Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction and Rationale

Learning is highly effective inside a conducive classroom. This is the reason why

teachers are trying their very best to provide the most conducive learning environment for their

students. And just like parents to their children, these teachers also impose discipline to maintain

good learning outcomes. This is necessary especially to those misbehaving students because the

behavior of students largely contribute to the effectiveness of the teacher and the students as

well. If the teacher is distracted due to students’ misbehavior, the quality of teaching and

learning is affected. When students’ behavior goes off track, the teacher will then find some

solutions to deal with them. Scott (2011) said that misbehavior in school can be harmful to the

individual student since it interferes with learning, decreases the chance of graduation, or reduces

the likelihood of entering or completing post-high school education. Misbehavior is harmful to

teachers and the students if it interrupts instruction and the normal functioning of classroom; it

can even cause some troubles on both teachers and students. It is harmful to school if it creates

an atmosphere of discomfort or fear or if administrators spend disproportionate amounts of time

dealing with discipline problems.

Classroom misbehavior poses a big challenge not only to teachers but to school guidance

counselors as well. Finding the reasons or causes of students’ misbehavior is the main purpose of

this study because by knowing the causes, an appropriate action could be determined.
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At ACLC College, Gapan Campus, students’ academic status is closely monitored by

their respective class advisers as part of the bases of their enrollment and retention program and

at the same time fulfilling their obligations as parents to their students in their second home.

Any classroom misbehavior is reported to the researcher’s office being the school’s guidance

counselor. Counseling starts with establishing good relationship with the students to build their

trusts and confidence to the guidance counselor. The guidance counselor tries to understand the

students’ behavior fully by gathering information through serious talks with the students, the use

of students’ anecdotal records, discussions with the subject teachers, and even with the parents or

guardians.

The most commonly reported classroom misbehaviors among college students at ACLC

are absenteeism, cutting classes and coming to classes late. After they are being reported, they

are asked to see the guidance counselor for some informal talks. They receive some warnings

and then followed up with their respective instructors. A few of them improve but majority seem

to be unaffected. In such cases, their guardians are contacted. Upon learning their children’s

performance in school, some of the parents would stop their children from continuing their

education while some of them would just warn their children. Those who receive warnings are

closely monitored by their class advisers who in turn inform their parents if they do not attend

their classes.

Another behavioral problem at ACLC College, Gapan is students speaking out of turn

that causes destructions among their classmates and instructors. Most of them belong to the

same section and are friends. They seem to influence each other. What their instructors do is to

reprimand them initially and if they do not stop, they are referred to the guidance counselor. At

the guidance office, they are asked to explain why they behave in such ways. When they are
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brought to the guidance office, their problems are assessed through the use of their records filed

in the office such as psychological tests, anecdotal records, autobiography, attendance

monitoring forms submitted by instructors and the like. Goals are set during the counseling

sessions, then the guidance counselor evaluates them periodically by looking at indicators of

improvement. The succeeding referrals of the teachers are used to track or evaluate their

improvements. If there is no improvement, a simple individual guidance plan is prepared by the

guidance counselor which involves the parents, the teachers, and the guidance counselor. These

people regularly monitor the misbehaving students, but no significant improvements have been

observed. This prompted the researcher to formally conduct an investigation on the problem as

it results to class distractions and affects the academic achievement particularly of the

misbehaving students. The researcher needs to dig deeply into the root causes of the problem to

have a valid or authentic basis in developing a guidance plan which will realistically address the

students’ misbehavior in classes.

The Related Literature

The researcher read and reviewed literature from books, articles and journals which gave

deeper insights into the problem. They are presented by topics.

Patterns of home and school behavior problems in rural and urban settings.

Psychol (2009) cited some recent studies which show that in general, aggressive behavior at

home is associated with low socioeconomic status, marital discord and instability, insularity and

single-parent status. Families in both rural and urban settings may experience these types of

adversity. Rates of unemployment, low educational attainment, insularity, marital discord and

economic stress occur at equivalent rates in rural and urban settings. To the extent that these
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contextual factors increase risk for the development of child behavior problems at home, one

would expect few rural/urban differences in home-based behavior problems.

In contrast, rural and urban communities may be quite different when the context of the

school is considered. That is, school-based behavior problems appear fostered by classrooms that

contain many aggressive children, perhaps because aggressive behavior is more likely to be

viewed as acceptable by peers. Teachers are more likely to find it difficult to manage aggression

effectively and suppress it consistently, and peers are more likely to react to aggression with

escalating negative chains of counter aggression. Although rural school districts face some

disadvantages when compared to urban districts, such as lower per-pupil school expenditures, a

narrower curriculum, and more poorly paid and less well-trained teachers, they are at an

advantage in terms of school characteristics associated with child aggression. Indeed, urban

schools report significantly more frequent and more severe violence than rural schools, even

when differences in socioeconomic and ethnic/racial status are controlled. The higher density of

children from disadvantaged backgrounds, the larger school size, and the use of ability tracking

may all contribute to urban classrooms containing high proportions of disruptive children, which

provide children with more peer exposure to deviant community models and negative peer

influence. Hence, children in urban settings may be at increased risk relative to rural children for

the development of child behavior problems at school. Correspondingly, the patterns of conduct

problem development may be different for children in rural and urban settings. Whereas children

in rural settings may be less likely to generalize home problem behaviors to the school setting,

urban children may be at increased risk for the initiation of deviant behaviors at school.

Gender differences in self-perceptions and academic outcomes : A study of African-

American high school students. According to Saunders, Davis, Williams and Williams (2004),
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African-American males and females experienced the school environment very differently.

Males were much more frequently behind in school for their age, typically had lower grades in

reading and conduct and were more likely to have failed. African-American males were also

much more likely than any other group of students to receive corporal punishment, to be

suspended and to be identified as behaviorally disordered. Behavior-disordered students were

usually separated from the general school population which led to their social isolation and

stigmatization.

These negative experiences are believed to contribute to African-American males

viewing school as hostile environment and feeling increasingly frustrated in their academic

efforts which often leads to academic alienation and disengagement. When academic

disengagement begins in elementary school, it is more difficult for these young men to be well

prepared for a more challenging high school curriculums putting them at risk for further failure

or drop out. There is also an associated loss on one’s academic ability and skills and overall

sense of self-worth.

By comparison, African-American females of all ages fared better in the classroom than

their male counterparts. They tend to have more positive experiences which increased their

confidence in their academic skill and abilities, enhanced their feelings of self-worth and

reinforced the potential for rewards from the school system. These more positive experiences

may be related to the fact that most elementary teachers are female. A group of female teachers

are more tolerant of and better able to handle girls’ behavior (and misbehavior) in a more

positive manner compared to that of boys.

The study by Poorfallah, et al. (June, 2014) investigated the difference between the types

and amount of student misbehaviors in adult and young EFL (English as a Foreign Language)
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learners' classes. Three EFL adult learners' classes and three young learners were observed

during this study. Additionally, 40 Iranian EFL teachers, out of which 20 were practicing

teaching in adult learners' classes and the other 20 in young learners' classes, responded to a

questionnaire investigating the intensity of different types of discipline problems in their EFL

classes. The results indicated that while distracting, activity-related misbehaviors, and

assessment-related problems were more common in young EFL classes and distracting, activity-

related and assessment-related misbehaviors were more prevalent in adult classes. A significant

difference was also found between the amount of discipline problems in young and adult learners

in the misbehavior types of 'talking out of turn', 'distracting noise', 'cheeky or impertinent

remarks', and 'forgetting learning materials' in which young learners' classes outnumbered adult

learners' classes. Meanwhile, adult learners' classes significantly surpassed young learners'

classes regarding the misbehavior type of 'cheating in exams' according to both observations and

teachers' point of view.

Bullying behavior. In an article published on August 26,2014, it stated that grades and

academic performance often suffer when a victim is bullied. Learning doesn’t happen

automatically for children, and being bullied or walking around school in fear makes it even

harder to pay attention in class. As a result, children often put their own safety first, and

school becomes a secondary priority. Grades drop, and then the child suffers complaints from

parents wondering why (Effects of Bullying in School).

Factors influencing classroom behavior/misbehavior. There are several

factors/conditions that make students behave properly or misbehave in classrooms. These are

given sufficient details in the following paragraphs.

Teachers’ support for students’ emotional well-being. Pössel (November 2013) cited

abundant researches which support the notion that teacher support has clear implications for

students’ emotional well-being. Wellbeing comprises positive and negative effects. Positive

effect is the extent to which a person typically feels positive emotions (e.g., enthusiastic, active,

and alert). Negative effect encompasses frequent negative feelings (e.g., distressed, angry,

nervous). Well-being is not only of subjective importance for students; negative effect is

associated with academic problems including reduced homework completion, less concentration

in class, fewer interactions with peers, poorer class attendance, and lower rates of post-secondary

degree attainment. To the contrary, positive effect in students towards school (e.g., school

liking, a sense of belonging) tends to be associated with higher classroom engagement and

academic achievement.

Unplanned pregnancy and break-up. The study of Nothandono (November, 2010) cited

that students with unplanned pregnancies were affected academically. Being pregnant when still

studying comes with many challenges and that includes University drop-out or poor performance

at the University. Tiffany, et al. (September 2012), on the other hand, wrote that a breakup

affects students' perceived academic performance including their concentration, homework and

test scores. 

Socioeconomic status. Attendance is an important factor in school success among

children and youth. Studies show that better attendance is related to higher academic

achievement for students of all backgrounds, but particularly for children with lower socio-

economic status. Beginning in kindergarten, students who attend school regularly score higher on

tests than their peers who are frequently absent.

In a study by Ekpo and Ajake (2013), they found out that the financial position of

students’ parents influenced their level of delinquency. The study also revealed that students

from low socio-economic parents were more delinquent than those from high socio-economic

status. The implication of this finding is that students’ delinquency is determined mostly by

financial position of student’s parents. In other words, students exhibit delinquent acts when

parents cannot meet their financial needs. When there is no hope for such needs being met by

parents, there is the tendency for students to look “elsewhere” to have their needs met.

It became a fact that financial status can really affect the students’ academic standing in

different ways. They may have enough capacity of learning but due to their situation their

performances are adversely affected because they became busy meeting their needs. The time

for their education is reduced and spent for other things instead. And another reason of their

poor academic standing is the attendance. More often, they do not attend their classes because of

lack of money.

Wrong career choice and being slow learners. According to Reddy (August 8th, 2008),

students who choose a major because it was expected or to please their parents are much more

likely to burn out by their junior year. Even if they have good study habits and a light activity

load, the draining effect of extrinsic motivation can build-up a terrible resentment toward school

work. Becoming an engineer because parents think the liberal arts are “soft” is a quick route to

mild student depression and falling grades.

Borah (November 2, 2013) said that in general, slow learning students exhibit some or

all of the following characteristics, depending on their age and degree of problems in acquiring

knowledge at school.
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 Slow learners are recurrently immature in their relations with others and do poorly in

school,

 They cannot do multifaceted or complex problems and work very slowly,

 They lose track of time and cannot convey what they have learned from one task to

another well,

 They do not easily master skills that are academic in nature, such as the times tables

or spelling rules, and

 They lack ability to have long-term goals; they live in the present, and so have

considerable problems with time management perhaps due to a short attention span and

poor concentration skills.

Parental involvement. A study published by North Carolina State University, Brigham

Young University and the University of California-Irvine reported that parental involvement —

checking homework, attending school meetings and events, discussing school activities at home

— has a more powerful influence on students’ academic performance than anything about the

school the students attend. So parents matter — a point made clear by decades of

research showing that a major part of the academic advantage held by children from affluent

families comes from the “concerted cultivation of children” as compared to the more laissez-

faire style of parenting common in working-class families. But this research also reveals

something else: that parents, of all backgrounds, don’t need to buy expensive educational toys or

digital devices for their kids in order to give them an edge. They don’t need to chauffeur their

offspring to enrichment classes or test-prep courses. What they need to do with their children is

much simpler: talk. (Paul, 2012).

Olson (2015) discussed that parenting styles can influence the kind of person a child

grows up, but beyond actions, the way parents simply think about their child can make an

impact. Researchers from Brigham Young University found a significant and often overlooked

flaw in the way parents express perceptions of their children. The results of their study,

published in the Journal of Family Psychology, encourage parents to stop comparing siblings to

one another before it causes a lifetime of harm. Parents' beliefs about their children, not just

their actual parenting, may influence who their children become. It's hard for parents to not

notice or think about differences between their children. It's only natural. But to help all children

succeed, parents should focus on recognizing the strengths of each of their children and be

careful about vocally making comparisons in front of them. By the time siblings grow up, the

ones who are thought of as smarter may begin to fulfill their perceived role. When parents

believe in their child, it takes the pressure off of them and places it on their closest competitor —

their brother or sister.

Effects of classroom misbehavior. Leslie (2008) reported that school misbehavior is

related to low academic achievement and dropping out of school. Students’ misbehavior at

school is potentially harmful to the individual student if it interferes with learning, interrupts

lessons for all students, wastes the teachers’ and students’ limited time in class and – which is

most alarming -- reduces the likelihood of students completing their high school education.

Misbehavior also harms teachers and their students because it interrupts classroom instruction. It

increases the teachers’ stress levels, diverts the teachers’ attention and thus negatively influences

the quality of teaching and learning and subsequently interferes with academic achievement and

success. In addition, misbehavior creates an atmosphere of discomfort, insecurity and fear, and
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school administrators are forced to spend a disproportionately high amount of time dealing with

discipline problems.

To synthesis, the previous studies delved with the many factors causing classroom

misbehavior, the forms of misbehavior and their effects on academic status of students. Some

behavior problems were hard to deal with resulting to disproportionate amount of time spent by

school authorities in trying to address them, yet no success stories had been written about their

actions. This is the gap that this study is trying to bridge. The researcher did not only attempt

to determine the causes of classroom misbehavior among college students in ACLC College,

Gapan. She also come-up with a Guidance Plan that would intensify her efforts as a guidance

counselor in the said College by involving the parents, the teachers and the students in the

process. This is what made this study distinct from the rest, not to mention the fact that this study

was carried out in a different locale using college students as the subjects and mixed approach as

the methodology.

Theoretical Framework

This study was anchored on the environmentalist or social learning theory of Bandura as

cited by Lipoff (2011). Environmentalist learning theory connotes that the child’s environment

shapes learning and behavior. It is also thought that behavior and learning are reactions to the

environment. This perspective encourages families, schools, and educators to understand that the

child develops and learns new skills in reaction to items she finds around her. Psychologists such

as Bandura and Rotter found through observational learning, that the young child will observe

and copy behaviors of others, leading to decision-making skills and development.

Personality represents an interaction of the individual with his or her environment. Along

with taking into consideration the individual’s reaction to the environment, the individual’s
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experience plays a role, too. The combination of the environment, the individual, and his/her

reaction encourages behavior and learning.

When the child is in an environment not conducive to learning, he/she will not learn to

his/her best abilities. When the environment is altered to encourage greater learning, his/her

educational opportunities increase. Whether in the home or classroom, creating an environment

conducive and supportive of learning aides in the young mind’s evolution to greater knowledge.

The researcher used the environmentalist or social learning theory as the anchor of this

investigation because of the same belief that the students’ environment is primarily responsible

for their classroom misbehavior, with probably a few behavior-inducers.

Conceptual Framework

Shown in Figure 1 shows the factors that are believed to have triggered classroom

misbehavior (e.g. classroom condition, teachers’ teaching styles, teachers’ attitude, peers, nature

of class activities, nature of subject matter) which could be induced by some socio-demographic

factors such as age, gender, monthly family income, areas of residence. These socio-

demographic factors is in turn believed to some correlations with the students’ academic

performance. To determine the extent of interplay of these different conditions or factors, the

following processes were employed: conducting a survey using a survey questionnaire for the

socio-demographic of the participant students, observations and interviews with the help of a

tape recorder and an interview guide to get qualitative descriptions (themes) that would tell

whether or not such factors as classroom condition, teachers’ teaching styles, teachers’ attitude,

peers, nature of class activities, nature of subject matter had triggered classroom misbehavior.

Based on the results of the analysis, a Guidance Plan was designed for college students of ACLC

College, Gapan Branch.

INPUT
PROCESS
OOOO
Profile of student-participants as to:
 Data Collection using: OUTPUT
*age -Survey
Academic Questionnaire
*gender
Performance -Classroom
*monthly family Observations
income Proposed
-Interviews
Guidance Plan
*areas of residence  Analysis and for college
 Interpretation of students of
 Common behavior problems in the Qualitative and ACLC College
classrooms Quantitative Data
 Theme Generation
 School experiences of students
reported to have behavioral problems in
the classrooms

Figure 1 Research Paradigm

Statement of the Problem and Hypothesis

This study is aimed at determining the causes of classroom misbehavior of college

students in ACLC College, Gapan Campus. Specifically, it sought answers to the following

questions:

1. How may the socio-demographic profile of the reported misbehaving students be

described in terms of:

1.1 age,

1.2 gender,

1.3 monthly family income,

1.4 areas of residence, and

1.5 academic performance?

2. Is academic performance of the misbehaving students correlated with such socio-

demographic factors as:

2.1 age,

2.2 gender,

2.3 monthly family income, and

2.4 areas of residence?

3. What common classroom behavior problems have been observed among the

misbehaved-students?

4. How may the school experiences of the reported cases of misbehavior be described?

5. How may the guidance plan for college students be developed/formulated based on

the findings the study?

The null hypothesis that was tested was: Academic performance of misbehaving students

is not correlated with such socio-demographic factors as:

 age,

 gender,

 monthly family income, and

 areas of residence.

Rejection of the null hypothesis would mean acceptance of the alternative hypothesis

stated as: Academic performance of misbehaving students is correlated with such socio-

demographic factors as:

 age,

 gender,

 monthly family income, and

 areas of residence.

Significance of the Study

This implementation of guidance plan, if properly done, will be beneficial to the

Students. The guidance plan, if properly implemented by the guidance counselor, may

improve the students’ class behavior which may eventually improve their academic

performances. Number of students struggling with their social, emotional, and academic

problems may diminish as they enhance their personality and build their self-confidence.

Parents. The implementation of the guidance plan will encourage active partnership

with parents and guardians for more effective students’ learning. They will be regularly

provided with data or information on the progress or problems of their children in order to get

their active involvement.

Teachers. The guidance plan provides better collaboration with the guidance counselor

and the teachers in addressing the problems or needs of the students. If they become aware of

the causes of misbehavior and the specific ways in addressing behavioral problems of students,

there may be peace and quiet in their respective classrooms, and their teaching may become

more rewarding.

School administrator. Implementation of any plan or program in school needs

administrative support. With administrative support, this guidance plan may be well carried out,

and the school will benefit in terms of having a peaceful and safe campus and good performing

students.

Guidance counselor. The guidance plan provides the guidance counselor specific steps

and tasks to do to improve students’ behavior. With the proper implementation of the plan, she
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will be greatly instrumental in improving not only the students’ behavior but their academic

performance as well.

Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This study was delimited to determining the causes of classroom misbehavior of students

in ACLC College, Gapan Branch to have a basis in enhancing the guidance plan of the school.

Classroom misbehavior focused on cutting classes or being late, absenteeism, leaving their seats

during classes, speaking out of turn which disrupts instruction, and cheating .

The participants of the study were the college students identified to have incurred three

classroom misbehavior offenses as recorded in the school’s guidance office and were enrolled

during the school year 2015-2016. Fifty misbehaving students were considered for the

quantitative method, and from this number,15 students were chosen for the qualitative

component of this study. Their academic performance was determined based on the average

grades in all subjects in their previous year level, specifically, the last two semesters of their stay

at ACLC College, Gapan. This study was conducted during the middle part of the first semester-

August and September, 2015.

Definition of Terms

For ease in understanding, the following terms are defined:

Academic performance. It is the result of education after series of hard work in studies

which can be determined by the results of examinations, quizzes, class standings and other

school-related activities during the previous two semesters of their enrollment (Steinmayr, 2015).
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In this study, academic performance refers to the average grades of each participant in all

his/her subjects in the last year two semesters of his/her stay in ACLC College. They are

computed by getting the summation of the product of each subject grade and corresponding unit,

then dividing it by the total number of units earned. The grade description is based on the

grading system of ACLC College.

Classroom misbehavior. It is defined as a) cutting class or being late, b.) absenteeism,

c) leaving their seats during classes, d) speaking out of turn which disrupts instruction, and

e)cheating . It is also termed indiscipline ( Finn, Fish & Scott, 2008). Absenteeism is the habit

of not attending classes in consecutive or non-consecutive times; cheating is trying to achieve

something good by means of dishonesty like peeping answers from seatmates or glancing at the

subject notes during test activities; cutting class is not completing the subject schedule within

the day; a student may attend one or two subjects but not in others; leaving their seats during

classes is transferring from one seat to another or leaving their seats and going out of the

classroom during class hours; and speaking out of turn means doing much talking about

irrelevant matters that can cause classroom distraction during discussion of lessons.

Guidance plan. This is a detailed guide that will help the guidance counselor improve

her guidance and counseling services to resolve different behavior problems in school, and

thereby improve the academic performance of students.

Peer facilitator. According to Runzel (2015), a peer facilitator helps others work

through their problems by offering emotional support as well as guidance regarding different

situations. Facilitators can use their life experiences to help relate to others facing similar
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circumstances. As they help others, peer facilitators also frequently see an increase in their own

self-confidence and ability to handle conflict.