Classroom Management Problems and Coping Strategies of Turkish Student EFL Teachers

Yıl 2015, Cilt: 6 Sayı: 1, 39 - 71, 01.01.2015

Ali Merç , Gonca Subaşı

https://doi.org/10.17569/tojqi.41736

Cited By: 7

Öz

Classroom management (CM) is one of the most cited problems of pre-service teachers. This study aims to have a closer look at the issue within a qualitative research design by eliciting problems, coping strategies, and the sources of those coping strategies related to CM during teaching practicum. The participants of the study were 12 student EFL teachers (eight female and four
male) completing their teaching practicum at Anadolu University, Faculty of Education, English Language Teacher Training Program. The participants were asked to keep diaries related to their CM problems throughout the 12-week teaching practicum. Semi-structured interviews conducted with each teacher candidate and field notes taken by the researchers were also used as the research data. The analyses of the data indicated that student teachers’ CM problems were mainly because of the pupils in the classroom. Student teachers themselves, teaching point and materials, and the cooperating teachers were also the sources of the CM problems. Various coping strategies were also elicited to deal with the problems mentioned. The methodology lessons they took, their cooperating teachers, and their previous teachers were cited by the student teachers as the sources of the coping strategies they employed. The findings are discussed along with the current literature on CM, and certain implications and suggestions are provided for a better teaching practice.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Classroom management, pre-service teachers, EFL teacher education, foreign language teaching

İngilizce Öğretmen Adaylarının Sınıf Yönetimi ile İlgili Karşılaştıkları Sorunlar ve Bu Sorunlarla Başa Çıkma Yöntemleri

Öz

Sınıf yönetimi öğretmen adaylarının öğretmenlik deneyimleri boyunca en sık karşılaştığı sorunlardan biridir. Bu çalışma nitel bir araştırma ile bu sorunları, çözüm yollarını ve bu çözüm yollarının kaynaklarını belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır. Araştırmaya Anadolu Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi İngilizce Öğretmenliği programında öğretmenlik uygulaması yapan 12 öğretmen adayı katılmıştır. Öğretmen adaylarından 12 haftalık öğretmenlik uygulaması boyunca haftalık olarak sınıf yönetimine ilişkin sorunlarını anlatan bir günlük tutmaları istenmiş, ayrıca her bir öğretmen adayıyla yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yapılmış, gözlem ziyaretleri sırasında da notlar tutulmuştur. Verilerin analizi öğretmen adaylarının sınıf yönetimi ile ilgili sorunlarının çoğunlukla sınıflardaki öğrencilerden kaynaklandığı saptanmış olmakla birlikte öğretmen adaylarının kendileri, öğretilecek konu ve materyaller ile uygulama öğretmenleri de sorunların kaynağı olarak ortaya çıkmıştır. Ortaya çıkan sorunların çözümüne ilişkin de çok sayıda çözüm yolu ortaya konmuştur. Öğretmen adayları bu çözüm yollarının kaynağı olarak ise aldıkları öğretim yöntemlerine ilişkin dersleri, uygulama öğretmenlerini ve daha önceki yaşantılarında gözlemledikleri öğretmenleri göstermiştir. Araştırmanın bulguları sınıf yönetimi ili ilgili alan yazın bağlamında tartışılmakta, daha etkili bir öğretmenlik uygulaması için çeşitli öneriler ve çıkarımlar sunulmaktadır. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

Sınıf yönetimi, öğretmen adayları, İngiliz Dili Eğitimi, yabancı dil öğretimi

Kaynakça

• Altınel, Z. (2006). Student misbehavior in EFL classes: teachers’ and students’ perspectives. (Unpublished MA Thesis). Çukurova University, Adana.
• Appel, J. (1995). Diary of a Language Teacher. Oxford: Heinemann.
• Aydın, B. & Bahçe, A. (2001, May). Cases from STs. Paper presented at the International ELT Conference-2001 on “Searching for Quality in ELT”. Eastern Mediterranean University, Gazimagusa.
• Baker, J., & Westrup, H. (2000). The English language teacher’s handbook. London: Continuum.
• Baker, W. P., Lang, M., & Lawson, A. E. (2002). Classroom management for successful student inquiry. The Clearing House, May/June, 248-252.
• Chien, C. W. (2014). Pre-service English teachers’ perceptions and practice of field
• experience and professional learning from expert teachers’ mentoring. Teachers and
• Teaching: theory and practice, doi: 10.1080/13540602.2014.953817
• Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
• Demir, S. (2009). Teacher perceptions of classroom management and problematic behaviors in primary schools. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1, 584-589.
• Gower, R., & Walters, S. (1988). Teaching practice handbook. Oxford: Heinemann.
• Fowler, J., & Şaraplı, O. (2010). Classroom management: What ELT students expect. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 3, 94-97.
• Huck, S. W., & Cormier, W. H. (1996). Reading statistics and research (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Harper Collins.
• İflazoğlu Saban, A. (2009). Management of teaching and class control. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1, 2111-2116.
• İnceçay, G., & Dollar, Y.K. (2012). Classroom management, self-efficacy and readiness of Turkish pre-service English teachers. International Association of Research in Foreign Language Education and Applied Linguistics, 1(3), 189-198.
• Kaya, A., & Dönmez, B. (2009). An evaluation of the classroom management approaches of the class teachers implementing constructivist learning approach. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1, 575-583.
• Kayıkçı, K. (2009). The effect of classroom management skills of elementary school teachers on undesirable discipline behavior of students. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 1, 1215-1225.
• Kerdikoshvili, N. (2009). Student-centered approach to classroom management in English language teaching. Journal of Education, 1(2), 53-60.
• Korukcu, S. (1996). An analysis of the problems of beginning teachers to develop an induction program for the Basic English departments of Turkish Universities. (Unpublished Master’s Thesis). Bilkent University, Ankara.
• Kwo, O. (1996). Learning to teach English in Hong Kong classrooms: Patterns of reflections. In Freeman, D. & Richards, J. C. (Eds.). Teacher Learning in Language Teaching. (pp. 295-319). Cambridge: CUP.
• Kyriacou, C. (1991). Essential teaching skills. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
• LaMaster, K. J. (2001). Exchanging pre-service teachers’ field experiences through the addition of a service-learning component. Journal of Experiential Education, 24(1), 27-33.
• Lockhart, C., & Ng, P. (1995). Analyzing talk in ESL peer response groups: stances, functions, and content. Language Learning, 45(4), 605-655.
• Luo, J., Bellows, L., & Grady, M. (2000). Classroom management issues for teaching assistants. Research in Higher Education, 41(3), 353-383.
• Mangelsdorf, K. (1992). Peer-reviews in the ESL composition classroom: What do the students think? ELT Journal, 46(3), 274-284.
• Matus, D. E. (1999). Humanism and effective urban secondary classroom management. The Clearing House, May/June, 305-307.
• Mau, R. (1997). Concerns of STs: implications for improving the practicum. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 25(1), 53-65.
• McKinney, C, W., Larkins, A. G., Kazelskis, R., Ford, M. J., Allen, J. A., & Davis, J. C. (1982). Some effects of teacher enthusiasm on student achievement in fourth grade social studies. Journal of Educational Research, 76(4), 249-253.
• McPhillimy, B. (1996). Controlling your class. West Sussex: John Willey & Sons Ltd.
• Merç, A. (2004). Reflections of pre-service teachers’ throughout their teaching practicum: What has been good? What has gone wrong? What has changed? (Unpublished Master’s Thesis). Anadolu University, Eskişehir.
• Nathan, M. (1995). The new teacher’s survival guide. London: Kogan Page.
• Prodromou, L. (1992). Mixed ability classes. London: MacMillan.
• Robertson, J. (1996). Effective classroom control. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
• Sasidher, K., Vanaja, S., & Parimalavenu, V. (2012). Effective strategies for classroom management in ELT. Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1(3), 421-428.
• Tahir, A., & Qadir, A. S. (2012). Challenges of classroom management to effective teacher socialization: A study of beginning English teachers. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences, 32(1), 21-37.
• Tawney, J. W., & Gast, D. L. (1984). Single subject research in Special Education. Colombus, OH: Charles E. Merrill Co.
• Tuncay, H. (2010). Class management in ELT: Who is the boss? Retrieved from
• http://hidayettuncay.com/makaleler/CLASS-MANAGEM-NT-IN-ELT.pdf
• Turanlı, A.S., & Yildirim, A. (1999). Students’ expectations of teachers’ classroom
• management in ELT classes. Retrieved from
• http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED440106.pdf
• Qinglan, L., Junyan, W., & Shongshan, H. (2010). Effective classroom management in young learners English teaching. Retrieved from
• http://www.celea.org.cn/pastversion/lw/pdf/liqinglan.pdf
• Valdez, A., Young, B., & Hicks, S. J. (2000). Preservice teachers’ stories: content and context. Teacher Education Quarterly, Winter, 39-57.
• Vanci Osam, U., & Balbay, S. (2004). Investigating the decision-making skills of cooperating teachers and STs of English in a Turkish context. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20, 745-758.
• Veenman, S. (1984). Perceived problems of beginning teachers. Review of Educational Research, 54(2), 143-178.
• Zepeda, S. J., & Mayers, R. S. (2002). A case study of leadership in the middle grades: The work of the instructional lead teacher. Research in the Middle Level Education, 25(1), 1-11.