well as the participant in
order to improve their practices regarding students‘ learning quality in a specific
classroom context.
There are several classroom research action models that have been
developed by researcher in education. In this research, CAR model that used is
Spiral Model of Kemmis and McTaggart. It is called spiral because the actions
taken forms in cycles, which have four stages involved in sequence, such as
planning, action, observation and reflection as visualize in pictures below:
Figure 3.1 Spiral Model by Kemmis and McTaggart (1988 as cited in Wiriaatmadja, 2009, p. 66)
The cycle begins with a particular problem to be solved. The planning stages
focus on what actions to be taken solve the problem—describing the independent
variable. In the action stages, all that have been planned are implemented in the
teaching-learning process. In the observation stages, all changes occurrence about
the dependent variable—variable that is going to be increased—are measured
using research instruments. In the reflection stages, the teaching-learning process
was reflected to find its strengths and weaknesses of the dependent variable,
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including the action plans for the next cycle. The number of the cycles could be
more, but not less than two cycles since it deals with comparison of results. The
cycles are continued if a problem is not solved yet or a new problem arises and it
ends when the researcher sees that the research objective is accomplished. In this
research the researcher conducted two cycles that cover two learning center
sessions.
3.2 Research Setting
3.2.1 Subject
The subject of this research was a group of prschoolers with an age span:
two years seven months to three years eight months whom were in early
development stages. According to moral development stage, they were belonged
to ‗morality by constraint‘ by Piaget and ‗pre-conventional‘ stage by Kohlberg.
They judge acts as ―right‖ or ―wrong‖ in terms of their consequences rather than
in terms of the motivations behind them. There were 26 students of them with 15
boys and 11 girls in the classroom, which number were actually too big for a
Kelompok Bermain class. Therefore the likeliness of disruptive behaviors
occurring was increased because of lacking supervision. They came from middle
to upper socio-economic status (SES). They consisted of Chinese, Javanese and
Java-Chinese descendent. According to the observation, some of their parents
were too permissive and some were authoritative, while very little who was
authoritarian. It caused the students in the classroom so wild, like to tease their
friends, easy to fight, but very hardly to do any instructions given. They did not
respect the authority. They were also very active.
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3.2.2 Place
The school in which this research took place was a Christian school in
West Jakarta. It was located in a housing complex rounded by a narrow street in
each side. There were Preschool and Primary School from grade one to six in that
building. The Secondary School was built separated not so far from that building.
The Preschool was at the corner of the building. It was located in both the first
and the second floor. There were cages in every boundary in which students from
elementary classes or parents were not allowed to enter during the school hour
without teachers‘ permission.
The Preschool had five classes which every class consisted of 24-27
students. The facility of Preschool was quiet complete. There were a Preschool‘s
library, a playground, a playroom, a gym, school field, and ICT laboratory. Every
room was facilitated with AC. The library provided many books, encyclopedias,
DVDs, television, DVD player, and LCD projector, angklungs and dolls. The
playroom consisted many toys that promoted students‘ fine-motoric skills. The
gym consisted of big toys that helped students to exercise their gross-motoric
skills, while the playground consisted of bigger and heavy toys.
Preschool‘s classroom in which this research took place existed at the very
end of the building neared to the toilet and two fishponds. The classroom was
quiet large but the decoration was very simple. It had four big tables with six
chairs for each table, one carpet at the center, one beauty set and one stuffed
kitchen at the corner, and other toys and dolls were placed in see-through boxes
and shelves stood up next to the wall. During the carpet time, the students tend to
play at this corner, so that many times teachers must pull them back to the carpet.
There were two lockers for students, one for extra clothes, pencil colors and
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crayons given by the school inside the classroom and one for bags in the corridor.
In addition, the Preschool had two shelves in the corridor, for shoes and for
sandals. In terms of protection, during the school hours the students had to put off
their shoes inside the rooms and used sandals when moving from one room to
another room.
Preschool lasted for four hours and a half which was too long for
Preschoolers. There were two times of break. In every break students had their
meals. During the observation, most of the students brought unhealthy food, like
fast-food, chips, sweets and other food with high sugar contained, deep-fried food,
noodle, and so on. One of the Preschoolers consumed only formulated milk—
which familiarly caused children being over-active—during those two breaks.
Yet, there were no specific rules about kinds of food that were allowed to be
brought into school. Even though many research had found that these kind of food
affected child development in a big portion. Fortunately, the school gave healthy
meal to all Preschool students every Friday.
3.2.3 Time
The CAR was started with the observation during July 26 to October 27,
2011. On October 28, 2011 the researcher had a discussion with the mentor prior
to planning the action. The mentor agreed and about to arrange the schedule of the
cycles to be conducted. October 29 until November 1, planning and instruments
for the action were made. November 2, 2011, the instrument was checked by the
mentor. Then, the action of the first cycle was conducted on November 3, 2011 as
well as the observation, validation, data analysis, and reflection.
According to the reflection of the first cycle, planning and instruments
were made on November 3, 2011. The action of the second cycle was done on
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November 4, 2011 as well as the observation, validation, data analysis, and
reflection. Both of the cycles lasted in the carpet time. It covered two sub-topics,
Sing the song ―1234‖, for the first cycle and Recognizing number three concept,
for the second cycle. The duration for each session was 30 minutes. The report of
this CAR was made after the internship was finished; started from November 28,
2011 until March 5, 2011. To see it more systematically, the time allocation is
displayed in the table below.
Table 3.1 Time Allocation
No. Time Allocation Aspects
1. July 26 – October 27, 2011 Observation
2. October 28, 2011 Discussion about independent variable
3. October 29 – November 1,
2011
Planning 1 & Making instruments
4. November 2, 2011 Checking instrument
5. November 3, 2011 1) Data collection I (Action, Observation
&Instrument validation)
2) Data analysis and reflection I
3) Planning II
6. November 4, 2011 1) Data collection II (Action,
Observation& Instrument validation)
2) Data analysis and reflection II
7. November 18, 2011 – March
5, 2012
Making report
3.3 Research Procedures
From the August 11 to October 27, 2011 observation, some problems in
the classroom were identified. One of the problems noted by the researcher was
students‘ indiscipline. So then the researcher discussed with the mentor about the
idea of using reward and punishment. The mentor allowed the researcher to used
reward and punishment in her classroom. Thus, using reward and punishment
became this research‘s independent variable, while students‘ discipline became
the dependent variable. By this research the researcher wanted to know about the
effects of using reward and punishment in the preschoolers. Applying the reward
and punishment should have positive effects on the classroom discipline.
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Therefore, the researcher planned all the things that were needed to do the
research.
3.3.1 Cycle One
3.3.1.1 Planning
Planning was done by concerting a lesson plan and instruments which
were going to be used in the CAR. The sub-topic was Sing the song ―1234‖. The
learning objectives were that students would be able to (1) do any instruction
given by the teacher, and (2) sing the song precisely with the lyric.The lyric poster
that used as the teaching aid was prepared. The star stickers for the reward and
punishment as well as the Bintangku poster to record the stars were also prepared.
The session was divided into three parts, such as: opening part, main part
and closing part. The opening part ran for five minutes. In this part, the rules,
reward and punishment was explained. It was planned that each student were
given three stickers of star so that the reward was giving an additional star sticker
while the punishment was taking away one star sticker. The punishment was
given after three times ―name-calling‖. A target was also mentioned, which was
given two big stickers if they gained five or more stars until the following week.
The main part ran for ten minutes. In this part, the students were taught about the
lyric of the song as well as the melody using the lyric poster. They were also
taught how the movement of the song. As the guided practice, the students were
asked to sing in front of the classroom. The duration given was ten minutes. At
the closing part, those followed the rules were given one star to be sticked on the
Bintangku poster.
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The instrumentsthat prepared were lesson plan, mentor‘s feedback sheet,
mentor‘s checklist, and teacher educator‘s observation sheets. After the session
was done, researcher‘s journal reflection was also used as the source of data.
3.3.1.2 Action
The first cycle took place on November 3, 2011. Some of the planning
were done, but some of them were not.In the opening part, the rules were
explained than followed by explaining the reward and punishment system. Since
the three stickers of star did not posted on the Bintangku poster, it was explained
that those who followed the rules got one star to be sticked on the Bintangku
poster, but if any of them violated the rules, his name was going to be called.
After three times of calling, he will not get the star. This was different with the
planning. A demonstration was done to make the punishment be clear. The target
of getting another two big stars if they could gain many stickers until the
following week, was also delivered by the researcher.The limit of stars were not
mentioned due to the uncertainty of teaching sessions that the researcher had.
In the main part, the song was taught using the lyric poster. After several
times repetition the group of boys was called to sing the song with its movement
in front of the class. The group of girls was called after them. This part ran for 10
minutes. In the closing part, each student was called to stick the star next to hisor
her own symbolic picture; except for the offendees. Afterwards, the students were
asked several questions about to reflect the lesson in a Christian perspective. The
closing part ran for five minutes.
3.3.1.3 Observation
In this stage, all data about the action that had been conducted were
collected. There were three instruments used for each variable: the
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implementation of the reward and punishment system and the classroom
discipline. Lesson plan, mentor‘s feedback sheet, teacher educator‘s observation
sheet, and researcher‘s journal reflection are the instruments for the
implementation of the reward and punishment system. The mentor‘s checklist,
teacher educator‘s observation sheet, and researcher‘s reflection journal sheet
were used to measure the classroom discipline, which was to be the dependent
variable.The data result was still achieve 90% of the students improved their
classroom discipline which covered only threeof the indicators. The second cycle
was decided to achieve 100% of the students performed all four indicators of the
classroom discipline.
3.3.1.4 Reflection
In this stage, a reflection upon the strengths and weaknesses of the first
cycle was made. Some of the weaknesses were the implementation of reward and
punishment was different with the planning and the rationale behind the first rule
did not explained by the researcher.From the weaknesses, several action plans
were recommended. To achieve the standard of the classroom discipline, the cycle
was continued to cycle two with some improvements based on the action plans.
3.3.2 Cycle Two
3.3.2.1 Planning
This stage described the action plans according to the reflection of the first
cycle.Overall, it pinpointed to see whether the reward and punishment could
achieve 100% of the students performed all four indicators of classroom
discipline. The lesson was conducted on November 4, 2011, with the subtopic,
―Recognizing number three concept‖. While the lesson objectives were that the
students would be able (1) to take three balls and count them, (2) to mention the
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number of pictures spontaneously, and (3) to be discipline in following any
instructions given.
In the opening part, the rules, the reward and the punishment were
explained with some improvements based on the action plans of the reflection.
Which were explaining the rationale behind the first rule and informing the
students that the punishment was taking away one star. The duration was ten
minutes. In the main part, the students were taught about number Three concept
using plastic balls that were prepared by the researcher. The duration was ten
minutes. For the guided practice, other tangible objects were displayed and the
students were asked to count them. In the closing part, the students were also
asked to count the three stickers of star that had been posted on the Bintangku
poster. Afterwards, each student was called to stick one additional star next to his
or her symbolic picture; except for the offendee.
The instrumentsthat prepared wasalike with the first cycle, which were
lesson plan, mentor‘s feedback sheet, mentor checklist, and teacher educator‘s
observation sheets. The researcher‘s journal reflection was also used to gather the
data.
3.3.2.2 Action
In this second cycle, all of the improvements were conducted. The
procedures of implementing reward and punishment system were also done. In the
opening part, the rules, reward and the punishment was explained by the
researcher. The rules were explained following the rationale behind the first rule.
The reward was to be giving one additional star whereas the punishment was to be
taking away or removing one star. It was given after three-time ―name-calling‖. In
the main part, the researcher demonstrated the instruction for the activity before
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allowing the students took the plastic balls. The students were informed to sit
back on the carpet after they got three balls. Using those balls, the students learnt
about the concept of number three. To make sure the students‘ understanding, in
the guided practice they were asked to count ducks pictures on the whiteboard.
They were also asked to count up to three using their fingers. At the closing part,
the students were asked to count the stars that were already posted on the
Bintangku poster. Afterwards, each student was called to stick a star next to his or
her own symbolic picture.
3.3.2.3 Observation
This cycle also used three instruments for each variable. Lesson plan
sheet, teacher educator‘s observation sheet and researcher‘s journal reflection
sheet are the instruments that described the implementation of reward and
punishment in the classroom. Teacher educator‘s observation sheet and
researcher‘s reflection journal sheet added with mentor‘s checklist were used to
measure the classroom discipline. From all the data result, it was concluded that
the classroom discipline was improved according to the indicators but did not
reach the standards of this research.
3.3.2.4 Reflection
A reflection upon strengths and weaknesses were also made. Some
strengths were pinpointed but still there wereweaknesses regarding the instruction
during the activity and the instruments used for gathering the data.Because in this
second cycle all of the indicators of classroom discipline had been attained, the
researcher decided to finish the cycles. It was concluded that the reward and
punishment could improve the classroom discipline but not perfectly.Therefore, if
there was an opportunity, the researcher would like to do the next cycle.
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3.3.3 Cycle Three
3.3.3.1 Planning
If the researcher would do the cycle three, the aim of the cycle was to see
whether the implementation was still effective in a more engaging activity. It was
planned that the researcher kept following the reward and punishment system
procedures with the reward was to add one star sticker at the end of the session
and the punishment was to take away one star whenan offense occured. The
name-calling would keep being used as the warning before applying the
punishment. For the activity, it was planned to provide a game which demanding
the students‘ active movements. In order to help the students maintained their
self-regulation, instructions were given before, during, and after the activity.
3.4 Data Collection and Research Instruments
3.4.1 Data Collection
This research used several methods of data collection. They were
document, observation, and journal reflection.
3.4.1.1 Document
According to Goetz and LeCompte (1984 as cited in Wiriaatmadja, 2009,
p. 121), document that related to research problem could provide a structure for
data basic. Document collected in this research involved: lesson plans, mentor‘s
feedbacks, and photographs. Lesson plan briefly mentioned the steps of applying
the reward and punishment in the lesson. Mentor‘s feedbacksassessed the the
researcher in implementing the reward and punishment system during the action.
Photograph was to display the tools used for applying reward and punishment.
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3.4.1.2 Observation
Observation is a technique done by viewing thoroughly and noting
systematically (Arends, 2008, p. 30). There are four methods of observation:
opened observation, focused observation, structured observation, and systematic
observation. This research used two methods which were focused observation and
structured observation. It was a focused observation when the observer was
addressed to observe particular aspects in the learning process (Daryanto, 2011, p.
36), whereas the structured observation was when the observer used a ready-to-
use instrument and it only needed to be filled with check mark (V) in the available
column (Daryanto, 2011, p. 37). Focused observation was done by teacher
educator, while structured observation was done by researcher‘s mentor.
3.4.1.3 Journal Reflection
Journal reflection contains personal notes about the observation, feelings,
comment, interpretation, reflection, hypothesis and description (Kemmis & Elliott
as cited in Wiriaatmadja, 2009, p. 123). Journal reflection was made by the
researcher. It outlined the sequence of action during the cycles, students‘ attitude
during the action and personal view about how the action worked.
3.4.2 Research Instruments
In order to test credibility and validity degree of the research, triangulation
method, which is comparing researcher‘s data to other data sources
(Wiriaatmadja, 2009, p. 168), was used. Since the primary source which was the
students were too young, this research only used secondary source, they were
researcher‘s mentor, researcher‘s teacher educator, and the researcher herself.
The types of the instruments were lesson plans, mentor‘s feedback sheets,
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mentor‘s checklists, teacher educator‘s observation sheets, and researcher‘s
journal reflections.
3.4.2.1 Lesson plans
Lesson plans were made by the researcher prior to commencing each
cycle. On the lesson plan sheets, the teaching learning process was outlined
briefly. These instrumentswere used to show the planning of implementing the
reward and punishment, which were (1) explaining the rule, (2) explaining the
reward and punishment system, (3) being consistent, and (4) giving social
encouragement.
On the bottom row of one of the lesson plans there was an evaluation from
the researcher about how the classroom condition was when the lesson was
conducted. The validation of these instrumentswere by mentor‘s signature. In this
research, the lesson plans were reliable to give a consistent data when supported
by the researcher‘s journal reflections, and teacher educator‘s observation sheets.
3.4.2.2 Mentor’s Feedback
On the mentor‘s feedback sheets, the researcher‘s mentor assessedthe
implementation of the reward and punishment system conducted by the
researcher. It was stated that the reward and punishment was well-implemented.
About the researcher, it was stated that she was able to control the class well. The
mentor‘s feedback sheets were also used as the evidence that instructions were
delivered clearly to the students. This instruments were validated by mentor‘s
signature.
3.4.2.3 Mentor’s Checklists
Mentor‘s checklists werethe instruments that used only to measure the
classroom discipline variable.The mentor did the structured observation and gave
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check mark (V) on the column provided. In this research the checklists that used
were adapted from the book entitled Penilaian Perkembangan Belajar Anak
Taman Kanak-Kanak (Preschoolers Learning Development Assessment) by Dra.
Anita Yus, M.Pd. (2005, p. 109). They listed all of the preschoolers‘ classroom
discipline indicators of the (Table 3.2). The validation was from mentor‘s
signature. The mentor‘s checklists were reliable to give a consistent data when
supported by the teacher educator‘s observation sheets, and the researcher‘s
journal reflections.
Table 3.2 Mentor‘s Checklist
NO. INDIKATOR YA TIDAK
1.
*90% siswa mendengar dan melakukan **instruksi guru
(90% of students listen and obey the teacher‘s
instruction)
2. Siswa melihat ke arah guru (Students‘ eyes on the
teacher)
3. Siswa mengganggu teman saat pembelajaran (Students
disturb their friends in learning)
4.
Siswa mengangkat tangan saat hendak keluar kelas
(Students raise their hands when going out of the
classroom)
* of students = 26, therefore 90% x 26students = 23 students
**Instruction could be sitting on the carpet, standing up, singing, taking ball,
moving body, and so on.
3.4.2.4 Teacher Educator’s Observation Sheets
The researcher‘s teacher educator filled the observation sheets when the
actions were being conducted. She was in the classroom making proper notes
about the teaching learning process using the observation sheets according to the
scheme provided (focused observation). The observation sheets were issued by
the university. These instruments were used as sources of both the implementation
of the reward and punishment in the action and the classroom discipline. The
implementation includes (1) explaining the rule, (2) explaining the reward and
punishment system, (3) being consistent, and (4) giving social encouragement.
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For the classroom discipline variable, three indicators were recorded, such as: (1)
follow the researcher‘s instruction, (2) eyes on the researcher, and (3) no
disturbing friends. The teacher educator‘s observation sheet of the cycle two was
used to proof that the students started to raise their hands when going outside of
the classroom. These instruments were validated by teacher educator‘s signature.
In this research, teacher educator‘s observation sheets were reliable when
supported by the mentor‘s checklists and the researcher‘s journal reflections.
3.4.2.5 Journal Reflections
Journal reflections contained the researcher‘s closed observation on things
that were going on in the classroom. These sources of data was used to give
descriptions about the whole lessons including the implementationof the reward
and punishment, problem arised, and the effects of the implementation of the
reward and punishment system toward the preschoolers‘ classroom discipline in a
qualitative manner. From these instruments, it was shown that the researcher
followed the steps of implementing the reward and punishment, such as: (1)
explaining the rule, (2) explaining the reward and punishment system, (3) being
consistent, and (4) giving social encouragement. About the effects of
implementing reward and punishment, it was recorded that the students followed
the researcher‘s instructions, which supported the next indicators which were eyes
on the researcher and no disturbing friends.
3.4.2.6 Photographs
The photographs displayed the tools and stimuli that were used when
implementing the reward and punishment system to the preschoolers.There were
two photographs, one for girls and one for boys. Each of the pthotograph
contained students‘ symbolic pictures and the blue star stickers
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To see it more obvious, all instruments linked with each variable and its
indicators are summed up in the table 3.3 below:
Table 3.3 Summary of Variables, Instruments, and Indicators
Variable Indicator(s) Instrument(s)
Reward and
Punishment System
1) Explain the rules
(Cangelosi, 2004, p.
128).
2) Explain the reward and
punishment system
(Arends2007, p. 200).
3) Be consistent (Arends,
2007, p. 200).
4) Reinforce by giving
social encouragement
(Elizar & Rusdinal,
2005, p. 168).
1) Lesson plans
2) Mentor‘s feedback
3) Teacher educator‘s
observation sheets
4) Researcher‘s journal
reflections
5) Photographs
Classroom Discipline 1) Follow teacher‘s
instruction
2) Eyes on the teacher
3) No disturbing friends
4) Raise hands when
going outside of the
classroom (synthesized
from Thompson, 2007,
p. 357).
1) Mentor‘s checklists
2) Teacher educator‘s
observation sheets
3) Researcher‘s journal
reflections
To measure the success of this research, a standard was made by the
researcher which was, the implementation of reward and punishment was
successful when all students were disciplined; in other words,100% of the
students met the four indicators of the preschoolers‘ classroom discipline.
3.5 Data Analysis
From the instruments, the data gathered was a qualitative data. Thus, a
descriptive-qualitative technique was used to analyze the data. The steps for
analyzing data were (1) data reduction, (2) data validation, (3) data verification,
and (4) conclusion. To reduce the data, the technique of coding data was used.
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Parts of data, which were regarded channeled with the research objectives, were
given codes (Table 3.4). Code is word abbreviation or symbol that is used to
classify a set of words or sentences or paragraph (Wiriaatmadja, 2009, p. 140).
Table 3. 4Coding Category Primary Code Secondary Code
Reward and Punishment RWP
Explain the rules
Explain the reward and
punishment
Be consistent
Give social encouragement
RWP-RU
RWP-RP
RWP-CS
RWP-SE
Classroom Discipline DSC
Follow teacher‘s instruction
Eyes on the teacher
No disturbing friends
Raise hands when going
outside
DSC-FO
DSC-EY
DSC-AV
DSC-RH
After the reduction step was done, the data was validated by the researcher. Next,
the data was verified using the triangulation technique. Triangulation means one
data source is compared to at least two others sources. Lastly, a conclusion was
taken after analyzing and discussing all of the data results.
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CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter provides the sequence of actions that were done for the
research starting with the brief observation during the precycle and continuing
with the exploration of the two cycles. As has been mentioned in the previous
chapter, each cycle consisted of four phases which were planning, action,
observation, and reflection. The results were analyzed and are discussed later in
this chapter in relation to the literature.
4.1 Precycle
From July 26 to October 27, 2011 the researcher had been entrusted to
teach several lessons in ABC Preschool. From her observation, there were
indications of several discipline problems.The researcher was entrusted to teach in
several sessions called ―area‖ session—a session in which the students were
instructed to sit down on the carpet and pay attention to the teacher (Appendix C-
2 & C-3). When the lesson was conducted, many times it happened that the
students walked around the classroom or playedwith the toys in the corner.
While the other students who sat on the carpet did not follow the researcher‘s
instruction regarding the learning activity (Appendix C-1 & D-2).
In addition, it was observed that some students enjoyed teasing, causing
their friends to cry and fighting (Appendix D-2). This situation often distracted
the learningprocess as well as interfered theother students‘ right to learn. The
lesson had to be stoppedto cope with students fighting or ticalmstudents who were
crying. Worst, several students were absent because they were fearful of some
friends in the classroom.
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Another problem that positively pushed the researcher to deal with it was
that the students too often were going outside the classroom without asking
permission. This condition showed the disrespectful attitude as well as a lacked of
self-control in the students.
Even though for each session, the researcher had built rules and
communicated them with the students, they just broke it, anyway. In order to
enforce the rules, the researcher gave stickers as the reward for following the
rules. Nevertheless, the observation showed that giving reward only yielded no
significant change to the classroom condition (Appendix C-1). Rules were just
broken, anyway. It caused the researcher fell into the most-avoided way of
teaching discipline, which was giving threats. In order to have the students
stoptheir disruptive behavior, the researcher gave threats such as bringing them
home or taking their bags, etc. These threats worked at first, but then it even
caused other disruptions to emerge. Because eventually the students knew that
those threats would never be fulfilled. Thus, instead of teaching the students to
behave appropriately, the existence of those threats only showed the researcher‘s
inconsistency that might lead the students to disrespect the rules and the authority.
Moreover, the researcher realized that it was not a Christian teacher‘s manner to
teach discipline.
From the observation above, it could be concluded that giving reward only
in enforcing the rules did not work effectively to improve the preschoolers‘
classroom discipline. The class needed another solution to deal with this problem.
Looking back to the discussion in Chapter two, it was mentioned that a combined
reward and punishment systemthat came after the rules was more effective in
improving classroom discipline. Thus, this classroom action research was made to
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know whether the combined reward and punishment was effective in improving
classroom discipline of the preschoolers.
4.2 Cycle One
In cycle one, the lesson was learning the song ―1234‖ held on November
3, 2011. The learning objectives were that the students were able to follow any
instruction given by the teacher and were able to sing the song ―1234‖ precisely
with the lyric. There were 26 students, 15 boys and 11 girls; no absent students.
The duration was 30 minutes. The data result was gathered from three points of
view, which were mentor‘s checklist, teacher educator‘s observation sheet and
researcher‘s journal reflection.
4.2.1 Planning
In this stage, the reward and punishment system was planned and prepared
by the researcher. The first thing to be done was listing the desired behavior
during the session and summed up in a set of rules. It was planned that the rules
were going to be explained earlier before the main activity. The rules consisted of:
1) Follow the teacher‘s instruction.
2) Raise your hand if you want to drink or to go to the toilet.
The first rule was intended to strive against the reluctant attitude, as well
as to prevent teasing and fighting, because they had to first listen attentively and
looked on the researcher to follow the researcher‘s instruction. Thus, the
opportunity to disturb friends were diminished or even eliminated. The second
rule was intended to teach a common norm in a classroom where a teacher was in
charge.
Star stickers used as the stimuli in implementing the reward and
punishment were prepared. The star stickers were made using blue Spectra paper
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and double-tape at the backside. Two big black posters called Bintangku poster
were made to record the stickers; one for boys and one for girls. Since the
students had not been able to read, on the poster symbolic pictures were posted
substituting the students‘ name. There were posted 26 symbolic pictures, e. g.
elephant for student A used, shirt for student B, and so on (Appendix F).
Obviously all of the students already recognized their own symbolic picture.The
blue color of the stars was chosen to contrast with the black color of the poster,in
order to make it attractive.It was planned that each student was given three
stickers of stars. So that the reward was to be given the one additional star, while
the punishment was taken away one star. The reward was planned to be given at
the end of the session by calling the students one by one to stick the star next to
their own symbolic picture. During the session, when an offense occured, the
warning which in the form of ―name-calling‖ was implemented first. If after three
times ―name-calling‖ the student did not improve his behavior, then the star was
taken away. During the session, the Bintangku poster was to be displayed on the
whiteboard. To motivate the students, a target was set, which was that those who
could gain five or more stars until the following week were given two big stickers.
Other things to be prepared were lyric poster for the teaching aid and a
checklist for the mentor. To ensure the action results, beside the researcher‘s
mentor, the teacher educator also observed in the classroom using her observation
sheet.
4.2.2 Action
The lesson plan was conducted on November 3, 2011. In the opening part,
the session was begun with the routine signal word: ―Ta-ta-ti-ti-ta‖. This signal
word required the students to respond by repeating the same words, sitting nicely
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on the carpet, folding hands, and looking at the researcher. However, the students
did not show that response. So that, they were reminded again. After rehearsing,
the students showed a good response. The researcher gave them public appraisal,
such as: ―Good! Kalian semua pintar, yah.‖ (You all are smart).
After the aim of the lesson had been mentioned verbally, the students were
curious about the Bintangku poster. When the Bintangku poster was posting on
the whiteboard, some students started to ask questions and even walked forward
to touch the poster. Those students were asked to sit back on the carpet first then
the poster was explained. They were told that the researcher was willing to give
outstars, but firstly, they were reminded about the rules, which were announced as
an agreement.
―Kamu akan mendapatkan bintang, jika kamu (You will get one star if you):
1) Duduk di karpet saat guru sedang menjelaskan, menyanyi saat diminta
menyanyi, berdiri saat diminta berdiri, dan bergerak saat diminta
bergerak. (Sit down on the carpet when the teacher is explaining, sing
when I ask you to sing, stand up and move when is asked)—Rule # 1.
2) Angkat tangan saat mau keluar kelas, entah itu untuk minum atau untuk
buang air.‖ (Raise your hand whenever you want to go outside of the
classroom whether it is to drink or to go the toilet)—Rule # 2, said the
researcher.
Afterwards, the rationale behind the second rule, wascommunicated:
―Kenapa harus angkat tangan? Soalnya kalau kamu teriak-teriak memanggil guru
akan jadi ―berisik‖ dan temanmu jadi terganggu.‖ (Why do you have to raise
your hand? For if you just called out to the teacher, your friends will be distracted
and the class becomes so crowded). ―Atau kalau kamu langsung saja keluar tanpa
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permisi, ibu guru pasti akan khawatir karena tidak tahu kamu ada dimana,
apakah sedang jatuh atau tersesat dan tidak bisa pulang.―(Or if you just go out
without any permission, I will worry for I do not know where you are, whether
you are lost or fall down outside the classroom). ―Itulah makanya ibu minta anak-
anak untuk mengangkat tangan kalau mau keluar dan tunggu ibu guru izinkan
pergi baru pergi‖ (That is why I need you to raise your hand before going outside
and wait for the teacher‘s permission). ―Setuju?‖ (Do you agree?), asked the
researcher. ―Setuju!‖ (Agree!), the students replied.
The punishment was also explained: ―Anak-anak akan dapat satu bintang
di akhir pelajaran kalau anak-anak mengikuti perjanjian kita. Tapi, jika anak-
anak melanggarnya, ibu akan panggil namamu, dan kalau sudah tiga kali
dipanggil dan kamu masih tidak taat, kamu tidak akan diberi bintang.‖ (You will
get one star if you follow our agreements, but if you break them, your name will
be called and if your name has been called three times, you will be given no star).
The implementation of reward and punishment was demonstrated by
calling student X when he was walking toward the toys corner. That student‘s
name was called by the researcher and he was asked to sit back on the carpet
while saying thatit was the first calling. Then the rest of students were asked if X
had been called three times but did not sit down back to the carpet, whether he
would get a star or not. The rest of the class answered, ―Tidak!‖ (No!). Hence, it
could be concluded that the students understood about the system.
To motivate them, the students were promised: whoever could gain the
most stars until the following week, they were going to get two big stickers from
the researcher—the amount of the target was not mentioned due to the uncertain
opportunity of the researcher being in charge in the area session. To reemphasize
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the target, the students were asked,―Siapa mau dapat dua stiker besar?‖ (who
wanted two big stickers?). All of them raised their hands and said, ―Saya‖ (Me!),
with a loud voice. Then the question was continued, ―Maka, taatilah perjanjian
kita.‖ (Therefore, be obedient to our agreement).
In the main part, the lyric poster was displayed. The students were
reminded about the rule that if they could sing the song precisely, they got a star
at the end of the session. Then, the students were asked to sing altogether with the
researcher. After the whole song was sung, the students were asked to repeat the
lyric after the researcher. Repeating the lyric after the researcher ran for two
rounds. During that time, student X, O and Ain turn, walked toward the toys
corner. Their names one by one were called by the researcher. They were
reminded to sit back on the carpet and told that it was to be the first warning. The
second ―name-calling‖ had been given, nevertheless, they did not follow the
instruction. After the third ―name-calling‖ was given, it was only student X who
sat back to the carpet, while student A and O did not. Thus the punishment was
given by telling those three studentsdid not get thestar at the end of the session for
breaking the rules.
Afterwards, the lesson was continued by singing the song altogether. The
lyric poster was then posted on the whiteboard. All students were challenged to
sing with the movements. They then were instructed to stand up and all of them
followed the instruction. The song was sung three times more but now with the
movements. Since the students were able to do the movements praises such as
―very good‖ and ―smart‖ were given.
To assess the students, they were asked, ―Siapa berani maju ke depan dan
bernyanyi?‖ (Who wants to sing that song in front of the class?). Most of them
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raised their hands. Therefore, the students were divided into two groups. The boys
were instructed to came up first then the girls. It was noticed that each of the
student sang the song precisely with the lyric. Their movements were also correct.
After each group finished their performance, a big applause was given by the
researcher, followed by the students and other teachers who were there. Then the
students were asked to sit back on the carpet and were told that they deserved the
star.
In the closing part, each student was called to get a star and to stick it on
the Bintangku poster. The boy was called first then the girl except student X, O,
and A. Seeing that their friends already had the star, student X and O whimpered
and asked for it. But they were not given any.
Before the lesson was ended the students were asked, ―Bagaimana, yah
kalau kita tidak punya suara? Bisa nyanyi tidak?‖ (How it would be like if we did
not have voice? Could you sing without any voice?). It was demonstrated by
moving the researcher‘s mouth as if she was singing, but with no voice. The
students laughed and the explanation was continued, ―Tanpa suara, kita jadi tidak
bisa nyanyi, yah‖ (Without voice, we can not sing, can we?). ―Siapa, sich yang
kasih kita suara?‖ (Then, who gave us this voice?). ―Tuhan Yesuuuus‖ (Jesus...!),
they answered altogether. The researcher continued, ―Yuk, kita berdoa bilang
terima kasih sama Tuhan Yesus.‖ (So, now let us pray and say thanks to Jesus). A
song was sung to lead them in a closing prayer. The students repeated after the
researcher‘s prayer: ―Terima kasih Tuhan sudah memberi saya suara sehingga
saya dapat bernyanyi dengan baik.‖ (Thanks God for giving me a voice so that I
can sing nicely). This was to be the end of the first cycle.
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4.2.3 Observation
4.2.3.1 Lesson Plan
In the lesson plan (Appendix A-1) it was written that the rules were
explained before the main activity continued by explaining the reward and
punishment system. As what was mentioned in the planning stage, the lesson plan
noted that each student had been given three stars from the beginning of the
session. Thus, the reward became getting one star sticker, while the punishment
became taken away one star. Three times ―name-calling‖ as the warning before
giving the punishment, was also explained. The students were informed that if
theycouldgainfive or more stars until next week, they were given two big stars.
The main activity for the lesson was singing in front of the classroom. In the
closing part, it was noted that the students were to stick the star sticker on the
Bintangku poster.
4.2.3.2 Mentor’s Feedback
While the researcher conducting her lesson, her mentorassessed
theimplementation ofthe reward and punishment system in the classroom on the
feedback sheet (Appendix A-2). The feedback sheet shown that the
implementation of reward and punishment in the classroom was good. The
researcher could manage the class well. The researcher‘s instructions were also
delivered well. At the end, she recorded that the researcher gave the students
social encouragement well. This mentor‘s feedback sheetactually confirmed what
were written in the lesson plan sheet.
4.2.3.3 Mentor’s Checklist
Besides assessing the researcher‘s implementing the reward and
punishment system, the researcher‘s mentor also recorded the resultof the
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implementation of the reward and the punishment system in relation to the
classroom discipline‘s indicators. She did a structured observation using checklist
(see Table 3.2) given by the researcher prior to commencing the cycle. According
to the mentor‘s checklist (Appendix B-1), 90% of the students (23 out of 26
students) appeared tofollow the researcher‘s instructions during the session. It was
also shown that the students looked toward the researcher during the session.
Another criterion that checked was the students did not disturb their friends
learning. Lastly, the students raised their hands when going to the toilet. This last
statement actually did not exist since there were no student who went outside of
the classroom.
4.2.3.4 Teacher Educator’s Observation Sheet
Besides the researcher‘s mentor, there was the teacher educator who did a
focused observation in the classroom. From the observation sheet, the teacher
educator described the implementation of reward and punishment as well as the
students‘ attitude during the action.
It was written that there was information from the researcher to the
students about the rules and the rewardin the beginning of the session. to the
students in the beginning of the session. A consistency of implementing the
reward and punishment system shown when the students were called one by one
after accomplishing the activity as what had been informed to the students. There
were also praises and positive comments given during the action.
From the sheet, it was seen that the classroom atmosphere was positive,
calm, and conducive for learning but there were several students who walked out
of the carpet in the middle of the session. However, for the rest of the sessionit
was stated that all of the students sat down on the carpet. The observation showed
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that a good relationship was built between the researcher and the students.
Overall, it was stated that the researcher was able to control the class well.
4.2.3.5 Researcher’s Journal Reflection
In the researcher‘s journal reflection, the procedures of implementing
reward and punishment was explored narratively (Appendix D-4). In the opening
part, the rules were explained to the students. It was recorded that it was only the
second rule that was followed by the explanation of the rationale behind it; not for
the first rule. Along with the rules, the reward and punishment were also
explained by the researcher in the opening part. It was recorded that the students
were informed that the reward was getting a star and the punishment was not
given any star. This was different with what was planned in the planning stage.
The researcher‘s consistency occured both in implementing reward and
punishment. The punishment was given whenever an offense occured. It was
implied after the three-time―name-calling‖. Giving the star sticker at the end of
the session as it was explained at the beginning of the session had also proved the
researcher‘s consistency. Social encouragement such as praises and positive
comments were given when the students worked out the instructions well. Lastly,
there were recorded that the main activity of learning was singing the song ―1234‖
in front of the classroom.
About the classroom discipline, it was recorded that there were some
students who walked to the front and tried to touch the Bintangku poster before
the reward and punishment were explained. However, after explaining the reward
and punishment, the lesson ran positively and all the students followed the
instruction given by the researcher. It was true that in the middle of the session
students X, O and A walked toward the toys corner. They were warned, but after
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three times name calling, it was only student X who came back to the carpet and
followed the next instructions. When all of the students were called to sing in
front of the classroom, O and A came back and joined the singing. It was
emphasized that no student left when they were asked to sing in front of the
classroom. Each one of them seemed singing the song precisely with the lyrics.
Hence, it could be concluded thatthe lesson objectives were met. Even more, all
of them sang the song with the correct movement, which was to be another extra
objective accomplished by the students.
4.2.4 Reflection
After the lesson plan had been conducted, a reflection was made in order
to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the first cycle. There were three
strengths. First, the reward and punishment system was found to be good in
improving the preschoolers‘ classroom discipline particularly in music lesson.
90% of the students did all the instructions given involved: ―sing‖, ―sit down on
the carpet‖, ―stand up‖, ―move your body‖, ―come to front‖, and so on. They
seemed to pay full attention during the session and focus on learning so that no
teasing friends or fighting appeared. Second, the stimuli chosen and the technique
used seemed to be effective for the students as the reward and punishment. It was
seen from the students‘ excitement to get the rewards and to be called one by one
to come up and stick the star on the Bintangku poster. It could also be seen from
the side of one offender who whimpered to get it. Third, all students met the
objective which were singing the song ―1234‖ precisely and following the
instruction well.
For the weaknesses, there were three points. First, there were still three of
the students who broke the rules. Based on the previous observation during the
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internship these three students were very active. They never settled to sit on the
carpet for a whole session. They were the ones‘ most teasing friends in the class.
When was discussed with the researcher‘s mentor and her assistant, the researcher
learned that X‘s parents were inconsistent in teaching discipline. They forbid
some inappropriate behaviors, but they laughed at him afterward. It caused X to
think it was easy to break the rules. He even laughed when breaking the rules and
thought that his conduct was funny.
On the other side, O‘s parent was not so communicative. At home, O was
asked to go to his bedroom upstairs when guests came. It actually did not help the
phase of interacting or socializing with people. It caused O to not have a
background of respecting others or meeting social expectations. It was also
indicated that O had a lack of attention from his parents. Consequently, at school,
O loved to do the opposite of the teacher‘s instructions and making his friends
crying.
Another super-active student was student A. Besides being active, she was
also a strong-willed child. The parent was too democratic when they were dealing
with her and they were even tended to be permissive. Since A had shown rapid
language development, when A showed some disrespectful attitudes, the parents
just talked with her in a manner that more fitting for adulthood. She was hardly
ever reprimanded. At school, A became disrespectful of the teacher and disobeyed
the rules. She often interfered with her friends‘ stuff and caused her friends to be
furious. Once she was warned, she cried and sought a defense from other teachers.
After all, the punishment was only seen seriously by student X, while student A
and O kept just being unaware.
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The second weakness was, only the second rule that was followed with the
explanation about the rationale behind it. The first rule was not enforced by its
rationale. Third, the planning which was given three stars for each student at the
beginning of the session was not evident in the action. So that when the offenses
occured, the offenders were only told that they were not given a star, because
there were no star to be taken away. The fourth was about the instrument. The
researcher‘s mentor gave check mark on the indicator that stated the students
raised their hands when going outside of the classroom, while there was no
evidence for it.
To maintain the strengths that had been achieved so far and to tackle the
weaknesses, several points were put on the action plan. First, dealing with those
three students who were still being ignorant, the idea of taking away or removing
the star sticker might give a better solution. Second, it was better to explain the
rationale behind the first rule so that the students might understand the purpose of
obeying the rule. Third, the mentor‘s checklist was still being used to see whether
the last indicator of the preschoolers‘ classroom discipline was evident. Since in
this cycle, there were still three students who did not follow the researcher‘s
instruction and did not pay attention, the researcher decided to continue this cycle.
In the second cycle, the researcher would like to know whether the
implementation of the reward and punishment system could yield a hundred
percent of the students performed all of the indicators.
4.2.5 Analysis and Discussions
The reward and punishment was planned in accordance with some theories
stated in Chapter two. In order to discuss and analyze the planning, all the things
were done in this stage were listed. The first one was, listing the desired behavior
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during the session, then putting them into a set of rules. The second was choosing
the star sticker as the stimuli. From the observation, the students seemed to love
stickers so much, therefore it was suspected that giving the star sticker could be
the effective reward and taking away one could be an effective punishment to
have the students fixed on the rules. It was based on Lang & Evans‘ statement
about the definiton of reward and punishment itself. They said that, a reward is
something desirable that students earn for suitable behavior while a penalty
(punishment) is something undesirable that occurs because of inappropriate
behavior (Lang & Evans, 2006, p. 187).Third, using skills how to make the
reward became more desirable and the punishment became more undesirable.
Some skills used whencreating the attractive form of reward, choosing the blue
color of the stars in contrast with the black background, making the Bintangku
poster to record the stars, planning it to be displayed on the whiteboard, and
letting the students stick the star sticker on the Bintangku poster by themselves.
These all were designed to have the reward be more effective for itwas pleasing
and loved by the students (Rusdinal & Elizar, 2005, p. 167), and the punishment
became more effective as it was neither trivial nor harsh (Lang & Evans 2006, p.
187). These steps were in concert with Arends‘ principle (2008, p. 197) of
designing reward and punishment in the classroom, which were: (1) identify the
desired behavior (2) identify the stimulus that is effective (3) use skill in using the
stimulus to support the desired behavior.
The rules about the desired behaviors were planned in a positive manner.
It conformed to Manning & Bucher‘s suggestion (2007, p. 268), that rules must be
set in a positive tone—listing the things students should do rather than the things
they should not do. They were also planned to be mentioned in the opening part of
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the session in order to have the students know the approved behavior and so they
could manage their behavior according to the rules. This idea was in line with
Cangelosi (2004, p. 128) who stated that the sooner students know about
standards (rules) and procedures, the more time they will have to practice
following them.
In the action stage, the reward and punishment was implemented
according to the plan. In the opening part, rules were explained by telling the
students about how to do the rule in a specific manner, such as singing when they
were asked to sing, sitting down on the carpet when they were asked to sit,
standing up, moving their body, etc. As Van Brummelen (2009, p. 187) said that
teachers should give clear directions, and tell students exactly when they are to
follow your instructions. Nevertheless, there was one rule which was not followed
with the explanation about the rationale behind it. It was out of the proportion to
Good and Brophy‘s statement (1997 as cited in Levin and Nolan, 2007, p. 149)
that said, when communicating the rules, it entails a clear communication in
discussing of what the rules are and a rationale for each and every one.In other
words, when delivering the rules, it must be followed with discussing the purpose
offollowing each of the rules. This condition had not been fulfilled.
After the rules were explained, the reward and punishment system was
introduced for the first time. This was hand in hand with Arends (2007, p. 200)
who suggested that reward and punishment must be also mentioned after the rules
were explained. It meant, the reward and punishment was also informed in the
beginning of the session. The intention was by telling the students about the
reward and punishment from the beginning encouraged them to regulate their
behavior for the rest of the session.
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The consistency was shown by the implementation of the reward and
punishment conformed to what it was said to the students at the beginning of the
session. First, whenever an offense occured, the three-time ―name-calling‖ was
given before the punishment implied. Second, the reward was given at the end of
the session to all who followed the rules. This consistency had functioned
effectively in teaching the students that every behavior they conducted had its
consequence. On the other hand, they also learnt about respecting the prevailing
rules and the authority. As Hurlock (1999, p. 401) said that consistency fosters
respect for rules and for people in authority. Hence, the researcher actually opened
the gate for the students to respect God and His Law in their spiritual journey. Not
only instilling the value of respecting the authority, when the students experienced
the consistency, they were more likely to realize that breaking the rules was not a
trivial thing. Thus, they came to think about managing their behavior seriously.
After giving the punishment, the lesson was directly continued by the
researcher. This was in accordance with Wong & Wong‘s statement (2009, p.
197). He said,
―when you see a violation of one of the rules, immediately implement the penalty
(punishment) and continued the lesson calmly; implement the penalty (punishment)
quietly as you continue the lesson and the class continuous their work‖.
The punishment was given calmly not in demeaning, belittling or sarcastic
manner (Van Brummelen, 2009, p. 193). It was administered in love (Proverbs
13:24; Revelation 3:19). This was in accordance with the statement of Van
Brummelen (2009, p. 66) who said that when teachers apply such authority
through discipline, they do so not for the sake of exercising power over their
students but to give understanding and wisdom about the ―way to life‖ (Proverbs
3:12-13, 6:23). Hence, it was proven that this disciplinary system did not collide
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with the students‘ dignity. Rather, the existence of this punishment functioned as
the ―rod and staff‖ that guide the students to be in the right path.
During the session, social encouragement in the form of praise and
positive comments were also given to the students in the light of celebrating their
appropriate behaviors. Social encouragement here aimed to maintain the students‘
appropriate behavior and to confirm what they had done so far was in the right
track. This was in agreement with Jones and Jones (2010, p. 398) who said that
social encouragement tends to increase the frequency of which a student emits a
behavior.
Looking upon the result of the cycle one, several things were connected to
each other. Four proofs recorded the implementation of the reward and
punishment in musik lesson which were a lesson plan, a mentor‘s feedback, a
teacher educator‘s observation sheet, and a researcher‘s journal reflection.
According to those instruments, all the steps of implementing the reward and
punishment system followed the procedures of what had been discussed in
Chapter two, which was (1) explain the rules, (2) explain the reward and
punishment, (3) be consistent, and (4) support by social encouragement.
The mentor‘s checklist, teacher educator‘s observation sheet and
researcher‘s journal reflection recorded the data result about the influence of
implementing reward and punishment toward the preschoolers‘ classroom
discipline. Overall, it was found that combined reward and punishment was able
to improve the classroom discipline even up to 90% even though there were some
restrains in the action. The mentor agreed that 90% of the students followed the
instructions given which were ―altogether‖, ―sit down on the carpet‖, ―stand up‖,
―sing with the movement‖ and ―sing in front of the classroom‖. Total students on
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that day were 26, therefore 90% referred to 23 students. Other indicator was also
appeared which were the students paying attention to the researcher and there was
no disturbing friend occured. The researcher‘s journal reflection confirmed this
statement by mentioning that there were only three students who walked out of
the carpet during the session. The teacher educator‘s observation sheet actually
recorded that several students walked out of the carpet. To make sure, the
researcher discussed it with the teacher educator. She confirmed that she meant by
several was three students who walked toward the toy corner and played there for
a minute. Nevertheless, at the end of the session, it was noted that all of the
students sat down on the carpet. This statement was confirmed by the researcher‘s
reflection journal in which stated that all of the students sang the song in front of
the classroom with no one left. In addition, the mentor checklist showed that the
students paid attention during the session. It was seen from the eyes of the
students being kept on the researcher. This condition had diminished the
frequency of disturbing friends in the session. The teacher educator‘s observation
sheet also strengthened it by stating that also strengthened it by stating that the
classroom was positive, calm, and conducive for learning. Lastly, the mentor
checked that the students raised their hands when going to the toilet. This
statement was actually not indecated by any other instruments. This was to be a
weakness of the researcher in terms of giving clear direction before using the
instrument.
From the data results above, it was seen that 90% of the students had
performed three of the classroom discipline‘s indicators, such as:
1) follow teacher‘s instruction,
2) eyes on the teacher,
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3) no disturbing friends, and
4) raise hands when going outside of the classroom (synthesized from
Thompson, 2007, p. 357).
Until now, it could be concluded that the combined reward and punishment had
improved 90 % of the classroom discipline standard. Three sources had confirmed
that 90% of the students performed those three indicators; the last indicator was
not counted because there was no student who was going outside of the classroom
at that time. However, the standard of this research was reward and punishment
was considered successful in improving classroom discipline if 100% of the
students performed all indicators of classroom discipline. Another opportunity to
conduct the implementation of this reward and punishment system was needed to
see the effectiveness of this variable.
In the reflection it was stated that one of the strengths of this cycle was the
stimuli chosen for the reward and punishment was effective. The students were
excited to get the reward and to stick it on the Bintangku poster. The system was
new for them, and they loved to be called one by one. Two of the offendee
whimpered to get one, too. When the stimuli was suitable in terms of function as a
reward and a punishment, thus system could be work effectively in improving the
classroom discipline. This was accordance with Purwanto (2007, p. 1029) who
said that a desirable consequence will strengthen behavior, while the undesirable
consequence will weaken behavior. However, it was inevitable that one of the
offendees still viewed the punishment as light. He just ignored the researcher.
Another strength was all students met the lesson objectives. The learning
objective was the students were able to sing precisely with the lyrics, and it was
attained. They also followed the teacher‘s instruction well. The existence of
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reward and punishment system encouraged the students to fix on the rule which
was following the researcher‘s instructions. This condition had actually
maximized the time for concentrating, minimized the time of disruptions, as well
as prevented the learning interference. This condition helped the students to
successfully attain the learning objective. Hence, Rua‘s statement (as cited in
Rusdinal & Elizar, 2005, p. 131) was confirmed which was discipline is the key of
success.
In the reflection, some weakness were also pinpointed. The first one was
there were three students did not follow the researcher‘s instruction in the middle
of the session. It was suspected because the this rule was not emphasized about
the rationale behind it. As Cangelosi (2004, p. 128) stated that unenforced
standards (rules) even unnecessary ones, teach students that standards need not to
be taken seriously. Otherwise, discussing the rationale behind the rule actually
encouraged the students to internalized the rule to theirselves so that it will
develop their self-direction and self-regulation which were to be the short-term
goal of the classroom discipline.
The second weakness was the absence of those three stars. It was caused
by the lack of preparation of the researcher. It was planned that each of the
students had already been given three stars posted on the Bintangku poster, but in
the action, not all of them were posted. It caused, the intention to take away one
sticker of star when the offense occured did not happen. Rather, the implemented
punishment was by only telling the offenders that they did not given the stars at
the end of the session. The researcher indeed communicated this punishment at
the beginning of the session, so that the researcher could be seen as consistent in
the eye of the students. However, it would be better if the punishment was
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concretely done by taking away the star whenever an offense occured instead of
just telling them that way. As what Kaufman & O‘Leary‘s research (1972 as cited
in Marzano, 1998, p. 36) resulted that tokens are most effective if awarded for
positive behaviors and taken away for negative behaviors. Therefore, in the next
cycle, the researcher intended to applied the concrete punishment by taking away
a sticker from the Bintangku poster. A rationale that loosing one‘s belonging was
more unpleasant than not given one that not one‘s own also support that this kind
of punishment worked more effective to restrain the unacceptable behavior.
From above discussion, it had been mentioned that the standard of this
cycle was not successfully attainded, but the researcher would like to know
whether the implementation of this reward and punishment could improve the
classroom discipline a hundred percent. Therefore, the second cycle was going to
be conducted with some improvements to tackle those weaknesses as well as to
accomplish the standard of this research. The improvements were to explain the
rationale behind the first rule and to give three stickers of star for each student so
that the punishment became taking away or removing a star.
4.3 Cycle Two
In cycle two, the lesson was learning number three concept, held on
November 4, 2012 as part of the area session. The learning objectives were
students were able to take three balls and to count them correctly from one to
three, to mention the number of pictures spontaneously and to be discipline in
doing any instruction given. There were 26 students consisted of 15 boys and 11
girls; no absent student. The duration of the session was 30 minutes. Data result
was gathered from three points of view, which were mentor‘s checklist, teacher
educator‘s observation sheet, and researcher‘s journal reflection.
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4.3.1 Planning
In this second cycle, the lesson plan was made based on the reflection of
the first cycle. To tackle the second weakness, the rationale for the first rule was
going to be communicated. Three star stickers were posted on the Bintangku
poster. Thus, the students were going to be informed that the punishment became
taken away a star sticker or loosing one star sticker. The activity was designed
with hands-on acitivity. There were a big pail of plastic balls as the teaching aid
for learning number three concept. The activity was taking three balls and
throwing theballs one by one into the pail while counting. To assess the students
whether they understood the concept or not, they were asked to count ducks drew
on the whiteboard and stars posted on the Bintangku poster. A big pale of plastic
balls as the main teaching aid had been prepared in the storage a day before. This
action plan was the answer of the restraint in developing students‘ cognition in the
previous cycle.
Mentor‘s checklist was still be used to record the data results, supported
by the teacher educator‘s observation sheet. The implementation of the reward
and punishment in the action was following the steps as it was synthesized in
Chapter II.
4.3.2 Action
In the opening part, the lesson was opened with the signal words: ―Ta-ta-
ti-ti-ta‖ but still there was only a few of the students who sat nicely on the carpet,
so that the researcher repeated the signal word again. The researcher thanked
those who responded her well and showed that they were sitting nicely. The
subtopic of the lesson was mentioned by writing number ―three‖ on the white
board but the researcher delibertely called it number ―two‖. Spontaneously, the
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students corrected by saying it was number three. Then the students were asked to
show their three fingers and invited them to count one by one, then to make a
number three in the air.
Afterwards, the Bintangku poster was posted on the white board. The
students were reminded about the rules for the session, such as:
1) follow the teacher‘s instruction, and
2) raise your hand when you want to go to the toilet or drink.
Then the students were invited to take a look on the Bintangku poster to see that
they had been given stars for each one of them so that the reward and punishment
systemwas different which was gettingone more star for following the rules and
taking away or loosing one star for not following the rules. Three times ―name-
calling‖ as the warning before the punishment given was also reminded.
Then, the rationale of the first rule was explained: ―Kenapa, sich anak-
anak perlu taat? Anak-anak tahu, Tuhan Yesus senang sekali kalau anak-
anakyang taat dan dengar-dengaran, guru-guru disini juga. Kalau X taat, O taat,
Ajuga taatpasti Tuhan Yesus tersenyum melihat kalian.Selain itu, kalau anak-
anak taat, kalian bisa belajar dengan baik dan jadi pintar. Siapa disini yang
senang jadi pintar?‖ (Why do you think you need to obey? You know, God is
pleased when you obey, and so do the teachers. He pleases if X obeys, O obeys,
and A obeys the teachers. Jesus must smiles upon you. Besides, obeying the
teacher allows you to learn well and become a smart kid. Who like to be smart?).
All students raised their hands. The researcher continued, ―Sudah pintar, dapat
banyak sticker bintang, pula, terus minggu depan dapat dua sticker besar, dech
dari ibu guru. (Not only being smart, if you gain many stars until next week, you
will get two other big stickers from the researcher). Siapa mau dapat dua sticker
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besar?‖ (Who wants two big stickers?), asked the researcher.The students replied,
―(Student‘s name) mau dua sticker besar...!‖ (I want two big stickers!).
After discussing the rationale, there was a student who called on the
teacher and asked to go to the toilet. At that time the rule about raising hand was
reminded and the students did so. A praise was given for her and her behavior was
enforced by telling the rest of the students about that appropriate behavior. When
she was permitted to go, other students started to raise their hands too. Those
students were asked to wait until the first student came back to the classroom.
However, none of them asked for permission until the end of the session.
In the main part, a big pail contained many plastic balls was carried from
the storage room and put down in front of the class. Firstly, a demonstration was
occurred. The students were told that the researcher intended to take three balls.
Then, the balls were taken one by one in front of the students and gave example
how to count them. The students were then asked to re-count them. During that
time, student A kept walking to the front and tried to take the balls. The first
warning occurred; that student‘s name was called. She was reminded to sit down
back on the carpet. However, after she was called three times, student A did not
sit back on the carpet. She was just being ignorant until she saw that one of her
star was taken away followed with the statement ―you are loosing one star for not
following the instruction‖.
The lesson was continued by asking all of the students to take three balls
as the researcher did. An instruction after the activity was given. They were asked
to sit back on the carpet after they got the balls. Some students took more than
three balls, and some of them took less. So that they were reminded to take only
three balls not more or less. While some of the students taking their balls, the
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other students who sat the back started to play the balls with their friends. Then
another instruction was made such as sit down back to the carpet. The students
were asked to hold up their balls in the air and count them one by one. Those who
got it correct were praised by the researcher. The class was also instructed to
check if anyone had done it wrong. Now, the students were also asked to counted
the ball altogether. After that, the students were asked to throw their balls one by
one and said it verbally: ―Satu, dua, tiga!‖ (One, two, three).
The students were celebrated their success by saying that by now they had
already been able to count by three. Next, the students saw the researcher was
drawing three ducks on the board. They were checked if they knew how many
ducks the researcher had. All of the students immediately said, ―Tiga...!‖
(Three...!). Afterwards, the students were invited to count those stars posted on
the Bintangku poster. They counted it with saying: ―Satu (one), dua (two), tiga
(three)‖. As they got it correct, they were given praisesfollowed with the positive
comment.
One by one the student was called to stick a star next to their symbolic
picture. Student A was not given any star. She cried to ask forone but she was told
that she might get the star if she showed that she could beobedient during the day.
4.3.3 Observation
4.3.3.1 Lesson Plan
In the lesson plan, it was explained that the reward and punishment system
was done firstly by discussing the rules followed by giving the rationale behind
the first rule, which was ―God is pleased by those who are obedient.‖Then, it was
continued by explaining the reward and punishment system, which was about
getting one addition star as the reward for folowing the rules and loosing one star
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as the punishment for not following the rules. Three-time ―name-calling‖ as the
warning before the punishment was also reminded. There was target explained by
the researcher which was giventwo big stars if the students were able to collect
five or more stars until next week. It was also recorded that the star sticker was
given at the end of the session by calling the student one by one to stick it on the
Bintangku poster that was displayed on the whiteboard. Lastly, social
encouragement was recorded to be given during the action.On evaluation colom,
there was a little note that which stated that the classroom now became more
order even though when taking the balls, some of the students started to be loss-
controlled.
4.3.3.2 Mentor’s Feedback
In this second cycle, on the mentor‘s feedback it was shown thatthe reward
and punishment system was implemented well in the action (Appendix A-4).The
researcher could manage the class well. The researcher‘s instructions were also
delivered well. At the end, she recorded that the researcher gave the students
social encouragement well.
4.3.3.3 Mentor’s Checklist
In this cycle, researcher‘s mentor also observed and recorded her
observation on the checklist given prior to commencing the cycle. From that list
(Appendix B-2) she agreed that 90% (out of 26 students, equals 23 students) were
listening and doing instruction given by the researcher during the session. The
students‘ eyes were on the researcher. She also agreed that the students raised
their hands when going to the toilet. There were another constrain found in this
instrument. The researcher‘s mentor gave check mark on the no-disturbing-friend
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list, but gave a small note which stated that there were some students disturbed
their friends.
4.3.3.4 Teacher Educator’s Observation Sheet
Beside the researcher‘s mentor, the teacher educator was also observing
the researcher in this second cycle. From the observation sheet, it was found that
the procedures of implementing the reward and punishment occurred in the action
(Appendix C-3). It was said that the researcher informed the students that at the
end of the session, those who showed apropriate behavior and followed the
instruction were going to get asticker. It was also stated in the proccess, the
students were reminded about how to behave according to the rules. There were
praise and appreciation by positive comments given. At the end of the session, the
sticker was given to those who had shown appropriate behavior and being
cooperative during the teaching learning proccess. Overall, it was stated that the
researcher was able to manage the class well.
The classroom atmosphere was positive, calm, and conducive for learning
but there were several students who did walked out of the carpet and at the end of
the session, all the students sat down on the carpet. The main activity used a big
pail of plastic balls in which the students were enggaged in hands-on activities. It
was stated that the researcher reminded the students about the rule of raising hand.
It implisitly said that there was student who wanted to go to the toilet. Lastly, a
good relationship was built between the researcher and the students.
4.3.3.5 Researcher’s Journal Reflection
From the researcher‘s journal reflection view all procedures of
implementing reward and punishment were also occurred (Appendix D-5).About
the students‘ behavior, the target behavior which was doing the opposite of the
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instruction was evident to one student only. Student A walked around the
classroom when the students were asked to sit down on the carpet. The students
indeed walked out of the carpet when they were asked to take the balls from the
pail. Someof the students did not take the balls in the amount as it was instructed
and some others played the balls with friends.They did off task in the middle of
the activity, but it did not take so long since the students‘ attention could be
gathered soon after the next instruction was given.
4.3.4 Reflection
As in the previous cycle, a reflection upon this second cycle was made
pinpointed to several strengths and weaknesses as well as valuable action plan to a
better improvement. There were three strengths. First, the explanation about the
rationale of the first rule was a good idea to imply the teaching value of
obedienceand its connection to others‘ feeling. Second, the existence of concrete
reward and punishment in the classroom avoided the inconsistency, bribes, and
threats when dealing with disruptive behaviors. Third, all the students met the
objective such as able to count until three using different concrete objects such as
balls, duck pictures, stars and fingers.
There are always weaknesses that go along with the strenths. The first one
was about the main activity. It seemed that some students were playing the balls
with their friends. Actually, it was not a big deal, since the next instruction was
giving immediately and the students‘ attention could be redirected to the
researcher. The second weakness was still the same as the first cycle, which was
about the instrument used. The mentor‘s checklist gave an inconsistent result.
Looking at this weakness, some action plan for further improvement was
composed. First, it is important for the researcher to have a clear instruction
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before, in the middle and after the activity, especially in dealing with concrete
materials. Thus, the students kept aware of what they need to do now and next.
Second, it would be better to make a more detail instrument so that the data result
could be more precise.
4.3.5 Analysis and Discussions
Compared to cycle one, the planning stage of the cycle two were mostly
the same. They were, preparing the rules for the session, using the star sticker as
the stimuli for the reward and punishment as well as using skills in making the
star stickers to be effective in the implementation as the reward and punishment.
These steps based on Arends‘ principle (2008, 197) of designing reward and
punishment in the classroom, which were: (1) identify the desired behavior, (2)
identify the stimuli that effective, and (3) use skill in using the reinforcer to
support the desired behavior.
In the action stage, compared to the first cycle, there were several
similarities and differences found in this second cycle. The similiarties were about
the steps of implementing the reward and the punishment in the classroom, as
summarized in Chapter III. Firstly, the rules were explained in the beginning of
the session, so that the students knew the expectation sooner and they could
regulate their behavior for the rest of the session. It was in agreement with
Cangelosi (2004, p. 128) who stated that the sooner students know about
standards (rules)and procedures, the more time they will have to practice
following them. Secondly, the reward and punishment system was explained after
the rules (Arends, 2008, p. 200). Thirdly, consistency was evident by giving the
punishment once the offense occured and after three times name-calling, and
giving the reward at the end of the session for all who followed the rules as what
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was informed to the students before. This was fulfilling Arends‘ statement (2008,
p. 200) which stated, reward and punishment will only work well when it is
applied consistently. Fourtly, during the session, social encouragement was given
to maintain the desirable behavior as Elizar and Rusdinal (2005, p. 168) said that,
in giving rewards, teacher can balance it with giving social encouragement.
The different was, if the first cycle, the only rule that was explained about
its rationale behind was the second rule. In the second cycle, the explanation
about the rationale behind the first rule was done.The students were taught about
the connection between their obedience and God‘s and the teacher‘s feeling.
Besides, the students were also told that their contribution on learning beneficial
to themselves. By explaining the rationale behind the rule, it was expected that the
students could regulate their behavior not only for the reward. As Cangelosi
(2004, p. 123) stated that purposefully stated standards (rules) appeal to the
common sense of students and lead them to be thoughtful about their behaviors.
Besides, if the first cycle, the punishment was to be not given the star
sticker, in this second cycle, it turned into taking away the star sticker. The aimed
of emphasizing this punishment value was to attract the students attention about
their inappropriate behavior that were addressed. This idea was in accordance
with Robinson‘s statement (1992, p. 161) that said, the core of punishment is to
attract child‘s attention so that he knows that his attitudes are unacceptable in the
society. For taking away one star was more attracting than just telling that they
did not get the star. Moreover, the existence of the concrete punishement caused
students realize the consequence of their behavior was to be considered seriously.
This was to be a response to Djamarah‘s statement (2005, p. 206-207) about the
aim of pedagogical or educational punishment in which able to make student feel
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as a real grief or suffering so that student will regret and feel that he loses the love
of his teacher for a moment. The effectiveness was seen from the side of the
offendee. She cried and whimpered to get the star while in the first cycle she was
just being ignorance.
In the observation stage, alike with the first cycle there were four proofs
that recorded the implementation of the reward and punishment in learning
number three concept such as lesson plan, mentor‘s feedback, teacher educator‘s
observation sheet, and researcher‘s journal reflection. According to the data, all
the procedures of implementing reward and punishment were done in this second
cycle. If the first cycle there was only the second rule that was followed by the
explanation of the rationale behind, this second cycle the explanation of the
rationale behind the first rule was delivered by the researcher.
Mentor‘s checklist, teacher educator‘s observation sheet and researcher‘s
journal reflection recorded data result of implementing the reward and
punishment in improving the classroom discipline in learning number three
concept. Overall, it was found that in this second cycle, combined reward and
punishment was effective in improving the classroom discipline up to 96%.In its
limitation, the mentor‘s checklist showed that 90% of the students followed the
instructions given which were ―take three balls‖, ―throw the balls one by one‖,
―make number three in the air‖,―sit down on the carpet‖, ―stand up‖, and so on.
She also agreed that the students paid attention during the session. The
researcher‘s journal reflection described that some students did not follow the
researcher‘s instruction in terms of taking the amount of the plastic balls. The
minor off-task behavior which was played with the balls occured for a second
before the researcher gave the next instruction. The off-task behavior that was to
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be the behavior target was one student who did not follow the instruction about
sitting on the carpet.The teacher educator‘s observation sheet stated thatseveral
students walked out of the carpet, even though at the end of the session all of the
students sat down on the carpet. These statements actually needed more
explanation. It was true that the students walked out of the carpet when taking the
balls, but as soon as they got the balls, they sat down back on the carpet. Since in
the middle of the session, all of the students were allowed to walk out of the
carpet to take the balls from the big pail and it inevitable that the students played
with the objects. However, students moreover in the very young age tended to
play whenever they were allowed to deal with the concrete objects. As long as
when the next instruction was given, the students could refocus on learning, this
situation did not count as a discipline problem.
If in the first cycle, the mentor checklist gave a check mark on the non-
exist indicator which was about raising-hand, in this second cycle, the mentor
checklistgave check mark on the statement that stated that there was no student
who disturbed friends but with a little addition note which stated that there was
few of the students who disturbed friends. However, disturbing friends were not
evident on other instruments, not the reflection journal, nor the teacher educator‘s
observation sheet. Even, the teacher educator‘s observation sheet even stated that
the classroom was positive, calm, and condusive for learning. Thus, the it could
be concluded that statement of no disturbing friend that was checked by the
researcher‘s mentorwas counted as another classroom indicator that was achieved
by the preschoolers. Lastly, the mentor‘s checklist recorded that, in this cycle the
students had shown that they begun to raise hand when going to the toilet.It was
also confirmed by researcher‘s journal reflection. Whereas, in the teacher
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educator‘s observation sheet confirmed it implicitely. It was written that the
researcher reminded about the rules of raising hand. It wassuspected to be
happened when a student asked permission to go to the toilet. The student was
reminded to raise her hand first then so that she was allowed to go.
All was done as planned. The steps of implementing the effective reward
and punishment, as seen in Chapter two, were completely conducted added by
some improvements seemed to have the effectof increasing the percentage of the
classroom discipline. In the first cycle there were only 90% of the students that
showed three of the four classroom discipline‘s indicators but in this second cycle,
it increased became 96% (25 students) of the students covered up all of the four
indicators.Student A stillbroke the rule. It was acceptable because, as what had
been discussed firstly in the observation stage of the first cycle, this student was
treated like an adulthood by her parents. When showing disrespectful attitude, she
was rarely being reprimand. Rather, she was just told that her attitude was
unacceptable. Nevertheless, Kohlberg (as cited in Riyanto & Handoko, 2004, p.
22) had stated that the moral awareness of children in the preschoolers depends on
adult given consequence. The Scripture has also mentioned God‘s command to be
taught repeatedly to the children (Deuteronomy 11:19). It means that the young
children still need clear guidance and direction that help them understand what is
regarded as acceptable and unacceptable behavior or attitude. Student A was not
accustomed to see that her behavior was unacceptable, since there was no clear
consequence that followed after his behavior.
In the main activity, indeed, some of the students were off-task for a few
second. However, when they were given the next instruction, they followed.
Hence, the emphasize of implementing this reward and punishment as the ―rod
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and stuff‖ for the students to be in the ―right path‖ (Van Brummelen, 2009, p.
102) was actually evident. When the students were given the next instruction, they
remembered that it was part of the rules and there must be a consequence for
following or not following them. The reward and punishment system itself was
not aimed to have all the things be on the researcher‘s control, but it was to be the
boundaries for the students to be kept on track. However, it was also to be a
concern for the researcher to establish clear instruction before, in the middle, and
after the activities, especially when the activity dealed with concrete materials.
For a good lesson structure was also have a great influence in maintaining the
students to be in the right path.
Since the standard of this research which was 100% of the students could
not attain each of the classroom discipline‘s indicators such as (1) follow
teacher‘s instruction, (2) eyes on the teacher (3) no disturbing friends, (4) raise
hand when going outside of the classroom, it could be concluded that this the
implementation of reward and punishment in the preschoolers could increase most
of the students discipline (96%) but not perfectly (100%).
According to Thompson, the basic characteristics of well-discipline
classroom were:
1) students and teacher know and understand the rules and procedures that guide the
entire class;
2) the focus is on learning and cooperative behavior
3) there is a persistent tone of mutual respect and even affection among students and
between students and their teacher.
However, as most of the students more became more like those characteristics,it
could be said that this classroom had truly improved its discipline. It was true
about Hurlock‘s statement (1999, p. 401-402) that said, children who discover
that rewards always follow approved behavior but punishments always follow
forbidden behavior will have a far stronger desire to avoid forbidden acts and to
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engage in approved acts than they would have if they were uncertain about how
these acts would be treated.
The time was too short to view the permanent result of the students‘
discipline, however, at least the students experience the discipline condition in the
classroom in which the students learn that their what was regarding as acceptable
and unacceptable in the classroom and they were supported to behave as the
acceptable behavior. As Van Brummelen said (1998, p. 71), when the rules and its
consequence are reinforced consistently, we are providing fences within which we
and our students live and learn and make decisions. This control now likely comes
from the teacher, but then, they have them in their mindset. Discipline may now
come from outer authority, but then the students will have self-discipline to live a
holy life and to role their calling among the community. Thus, sanctification work
to transform the students to be Christ-like who is full of love, self-control,
responsible, obedience and also knowledgeable is occured.
Finally yet importantly, the main goal of reward and punishment is not for
students to pursue the prize, but to confirm themthattheyhad done things right or
wrong. It is an opportunity to redirect students: to strive against sin, to overcome
weakness, to build inner peace and righteousness, and to partake in the holiness of
God (Hebrews 12).
4.4 The Comparison of Cycle One and Cycle Two
The table below shows each cycle‘s steps so that the difference for each
would be visible and more obvious.
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Table 4. 1The Comparison of Cycle One and Cycle Two
Stages Cycle One Cycle Two Conclusion
Planning Preparing the rules,
the stickers, and
the Bintangku
poster for the
reward and
punishment
system.
1) Planning to
explain the
rationale behind
the first ruleto
enact the initial
plan.
2) Planning to enact
the initial plan.
1) Explaining the
rationale of the rule
increased the
appreciaton of the
importance of the
rule.
2) Tangible
punishment was
more effective to
pull the students‘
attention that their
behavior was
unacceptable.
Action Rewards and
punishment
system was
implemented
incompletely.
All plans were
implemented
Students‘ awareness
about the unacceptable
behavior increased
when the punishment
given neither trivia nor
harsh.
Observation 1) 90% of the
students
attained three
indicators.
2) Three students
broke the
rules.
1) 96% of the
students attained
all four indicators.
2) One student broke
the rules
The preschoolers‘
classroom discipline
increased.
Reflection 1) The rationale
behind the first
rule was not
explained
2) The reward
and
punishment
system was
not enacted as
it was planned.
1) Explaining the
rationale behind a
rule helped the
students to
regulate their
behavior
according to the
rule.
1) The rationale
behind each rules
affected the
effectiveness of the
reward and
punishment system.
2) Combined reward
and punishment
could improve the
preschool‘s
classroom discipline
in both musik and
number lesson but
not perfectly.
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CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This last chapter discusses about the conclusions of the research and the
recommendations for better research and teaching-learning in the future. The
conclusion is based on discussion and analysis of the data results. The
recommendations were compiled from the reflections of strengths and weaknesses
found in this research.
5.1 Conclusions
The data results show that the implementation of reward and punishment
could improve most of the preschoolers‘ classroom discipline (96%) in music and
number lessons but not perfectly (100%). The mentor‘s checklist stated that 90% of
the 26 students were listening and following the instructions given by the researcher
during the session. The students‘ eyes were on the researcher. Students did not disturb
their friends. The students started to raise hands when they wanted to ask to go to the
toilet.
The teacher educator‘s observation sheet stated that the classroom atmosphere
was positive, calm, and conducive for learning. Even though there were several
students who did not sit on the carpet in the middle of the activity, but at the end of
the session, all of the students sat down on the carpet following the researcher‘s
instructions. It was stated that the researcher reminded the students about the rule of
raising their hands. It implicitly said that there were students who wanted to go to the
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toilet. Lastly, it was stated that a better relationship was built between the researcher
and the students.
From the researcher‘s journal reflection, the target behavior which was doing
the opposite of the instructions was evident in only one student. Student A walked
around the classroom when the students were asked to sit down on the carpet. The
students indeed walked out of the carpet when they were asked to take the balls from
the pail. Some of the students did not take the balls in the amount aswas instructed
and some others played with the balls with friends.However, these behaviors were
counted as a discipline problem target since the students‘ attention could begathered
soon after the next instruction was given. It was also stated that one student raised her
hand when she wanted to go to the toilet.
From all of these instruments, it could be simply said that the 96% of the
students (25 students) had attained the four indicators of the preschoolers‘ classroom
discipline. The percentage had not reached the standard of this study which was
100%.
5.2 Recommendations
Several points below are recommendations for those who could possibly take
benefit in this research:
5.2.1 For teachers:
a) Classroom discipline should be maintained and evaluated frequently so that
the students‘ moral awareness could develop well.
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b) When implementing a reward and punishment system, teachers should be
consistent; what was said must be enacted. So that, the students may learn to
respect the rules as well as the authority.
c) Teachers should also explain the rationale behind the rules emphasizing the
value of obedience and the connection between the students‘ behavior and
others‘ feeling.
d) Keep on the mind that reward and punishment work as a consequence that
comes up after behaviors; Neither as a bribe nor to frighten the students. It is
for the sake of love not the sake of power. For ―love is patient, love is kind,...
It is not rude; not self-seeking, not easily angered and it keeps no record of
wrongs (I Corinthians 13:4-5).‖
e) Teachers should consider the most effective stimuli that is going to be used as
the reward and the punishment.
5.2.2 For the researcher:
a) The researcher should improve her skills in implementing reward and
punishment in the classroom bylearning from her strengths and weaknesses.
b) The researcher should develop more disciplinary tecniques in different classes
or other school districts.
c) The researcher should make the instruments in detail so that the results could
be more precise.
d) The most importantly to be remembered, the researcher should be never tired
in training her students—wherever she is placed to be teaching—to develop
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their self-discipline, as it is a provision for their life. As in Proverbs 2:7 it was
stated that, ―God gives helpful advice to everyone who obeys him and
protects all of those who live as they should.‖
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX A Lesson Plans & Mentor‘s Feedback
APPENDIX B Mentor‘s Checklists
APPENDIX C Teacher Educator‘s Observation Sheets
APPENDIX D Journal Reflections
APPENDIX E Photographs
APPENDIX F Christian Education Transformational Reflection Journal
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APPENDIX A: Lesson Plans & Mentor’s Feedback
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A-1 Lesson Plan of Cycle One
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A-2 Mentor’s Feedback of Cycle One
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A-3 Lesson Plan of Cycle Two
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A-4 Mentor’s Feedback of Cycle Two
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APPENDIX B: Mentor’s Checklists
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B-1 Mentor’s Checklist of Cycle One
B-2 Mentor Checlist of Cycle Two
*Correction: There was no absent students in both cycles.
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APPENDIX C: Teacher Educator’s Observation Sheets
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C-1 Teacher Educator’s Observation Sheet of Precycle
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C-2 Teacher Educator’s Observation Sheet of Cycle One
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C-3 Teacher Educator’s Observation Sheet of Cycle Two
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APPENDIX D: Journal Reflections
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D-1 Journal Reflection July 26, 2011
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D-2 Journal Reflection August 19, 2011
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D-3 Journal Reflection September 26, 2011
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D-4 Journal Reflection November 3, 2011
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D-5 Journal Reflection November 4, 2011
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APPENDIX E: Photographs
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E-1 Bintangku Poster for Boys
E-1 Bintangku Poster for Girls
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APPENDIX F: Christian Education Transformational Reflection Journal
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F-1 Christian Education Transformational Journal Reflection of Cycle One
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boys to come up to the front and showed us their best voice. I am very glad to see
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F-2 Christian Education Transformational Reflection Journal of Cycle Two
their friend. So that I came back to the front and instructed them altogether counted the ball they
were holding one to three. After that, I asked them to throw up their balls one by one