CHAPTER IV

RESEARCH RESULT AND DISCUSSION

A. Research Result and Discussion

The main purpose of this research is giving the contribution to the

understanding of pre-service teacher identity construction during the pre

service teaching programme when a transformation from college student to

student teacher occurs. I obtained the result from document analysis. It

consisted of 26 diaries I wrote and 15 observation notes from mentor

teacher during pre-service teaching programme. Throughout the

programme, the result showed how I framed my identity as a teacher. It

presented the process of acquiring and redefining the meaning of being a

teacher. It appeared from the step of planning, executing, and reflecting.

Therefore, I framed my identity as a teacher-researcher.

1. Teacher Should Not Be Considering Insignificance of the English

Material

In the beginning, I was being careless because my mentor said

that I was good at the subject matter in the two previous meetings as

showed in the following excerp:

Penguasaan materi sudah lumayan. (Mastering the subject matter

is quite good).
Penyampaian materi sudah lumayan runtut. (Conveying the
subject matter is quite coherent).
Penguasaan materi sudah bagus. (Mastering the subject matter is
quite good).
(From mentor teacher's observation note, 1st and 2nd meeting)

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Therefore, I consider the topic I was going to teach as

insignificance. I thought it was easy but unexpected thing happened. I

could not impart the material very well. When the meeting ended, the

material could just be understood by some of the students. It was a

shame.

I conveyed it as clear as I could, but many students still were not

able to change the subject into possessive and vice versa. I should
consider prior knowledge of students and select the material that
would be easy to understand. I made a note that the outcome
could be different even though I was mastering the material.
(From diary, number 6, line 19-23)

There was also a time when I spent too much time or less time

in explaining the material. I should have selected the material that I

thought it was important. I believed this was something that becomes

easier with experience. From this stage,

I started to consider extra optional or alternative exercises. I have

to think if my material runs short or if I think the class might not
respond well to a particular activity, I have something to fall back
on. (From diary, number 16, line 16-19)

When teachers possess inaccurate information or conceive of

knowledge in narrow ways, they may pass on these ideas to their

students. They “may fail to challenge students’ misconceptions; they

may use texts uncritically or may change them inappropriately”

(Conant, as cited in Jadama, 2014, p. 22). Furthermore, Understanding

of subject matter by a teacher implies that teachers are able to teach the

main points of the subject matter to students (Jadama, 2014). I realized

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that being a teacher is not only about mastering the material, but also

about how imparting and selecting the material.

Fortunately, I could overcome the problem of subject matter. In

the end of the pre-service teaching programme, the mentor teacher

affirmed:

Penguasaan materi, kelas dan waktu sudah sangat bagus (Mastering

the subject matter, managing the class and time has been good)
penguasaan materinya sangat bagus (Her the subject matter is very
good). (From mentor teacher's observation note, 14th and 15th
meeting)

2. Pedagogical Decisions Were Constructed

Pagogical decisions are teachers’ awareness of students’ needs,

the knowledge students bring to class, the personal problems or issues

students may have, as well as an overall awareness of broader society

issues and challenges affecting learning and teaching (Beijaard et al.,

2000). There are four sub-themes showed that my pedagogical

decisions were constructed.

a. The Concept Should Consider the Students’ Ability

During pre-service teaching programme, student teacher

had to make 14 lesson plans. The news was unpleasant because the

lack of understanding about creating one. At the same time, the

awareness came. It was hard to deny that a plan is crucial part of

teaching aside from the obligation as a pre-service teacher. Without

a lesson plan, the meeting may still be an interesting teaching

learning process, but it could be just as chaotic and could leave the
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students with no clear idea of what they were doing. The diary

showed:

I wanted to be a teacher, but I did not have an effort to dig

more about the field. Therefore, I determined to start it during
pre-service teaching programme. I made my lesson plans one
by one after understanding what I have read and it was also
supervised by my mentor teacher. (From diary, number 1, line
24-30)

However, the lesson plan could not be established in the

blink of eyes. In the fourth and fifth lesson plans, it did not contain

the important information. The aim for the lesson was too difficult

for the students of junior high school. Because it was difficult for

the students, the aim could not be accomplised.

In the third aim of the study, I told the student to write simple
activities that they do in a week and present it in front of the
class. I think it could be easier if I focus to just yesterday,
today, and tomorrow. (From diary, number 10, line 4-7)
The fifth lesson plan was opposite.

It was the third aim again. The aim was too easy for meeting
about the name of month. I told the student to write the
sentence using before and after. It was limited and, in fact,
make student bored. They were already known that. (From
diary, number 11, line 1-4)

My mentor also showed her disappointment.

Tujuan pembelajaran masih ada yang terlewat dalam proses

belajar mengajar. (There was the aim of the study that still
missing in the teaching learning process)
Tujuan nomor terakhir untuk presentasi harus didiskusikan
terlebih dahulu. (The last aim for the presentation should be
discussed first).
(From mentor teacher's observation note, 2nd and 7th meeting)
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Fortunately, what happened in the fourth and fifth lesson

plans did not affect the rest of the lesson plans. There was an effort

which was trying to make the aims of the study not too difficult

and not too easy for the students. If it was too difficult, student

might be frustrated and lose motivation. Meanwhile, if the aims

were easy, the students might be bored.

Womack et al., (2015) confirm “teachers who are well

prepared for the instructional moment will lead their diverse

learners into the content almost all over moment” (p. 10).

Comparing to experienced teacher, “novice teacher tend to lack an

established ‘pedagogical content knowledge’ (Roberts as cited in

Richards, 2001, p. 221). Without considering the students’

background, students’ needs, and students’ ability, the teaching

learning process could not bring an understanding for student

(Brown, 2001).

b. Choosing the Appropriate Media Is Not Easy

When creating a lesson plan, I was selecting the medium as

well. I could not use whatever medium I wanted. When using any

type of media, I realized that it was good practice to be mindful of

its purpose in relation to students’ background knowledge.

I choose unfamiliar song. The students could not get the song.
I repeat the song for several times but they still could not sing
it. It gave me a note to make some research about familiar song
and select the song who I thought it was easy to follow. (From
diary, number 12, line 1-4)
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My mentor teacher also showed her concern.

Alat peraganya kalau bisa dibuat lebih menarik. (Try to make

the media more interesting).
(From mentor teacher's observation note 11th meeting)

Several media were used to support the teaching learning

process. There are pictures, songs, audio recorder, a mind map, a

calendar, a clock, and flashcards. Among these media, students

loved songs. However, using a medium was also not always

bringing advantages. There was a time when I was not able to fully

complete my intention of “integrating technology to enhance the

engagement and promote student centered learning” (Liu, 2016, p.

88).

The electricity in the class was not working so I could not use
the audio. I tried to tell them to be quiet since my laptop was
not loud enough to be heard by the whole class. They
complained a lot about my position, something like miss, could
you please stand at this side. (From diary, number 12 line 6-9)

Printed media offer good opportunities for improving

learners’ reading and writing skills while electronic media provide

teachers with excellent resource for improving language skills,

such as listening and speaking (Bertram et al., 2010). However,

Choy et al., (2009) confirmed a gap existed when “the pre-service

teachers took actions primarily due to various external factors such

as plug-in problems” (p. 190). It does not matter because pre-

service teachers are still in the process of developing teaching

abilities through applying a variety of instructional media (Liu,

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2016). I realized that I should consider about other factors before

choosing the media.

c. Managing the Class Needs Patience

In the first meeting, I did not mind that some students could

not stand still or ignore me when I was teaching. I thought it

because of my voice. My mentor teacher said my voice was not

loud enough to be heard by all students. However,

The excitement disappeared. They did not change. Some of

them were talking with their seatmate, sleeping, even doing
homework for the course after my class. Telling them
countless time to be quiet or paying attention to me was
useless. (From diary, number 10, line 8-11)

The mentor teacher also wrote I still could not manage the

class in the beginning.

Belum menguasai kelas. (Still could not manage the class).

Belum ada pengkondisian membuat grup. (Still could not
manage to create the group).
Pengkonsidian kelas harus lebih teratur. (The class should be
more organized).
(From mentor teacher's observation note 1st, 4th and 12th
meeting)

My classroom management problem was affecting my

emotion and causing my performance decreased. Although I have

tried to use my mentor’s name and offer the students a score if they

could behave nicely, it did not last long. Fortunately, I find the way

to resolve it when teaching learning process occurred.

I could take their disobedience and turned into an advantage

for myself, but it was not through belittling them or stamping
authority. I asked some students to come forward to do the
tasks or questions on the whiteboard and all of them were for
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students who did not pay attention to me. Students were

focused on me immediately because I told them if they could
not answer the question, they should stand in front of the class
until their friend save them by writing the right answer. (From
diary, number 14, line 2-8)

My mentor changed her opinion in the nearly end of the

pre-service teaching programme.

Penguasaan kelas sudah sangat bagus. (The classroom

management has been very good). (From mentor teacher's
observation note 14th and 15th meeting)

Although I could overcome my classroom management

problem, the fact that I was less able to anticipate the challenges

when teaching learning process occurred could not be erased.

Correspondingly, “there is widespread agreement among school

personnel that classroom management is an essential part of their

work particularly in light of the frequently expressed perception

that children are becoming increasingly unruly and difficult to

teach” (Stoughton, 2007, p. 1025). Moreover, novice teachers are

lacking in practical classroom management routines to keep

students on task. (Roberts as cited in Richards, 2001).

d. Using the First Language Brings Students’ Understanding

I was introducing myself using English in the first meeting,

but the students were just starring at me and saying that they could

not understand half of it. I decided to switch the language to

Indonesia. However, my mentor thought that I spoke more

Indonesia than English. She suggested:

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Menerangkan materi 80% harus menggunakan bahasa

Inggris. (Explaining the material should be 80% using
English). (From mentor teacher's observation note: 1st
meeting).

After thinking about this matter for awhile, I confessed my

determination through diary.

My mentor said I should have spoken English more than

Indonesia to make the students get used to it. I remember about
how the learners acquiring the foreign language. I believe if
they repeatedly hear the same words (especially for classroom
expression), they could easily give a response. I have to make
sure to remember and apply it in the next meeting and so on.
(From diary, number 2, line 21-25)

I felt uncertainty because the students told me that they

were confused every time I spoke English, so I decided to do the

code switching. However, my mentor reminded me again.

Menerangkan materi jangan terlalu banyak menggunakan

bahasa Indonesia. (Explaining the material should be using
English more than Indonesia).
Instruksinya harus dengan bahasa Inggris supaya anak-anak
terbiasa mendengarnya. (The classroom expressions should be
in English so that the students would get used to it). (From
mentor teacher's observation note, 6th and 11th meeting)

I agreed about the classroom expression, and I was really

grateful for it. The knowledge was useful because it really helped

me when I faced final examination. I realized that the change could

not be seen in the short of time. Grijalva (2013) supported that the

process of second language acquisition is complex, takes time and

requires a lot of effort to be completed successfully.

However, I did not agree about explaining material part

because the students’ understanding was more important for me.

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Lightbown (2001) argues that teachers should aim at creating a

pure foreign language environment since they are the linguistic

models for the students and that code switching will result in

negative transfer in foreign language learning. Meanwhile, Levine

(2003), Jingwei and Liping (2004), the researchers in support of

code switching teaching strategy, support that L1 (the first

language) can promote the learning of TL (target language) and L1

deserves a place in the foreign language classroom.

3. Doing A Reflection Promises the Development

A reflection was not only about doing the action, but it was

also about thinking. Throughout the diaries, I certainly wrote what I

did that day and what I wanted to do in the next meeting or resolved

the problem if the certain case happened again. For example.

I started the lesson with the introduction which it was also the
materials I would give them. I did not bring the medium because I
think I could be the model myself. (From diary, number 1, line 5-
8)

In the next meeting,

They listen to the recorder about self introduction and I asked

them what the native speaker say, and then write it on their book
before telling them to re-read again based on their own version.
(From diary, number 2, line 5-7)

The significant development also proved that I did the

reflection. From my mentor teacher’s observation note in the

beginning, she wrote a lot of comments after my class performance:

1. Belum menguasai kelas (Still could not manage the class).

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2. Menerangkan materi 80% harus menggunakan bahasa

Inggris. (Explaining the material should be 80% using
English).
3. Penyampaian kegiatan belajar mengajar masih belum runtut
(Conveying the material is not still coherent)
4. Tujuan pembelajaran harus disebutkan sebelum masuk materi.
(The aim of the study should have been told before explaining
the material)
5. Materi yang disampaikan tidak ditulis di papan tulis, (The
material was not written on the whiteboard).
6. Jika bertanya pada siswa tentang materi maka harus jelas
perintahnya,(If asking the student to answer about the material,
you should ask it clearly).
7. Kalau ada siswa yang bertanya jangan langsung di jawab,
alangkah baiknya di lemparkan/ditawarkan ke siswa lain
terlebih dahulu,(If there was a student who asked, offer it to
other student before you did it).
8. Harus memberikan contoh yang lebih banyak, sebaiknya yang
familiar dengan siswa,(You should give the students more
example, based on their culture if it possible).
9. Instruksi untuk latihan kurang jelas,(The instruction for the
exercise was not clearly).
10. Penutup masih belum ada refleksi (There still has not a
reflection in the end of the meeting).
(Mentor teacher's observation note, 1st meeting)

I overcome my weaknesses through applying some suggestions

my mentor gave me. Furthermore, in the fourteenth supervised, she

wrote:

1. Good pronunciation,
2. Penguasaan materi, kelas dan waktu sudah sangat bagus,
(Mastering the material, class, and time has been good).
3. Sudah sesuai dengan langkah-langkah yang ada di RPP. (She
has been good to follow the stages of lesson plan).
(Mentor teacher's observation note, 14th meeting)

In the last note, my mentor teacher affirmed.

“Sangat banyak perubahan dalam hal pembelajaran dikelas. Dia

orangnya cepat menangkap saran-saran dan masukan-masukan
yang di berikan oleh guru pembimbing. Dari yang belum
menguasai materi pembelajaran dan kelas, sampai akhirnya di
tahap pembelajaran terakhir (ujian) perkembangannya sangat
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signifikan dalam proses pembelajaran. Dia mampu mengajar

dengan sangat baik sesuai dengan tahapan-tahapan yang ada
dalam RPP (Rencana Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran). (There are
many changes in teaching learning process. She could get the
suggestions from the mentor teacher quickly. She has not
mastering the material and class in the begining, but the
development was very significat in teaching learning process until
the final evaluation. She was able to teach very well according to
the stages of lesson plan). (Mentor teacher's observation note, 15th
meeting)

I realized that reflection offers teachers an opportunity to think

about what works and what does not in the classroom and promotes the

improvement of classroom practice. Moreover, doing a reflection was

obligated during pre-service teaching programme, considering “the

implementation of reflection has officially become an essential

requirement for pre-service teachers through mandated policy

documents” (Roberts, 2016, p. 22). It was helped by mentor teacher.

She/he provided student teacher with the opportunity to develop the

personal and professional self through reflection (Walkington, 2005),

so “the context of the professional placement provides the setting for

individual teacher identities to emerge” (Ambroseti, 2014, p. 31). I

gained a number of insights about my own teaching. I also found the

aspects of the teaching that I wanted to change as a result of the

information she gave me. Furthermore, I recalled, considered and

evaluated my performance.

After examining everything I have done, the result showed pre-

service teaching programme got me to plan, execute and reflect. I prepared

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a lesson plan, material and media before teaching. When teaching learning

process occurred, I found the aspects of the teaching that I should maintain

and change. However, it was not only from self-reflection, it was also from

social recognition. The mentor teacher helped me pointed out my strength

and weaknesses. Continually, I would prepare the new way for teaching to

overcome the problems in the previous meeting. Through the process, I

discovered the meaning of being a teacher, that (1) teacher should not be

considering insignificance of the english material, (2) the concept should

consider the students’ ability, (3) choosing the appropriate media is not

easy, (4) managing the class needs patience, (5) using the first language

brings students’ understanding, and (6) doing a reflection promises the

development. Considering the process, it means that I frame my identity as

a teacher-researcher during pre-service teaching programme. Houser

(1990) pointed out:

The teacher-researcher formulates new questions and tests old hunches

while teaching. Data are collected during the course of on-going
classroom practice. They are analyzed and interpreted and in turn
generate new questions and hypotheses to be subjected to pragmatic
inquiry. The process is recursive. (p. 58)