THE IMPORTANCE OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT FOR NOVICE TEACHERS

Ana Clara Snchez Universidad de Nario

What is Classroom Management? Brophy (1986) defines classroom management as a teachers efforts to establish and maintain the classroom as an effective environment for teaching and learning. This concept encompasses how teachers deal with issues of supervision, facilitation and manipulation of the environment and class activities inside another dimension of management: students actions (misbehaving), maintenance of discipline and orchestration of the general dynamics of a class. Is classroom Management the same as Discipline? Brophy and Good (2003) state that Classroom Management (CM) is different from the discipline plan teachers implement in their classrooms; it also includes the teachers beliefs and values as they influence how the teacher views discipline, CM also refers to how these beliefs and values intertwine with other underlying aspects of the class structure. What dimensions does CM cover? Despite finding divers ideas (Brown, 2007; Harmer, 2007; Ur, 1996) common elements can be found: 1. The physical environment of the classroom It includes being able to be heard, having a clean classroom, sit can be arranged to foster interaction, the room has outlets, additional equipment is available. 2. The amount of teacher preparation and ways in which the lesson is presented, which influence classroom management. This part refers to the teachers voice and eye-contact, confidence, mobility, attitude and rapport with the students handling unexpected changes inside the class, working with large classes and limited resources (Renaud, Tannenbaum y Stantial, 2007). Hammer (2007) discusses classroom management in terms of creating successful classrooms. Teachers should be consistent with enforcing their rules, providing engaging tasks that are not too difficult or too simplistic, treat everyone equality and praising learners. The final and probably more recognized aspect of classroom is discipline.

3. Discipline As Ur (1990) explains, some important factors that have an incidence in classroom discipline and are more likely to be within the control of, or influenced by, the teacher are: methodology, interpersonal relationships and student motivation. A disciplined classroom is one where learning is taking place, where the students and the teacher is cooperating and working together towards the same goal and where the lesson is proceeding according to plan. Discipline is an element of classroom management that needs a proactive rather than a reactive behavior. Ur suggests planning your lesson carefully, paying attention to directions, which should be clear and effective, and being aware of any change in the dynamics of the class. This can be especially useful for students-teachers and novice teachers. Why is Classroom Management relevant for Novice Teachers and Studentteachers? If the environment is not conducive to learning, the very nature of teaching is lost. Knowing how to keep a class running gives teachers confidence. This will affect other aspects of teaching. In a EFL environment like ours, handling the variables of a class effectively will help novice teachers make the most out of the available time and resources. Along with other teaching skills, classroom management help new teachers show professionalism.

Suggestion for Teacher Education Programs Move from reactive to proactive approaches to classroom management (focus on the attitude student-teachers display right from the beginning, test design, materials development to prevent difficulties before and during practicum). Prevention is more effective than intervention. Students-teachers should learn to foresee problems and minimize them. CM should be an element present across the curriculum, not only in methodology courses. Attitude, the way ideas are conveyed, eye-contact, interaction with the audience can be assessed in different courses and tasks such as demonstrations, presentations and so on.) A cyclical approach to CM can be an alternative. The theoretical background provided by the university feeds novice teachers decisions. These, in turn will be based on the teaching and learning conditions of the context. The way the class turns out will take students-teachers and/or novice teachers for making new decisions.

What is the place of Classroom Management? In teacher education programs these domains, as expressed by Richards (1998), should be considered as a goal. CM can be part of all of them implicitly or explicitly. The domains are: Theories of teaching. Future teachers should review existing as well as alternative beliefs present in the teachers own context to predict teaching situations. Technical teaching skills can be developed through imitation, in teaching practice, of models provided as part of instruction. Communication skills. Being proficient may contribute to establishing and maintaining discipline and learning routines. Subject matters (linguistic systems). Pedagogical reasoning skills and decision making. Contextual knowledge. Those enrolled in a teacher education program should experience an awareness-raising component that contributes to expand the future teachers experiential knowledge.

UNIVERSIDAD DE ANTIOQUIA - VII ENCUENTRO DE INSTITUCIONES FORMADORAS DE LICENCIADOS EN IDIOMAS MES DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2011

Adoptado para el Seminario de Introduccin a la Prctica Educativa Programa de Lenguas Modernas, Universidad de Caldas Profesora: Gloria Esperanza Infante Castao