THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISCIPLINE IN DESIRABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF PRATHOMSUKSA 4-6 STUDENTS AT MUNGPUNG SCHOOL UNDER UDONTHANI PRIMARY EDUCATIONAL SERVICE AREA OFFICE 2

Abstract

This research aims to develop the discipline in desirable characteristics of Prathomsuksa 4-6 students at Mungpung School under Udonthani Primary Educational Service Area Office 2. The target population in the research included 55 Prathonsuksa 4-6 students, involving 12 teachers and school administrators, 7 school committee members, and 10 parents of  Prathonsuksa 4-6 students at Mungpung School. The study was carried out in the second semester, academic year 2018. The research instruments were as follows: 1)  interview form, 2) questionnaire, 3) behavior observation form, and 4) discipline evaluation form. Qualitative data analysis was used to analyze the data and statistical tools used included percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The results show that: 1) The conditions and problems in developing desirable characteristics in discipline of  Prathonsuksa 4-6 students focusing on student discipline were that the structure arrangements for the student discipline was not extensive,  there was no connection with external organizations, teachers were not familiar with designing lesson plans focusing on developing student discipline; moreover, morality and ethics were deficient resulting in students having problems such as impunctuality, improper student uniforms, and irresponsibility. 2) For the guideline in developing desirable characteristics in discipline of  Prathonsuksa 4-6 students, it was found that the expectations of desirable characteristics in discipline consisted of 1) the need for more participation from research assistants in the structure arrangements, 2) the importance of lesson activities which have to emphasize critical thinking, analyzing and integration with different teaching methods focusing on learners, 3) strictness in carrying out the project as planned, 4) the need to use local resources to improve environments, 4) the importance of supervising regularly for administrators, and 6) the importance of teachers to be the good role model. 3) The findings from the development of desirable characteristics in discipline of Prathonsuksa 4-6 students focusing on student discipline in the first cycle showed the overall result of high level (X = 3.55, S.D.= 0.58), equaling 83 percent. There were 17 students who needed improvement and had to participate in the second cycle. In the second cycle which included friend helps friend activity led to the following outcomes: 1) integration of teaching morality in history subjects, in which teachers promoted responsibilities of being punctual, dressing properly, and keeping the school clean. This helped in being a strategy to prevent students from undesirable behaviors of not listening to teachers in the morning roll call. 2) The improvement strategy revealed that the students had more responsibility than the first cycle, and there were clear assignments for each student which fulfilled the objectives; in addition, students got to admire their own work. 3) The support strategy involved developing desirable habit activities, and excellent and responsible student activities. The students cooperated in planning with concentration. They respected the agreements, came to class and activities punctually, dressed properly according to place and time, and fulfilled the given  responsibilities. The activities which support these behaviors can be divided into three sub-aspects, including 1) punctuality, which had two cycles of process that improved students’ punctuality at high level or 84 percent, passing all the criteria, 2) dressing properly, which also had two cycles of process that improved students’ discipline in dressing properly at high level or 85 percent, passing all the criteria. For the second sub-aspect, the result was from a well-planned process, analyzing the real causes of problems by related individuals and using the data to determine appropriate strategies and activities. The systemic planning with clear procedure led to the success of the operation and fulfilled the objectives. 3) For the third sub-aspect, responsibility, the two cycles of process showed that students had a high level of responsibility or 83 percent, while only three students could not pass all the criteria. This resulted from the systemic planning of the author, which came from studying and collecting the data from related individuals to analyze and determine the causes of the problems. Appropriate strategies and activities also contributed to the fulfilments of the research objectives as will.