#unpublishedjournal1

THE ROLE OF TEACHER IN EFFECTIVE EFL CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

A.      INTRODUCTION

Learning English definitely brings benefit to its learner as English has become an international language and it is increasingly used as a tool of interaction between people from various nationalities. According to Brown (2001: 118), “one half of the one billion English speakers of the world learned English as a second or foreign language.” In Indonesia, English is taught as a foreign language. Learning English as a foreign language is not easy in Indonesia. English as a foreign language refers to students that learning English in country where English is as not the mother tongue and they do not use English in their daily life. The students who learn English as a foreign language have little opportunities to practice or use their English in real life situation. It is supported by Murcia (2001: 359), “A foreign language is a language studied in an environment where it is not primary vehicle for daily interaction and where input in that language is restricted and Gebhard (2006:39) states, “English foreign language is an acronym for English as a foreign language and is studied by people who live in places where English is not a first language.” The teacher in every countries that teach English as a foreign language should be have the skill of good classroom management. Classroom management Richards, Platt& Platt (1992:52) define classroom management in language teaching as:

“The ways in which student behavior, movement, interaction, etc., during a class is organized and controlled by the teacher to enable teaching to take place most effectively. Classroom management includes procedures for grouping students for different types of classroom activities, use of lesson plans, handling of equipment, aids, etc., and the direction and management of student behavior and activity.”

The management of a classroom is in essence, about being capable of putting time to good use. To implement this in the lessons is very important. Wasting the time of the student usually results in lack of respect (Petkovski, K., and Aleksova, N. 2004: 73).

Nevertheless, policy makers, administrators, teacher educators and aspiring teachers would benefit significantly from knowing the characteristics of effective teachers, as this knowledge would likely improve the quality of the field.

The teacher, being the key for the teaching process, should be able to establish a positive school atmosphere. Such an atmosphere is described as purposeful, active, relaxed and motivational. With A positive educational atmosphere and a mutual trust between teachers and students all problems and difficulties are easily surmounted.  Additionally, the teacher is responsible for setting the expectation rate of student success. (Delceva, 2014). If the teacher prepares a warm, happy environment, students are more likely to be happy. An environment set by the teacher can be either positive or negative. If students sense the teacher is angry, students may react negatively to that and therefore learning can be impaired. Teachers are responsible for the social behavior in their classrooms. This behavior is primarily a reflection of the teacher’s actions and the environment she sets.

Teachers play vital roles in the lives of the students in their classrooms. Teachers are best known for the role of educating the students that are placed in their care. Beyond that, teachers serve many other roles in the classroom. Teachers set the tone of their classrooms, build a warm environment, mentor and nurture students, become role models, and listen and look for signs of trouble.

Creating a good classroom management is not easy for the teacher, some problems which appears: (1) the teachers do not have an in-depth understanding of the subjects that they teach if the teacher is not interested in the material he/she is presenting, the outcome will be student boredom and dislike for the subject as well, (2) the total number of students in a classroom is very large, different culture, students’ behavior, (3) the teachers do not have appropriate technique to teach. More recently, Wiseman and Hunt (2008) found that management issues and problems are a very real part of schools and classrooms today.

Classroom management can be a very challenging part of teaching. Keeping 20-30 students calm, engaged, and motivated to learn is no easy feat! For optimal learning, it is necessary for the teacher to have the student’s behavior under control. It is also important for students to be given clear expectations so they know exactly what behaviors are expected in the classroom. The behavior of teachers plays a central role in the classroom. Never underestimate the impact of the role that teachers provide to students.

Everything a teacher does has implications for classroom management, including creating the setting, decorating the room, arranging the chairs, speaking to children and handling their responses, putting routines in place (and then executing, modifying, and reinstituting them), developing rules, and communicating those rules to the students. These are all aspects of classroom management.

The new generations of children grow up surrounded with digital media. That is why constantly updating teaching programs is essential for students to obtain different kinds of knowledge. They should be in the focus of attention: there should be changes in the way we grade students, education should be computerized, but most importantly changes should be applied in the classroom itself, in the way we manage it and in the way we organize classes.

Nevertheless, policy makers, administrators, teacher educators and aspiring teachers would benefit significantly from knowing the characteristics of effective teachers, as this knowledge would likely improve the quality of the field. New teachers and those at a crossroads in their career would also benefit if they could confirm that the interpersonal and intrapersonal beliefs they possess are those demanded by the field.

Classroom management is easy if one is familiar with making decisions and sticking to them. Many teachers can’t manage continuity in their work, although work principles are the most important for students.

The purpose of this study is to discover and to share the findings of an empirical study on how the teacher’s role in English foreign language classroom management.

B.       LITERATURE REVIEW

The most common role a teacher plays in the classroom is to teach knowledge to children. Teachers are given a curriculum they must follow that meets state guidelines. This curriculum is followed by the teacher so that throughout the year, all pertinent knowledge is dispensed to the students. Teachers teach in many ways including lectures, small group activities and hands-on learning activities. If the teachers do not have capable in explaining the material, the teacher can be said fail in the main duty of their proffesion.

Earlier studies on classroom management that focusing on students’ sense of belonging in school contexts have found that a strong sense of belonging can result in positive outcomes, including academic motivation, a sense of efficacy, a liking for school, and a sense of emotional well-being (Goodenow, 1993; Wentzel, 2003). A strong sense of belonging has been associated with a desire to learn and an increase in understanding, whereas a lack of  belonging has been associated with negative academic outcomes such as truancy and withdrawal from school.

In a study was conducted by Mansor A.N et.all (2012), what the teachers do in the class, their values, their personality, their conduct in class, their manner of handling the class, all come into play during the lesson. There is no one particular ingredient that is crucial for making an effective teacher. It’s a combination of factors.  Foutz (2005, p.3) says, “Effective classroom management begins with the teacher. The teacher must plan well so that the students will be able to meet their learning and behavior objectives. Mayeski (2005, p.1) argued that creating a safe and orderly environment in the classroom is a survival skill for teachers and optimizes the learning environment for students. It means that the role of teacher as leader in classroom management is very crucial. Referring this point Ramsey (1999, p.15) stated that the role of an effective leader is to create a climate that welcomes, supports, and rewards innovative thinking and problem solving.

“To be successful, teachers must be able to establish appropriate student behavior in their classrooms in order to maximize the time that they and their students spend on learning.” (Wiseman and Hunt, 2008, p. 6). The three categories of teacher’s role:

1.      The Teacher as a Model

What the teachers do in the class, their values, their personality, their conduct in class, their manner of handling the class, all come into play during the lesson. The students will imitate what their teachers do in the class. The teacher should be have positive value, personality, and manner. It is related to educational management that the good teachers is capable to handling the class in all the situation.

Teachers typically do not think of themselves as role models, however, inadvertently they are. Students spend a great deal of time with their teacher and therefore, the teacher becomes a role model to them. This can be a positive or negative effect depending on the teacher. Teachers are there not only to teach the children, but also to love and care for them. Teachers are typically highly respected by people in the community and therefore become a role model to students and parents.

The recruitment of teachers who have a passion for teaching their subject can affect strongly the learning motivation of students. “When teachers present a topic with enthusiasm, suggesting that it is interesting, important, or worthwhile, students are likely to adopt this same attitude. Effective teachers convey their enthusiasm with sincere statements of the value they place on a topic or activity” (Helmke, 2012, p. 225). In classroom teachers is a model for their students, all of student’s eye will see how their teacher deliver the material, to be enthusiasm is the important thing, so that the students not only see without understanding but also give more attention to the teachers.

2.      The Teacher as a Motivator

Frequently problems that teachers have in managing student behavior are fundamentally problems of student motivation. Leblanc (1998) mentioned that a good teacher works the room and every student in it. Teachers realize that they are conductors and the class is their orchestra. All students play different instruments and at varying proficiencies. A teacher´s job is to develop skills and make these instruments come to life as a coherent whole to make music. (Nagler, 2016).

Motivation is the energy that gives behavior direction and focus. A motivated student may have better results in the school. There is a relationship between motivation and learning. Motivation gives direction and helps the student choose a particular behavior. Motivation gives an inner drive that focuses behavior on a particular goal or task and causes the individual to be persistent in trying to achieve the goal or complete the task successfully. Therefore it is important that the teacher motivate children to learn.

In Indonesia nowadays, the system of learning that is used is student-centered learning (SCL). It would be more effective if learning is more centered on student activeness in class, otherwise. Teachers only act as a facilitator, motivator and inspiration for students. Motivation is an invisible, inner, natural, and compelling urge to attain a desired goal and to excel in whatever that one is involved in doing.

Teacher is not only a profession which have a duty to deliver the material, but also teacher is motivator for their students. In the other hand, teaching not only helps the student to learn, but a great beneficiary of teaching is the teacher himself. It is the experience of all teachers that continued teaching of a subject over a period of time enhances their knowledge about the subject, sustained interaction with students of diverse intellectual and emotional characteristics in the class room being a great contributor.

 The teachers have to know what their students feel. Rahman et all (2010) state that creating a close connection of trust, respect and interest with students is important. By having such respect, they can recognize possible barriers to learning and can seek ways to overcome these barriers. Teachers also need to show and communicate their enthusiasm, for such displays will produce an immediate increase in student motivation. Malikow (2006), exhibiting a caring attitude is the third most frequently cited characteristic of an effective teacher, together with being interested in students.

Here, teachers have an important role in building strong character in their students as a teacher trying to construct Therefore students thought the teacher should be an inspiration which can be an inspiration for the others. Humor is also very important. The teacher should be self-deprecating and not take him- or herself too seriously (Wiseman & Hunt, 2008).

3.      The Teacher as a Guide

Sometimes, in learning process, the teachers will face some problem in students’ behavior. The students will make mistake during the class or the show the signs of trouble. The teachers should not shame ore blame the students when they make errors. Teachers are taught to look for signs of trouble in the students. When students’ behaviors change or physical signs of abuse are noticed, teachers are required to look into the problem. Teachers must follow faculty procedures when it comes to following up on all signs of trouble.Teachers need to understand their students and their various learning and personal needs and characteristics.

Hattie (2012, p. 26) says “An optimal classroom climate for learning is one that generates a climate in which it is understood that it is okay to make mistakes, because mistakes are the essence of learning. Expert teachers create a classroom climate that welcome admission of errors; they achieve this by developing a climate of trust between teacher and student, and between student and student. The climate is one in which ´learning is cool´, worth engaging in, and everyone – teachers and student – is involved in the process of learning.” Here, the teachers have to guide the students when they make errors. This also includes encouraging students to enjoy learning. Part of mentoring consists of listening to students. By taking time to listen to what students say, teachers impart to students a sense of ownership in the classroom. This helps build their confidence and helps them want to be successful.

Many teachers said they had students in their classes with discipline problems. So aggressive, disruptive behavior wastes teaching time, disrupts the learning of all students, threatens safety, and overwhelms teachers (Wiseman & Hunt, 2008). It means that, during the class, many things can happen, the student with various characteristic and culture may be find difficulties to follow the learning teaching process.

It is possible to the teacher to give the punishment towards students’ misbehavior. Teachers often find that punishments are a easy solution to an undesirable situation. The punishment is not about acts of violence. Sometimes, it is necessary, punishment should be used in the classroom to decrease undesirable behaviors. Punishment in the classroom needs to be implemented with care, and should never be used to single students out or to punish behaviors that are due to a specific disability. If a particular student has challenging behaviors as a result of a disability, it is important to seek additional assistance so a behavior plan tailored to that child can be developed. Before implementing any punishment strategies, it is important to check with the school’s policy on appropriate classroom management strategies and what is and is not permitted in specific school. Examples of punishments that have been used in classroom include the following: loss of recess time, extra homework, loss of other privileges, detention. The teacher is expected to guide in every students is done, it is for the better classroom management. Good teachers do a lot of observing, because whenever you ask something of your students, you must verify they do it correctly.

C.      RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The purpose of this study is to discover and to share the findings of an empirical study on how the role of teacher in English foreign language classroom management, as follows:

-          How is the teacher’s role in English foreign language classroom management for junior high school students from the perspective of the teachers themselves?

-          How is the teacher’s role in English foreign language classroom management for junior high school students from the perspective of the supervisors?

-          What factors are important for effective English foreign language classroom management?

-          How teachers can create and develop the positive teaching and learning environment in english foreign language classroom?

D.      METHODOLOGY

It will be a qualitative research. The study population consisted of all English teachers of junior high school in district Kulonprogo and all supervisors of the institutional education. Quota sampling technique will be used for the purpose of the study. Quota sampling is a type of non-probability sampling where in the population is divided into a mutually exclusive, sub-groups from which the sample items are selected on the basis of a given proportion.In quota sampling, the participant will be chosen based the criteria. The sample is the English teachers of junior high school in district Kulonprogo and supervisors in institutional education that have experience in teacher comptence test. The criteria of teachers and supervisor that will be part of sample is based on age, experience, and gender.

In collecting the data, the researcher will use questionnaires. The types of questionnaire that is used is open or unrestricted form, it is for free response from the respondent; allows for greater depth of response; is difficult to interpret, tabulate, and summarize. Questionnaires is used to know the teacher’s and supervisor opinion’s in the role of teacher in English foreign language classroom management, especially in district Kulonprogo.

The questionnaires will be developed keeping in view of all the important aspects related to English foreign language classroom management at junior high school level. The questionnaire included the following aspect of classroom management: Teachers’ knowledge about the significance of management in the classroom, physical conditions of the classroom, lesson planning, and teachers’ behavior about classroom management, what is actually the role of teachers in English foreign language classroom management.