Introduction Classroom management refers to a process that teachers guarantee the classroom instruction, the order, the effectiveness,

deal with some matters, and arrange the time and space, and some other factors (Classroom Management, 2011). It enables the teacher to ensure appropriate learner participation, and create learning environment that helps to motivate learners to study. A good teacher should be mastered in the skills associated with effective classroom management which can only acquired through practice, feedback, and a willingness to learn from mistakes. These skills require teachers to understand students not only in their physical aspect, but teachers need to be aware of students emotion so that their positive behaviour can be maintained during lessons. According to Kizlik (2012), personal experience and research indicate that many beginning teachers have difficulty effectively managing their classrooms. One of the ways to help new teachers to gain understanding of what works and what doesn't work in managing classrooms and the behaviour of students is by practicing the right model of discipline in order to control students behaviour during teaching-learning process. This essay will discuss to the extent whether Ms Atista has effectively applied different approaches of discipline model in her classroom in a case study entitled The Rule Breaker. I will further specified my discussion based on the two models that have been used by Ms Atista in her teaching which are Canters and Kounins Discipline Models and relate one of the model to the context of Malaysian classroom.

Application of Canters Discipline Model Canters Model of Discipline has been used a lot in Ms Atistas class. One of the obvious examples can be seen when Ms Atista discusses the class rules with her students for the first ten minutes of their everyday lesson. It was the beginning of the school year and Ms Atista wants to ensure that all students are aware of the class rules as well as the consequences for breaking the rules. Instead of reviewing the rules, it is stated in the extract that Ms Atista also has come up with examples of how each rule can be broken so that the students are informed of what they will get when they exhibit the expected behaviour or misbehave. It is in accordance to the Canters Model which is stated by Myint Swe Khine et al. (2005), who suggest that a classroom discipline plan allows teachers to clarify behaviours which are expected from the students and explain what the consequences would be if they exhibit the clarified behaviour. Thus, the rules that have been set up can help teachers to establish a conducive classroom environment in which students are alert about their duty and know how to maintain a good behaviour, at the same time reduce discipline problem. The application of Canters Model in Ms Atistas classroom can be seen in the extract when she asks her students what is the rule number three. In this incident, Harrison has excitedly answered the question without raising his hand. In an assertive way, Ms Atista reminds him that he has broken the class rule for not raising hand and answer the question without waiting for his name being called. After reminding him, Harrison quickly raises his hand and waiting for Ms Atistas permission to answer the question. It shows that Ms Atista manages to control his behaviour through the rules planned. After the incident, Ms Atista asks another question to her students about the
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importance of rule number four. Erin, who has seen Harrison being reprimanded for not raising hand, quickly raises her hand and wait until Ms Atista motions her to speak for answering question. In the incident, I certain that by applying Canters Model of assertiveness, Harrison would less likely to repeat the same behaviour and at the same time, the model also works to the class as a whole. Therefore, I suppose Ms Atista has effectively managed her classroom using Canters Model. In the context of Malaysian classroom, I am of the opinion that Canters Model is applicable to a certain extent. According to a study by Soleiman et al. (2011), they found that the control of the students behavior is a shared responsibility for both the students and the teacher. In accordance to the Canters Model, it seems that it is applic able in Malaysian classroom where students can sit together with teachers to decide on the class rules so that students would feel like they are sharing the same responsibility like their teacher. Nevertheless, this model also might not be effective to be applied in Malaysian classroom. That is because based on another study done by Azizi Yahaya et al. (2009), it is found that some respondents agreed that if the teachers is being firm towards their wrong doings, it caused the students to against the teachers. Thus, Canters Model of assertiveness is not very suitable to be applied in Malaysian classroom as most of the Malaysian like to be treated in a soft way.

Application of Kounins Discipline Model Ms Atista also has applied Kounins Model of Discipline in her teaching. In this case, Ms Atista has been practicing Kounins Model a few times during the lesson. One clear evident of her application of the model can be seen when she practice withitness during the lesson. According to Pressman (2008), withitness is a term created by Kounin to describe the teachers awareness of what is going on in all parts of the classroom at all times. From the excerpt, withitness is shown when the class is working on their reading lesson. While Ms Atista is working with one group, she notices that a problem is beginning in the group that is working with Kona, her aide. This is shows that Ms Atista is aware of what is happening in the classroom even though she is working with the other group of students. Ms Atista indirectly sends a clear message that communicates to the students that she sees that they are not working but something else is happening. With such awareness, Ms Atista can anticipate and often stop discipline problems in the classroom before they spread. Hence, I can infer that Ms Atista has practiced withitness effectively in the lesson. Besides withitness, Ms Atista also adapts another strategy in Kounins Model which is overlapping. Overlapping based on Myint Swe Khine et al. (2005), is the ability to deal with more than one situation simultaneously in the classroom. Overlapping strategy used by Ms Atista can be found in the extract right after she notices that a problem is beginning in the group that is working with Kona. In order to prevent her group from any misbehaviour while she moves to Konas group, Ms Atista asks Harrison

to continue reading and instructs the rest of the group to follow in the order they have been reading until she returns. In this situation, Ms Atista leaves her group with a task that has to be completed while she is not around. I believe that if Ms Atista does not assign her group to complete the reading while she is with Konas group, the students would be restless and do not know what they suppose to do which later can lead to misbehaviour. Therefore, it is clearly illustrated that Ms Atista is manage to practice overlapping to a certain extent in her lesson when she is able to do multiple task at one time. However, Ms Atista might not be very effective in practicing overlapping strategy in Kounins Model in certain situation. It is shown when Ms Atista was discussing about Rule Number 5 with the class when she walked over to Ben to motion him to join the discussion. From the incident, it is my opinion that Ms Atista does not manage classroom discipline as well as she could have. It is because she stops the discussion leaving the students to themselves while she walks over to the time-out area to deal with Ben. The incident shows that Ms Atista is lacking in her ability to overlap. By leaving the students to themselves, there would a big probability for the students to misbehave. Instead of stopping the discussion, she should have let the discussion continue so that students can have something to do or else, they would easily be distracted which further can lead to misbehaviour.

Conclusion From the arguments that have been stated above, it is proven that Ms Atista has successfully applied Canters and Kounins Model of Discipline in her teaching to a certain extent. In certain situation, Ms Atista has effectively controlled her students behaviour using the models stated. For example, she manages to handle multiple tasks during the learning session which is one of the qualities a teacher should have. On the other hand, Ms Atista might not be very effective in applying those models due to certain reason. She might be overlooked to certain area during the lesson which leads to some ineffectiveness in applying the model. Besides, Ms Atista also might be a little bit careless in her teaching as there are a lot to be handled in the classroom.

References: Myint Swe Khine, Lourdusamy, A., Quek, C.L. & Wong, F.L. (Eds). (2005). Classroom management. Singapore: Pearson Prentice Hall. Classroom Management, (2011). Retrieve March 10,2013 at www.sagepub.com/upmdata/9330_Bosch_Chapter_1.pdf Kizlik, B. Management of Student Conduct (2012, June 22). Retrieved March 10, 2013, from http://www.adprima.com/managing.htm Pressman, B. (2008). Withitness in the Classroom Retrieved March 10, 2013, from McGraw-Hill Professional: http://www.education.com/reference/article/using-xrayvision-substitute-teacher/ Soleiman, A. S. (2011). Teachers Emotional Intelligence and Its Relation with Classroom. J Psychology , 95-102. Azizi Yahaya, Jamaludin Ramli, Shahrin Hashim, Raja Roslan & Noordin Yahaya. (2009). Discipline problem among students in Johor Bahru. European Journal of Social Sciences, 659-675.