Classroom Management

Through a descriptive Ex Post Facto research design, the relationship between teacher reflection and classroom management, the predictive power of teacher reflection components regarding classroom management, and classroom management strategies used by high and low reflective teachers were examined. To this end, 113 EFL teachers completed the Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control (ABCC) Inventory (Martin et al., 1998b) and teacher reflection inventory (Akbari et al., 2010). The results of Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient showed that there was a significant positive relationship between teachers’ reflection and their sense of classroom management. Moreover, a multiple regression was run whose findings revealed that practical and critical components of reflection are the best predictors of teachers’ sense of classroom management. Twenty teachers were also interviewed. The thematic analysis of the interview showed that high reflective teachers used different kinds of management strategies, for their students’ social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties using proper pedagogical planning and techniques, to deal with the classroom problems in comparison with their low reflective counterparts. 

The nature of heterogeneity issues within the context of Iranian, English language learning contexts in high schools is one of the under-researched lines of inquiry. For this aim, a researcher-made, Likert-type questionnaire whose items were initially validated through a multi-stage, exploratory research design among 30 teachers was distributed among some 67, Iranian EFL teachers with different degrees of experience (less vs. more) to find the teachers’ concerns/challenges and their strategies to tackle them. The findings suggested that the concerns behind heterogeneous classes were not consistent regrading weak and strong students. In the second place, it became evident that the order of tendency towards adopting the four enunciated strategies was not the same in the two less and more experienced teachers. Possible interpretations regarding teacher outlook as mapped on ‘teacher experience’ to target heterogeneity issues were presented in the end.

Knowledge representation, defined as the way individuals structure their knowledge and cognitive processing of events and the associated sense-making processes, is believed to influence teachers’ reasoning/thinking skills. While extensively researched in mainstream teacher education, this line of inquiry is essentially lacking in the L2 teacher education literature. To fill some of the void, the present study explored 36 – 18 novice and 18 experienced – EFL teachers’ representations of classroom management events. The teachers were presented with 8 fragments involving management problems in a novice teacher’s performance and were asked to provide their representations of the scenes. To explore likely differences between the two groups’ representations, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. Data analyses indicated that experienced teachers provided a significantly higher number of representations across majority of the categories of the coding scheme, except for disciplinary issues which were of prime concern to novice teachers. The implications of the study for pre-service and in-service teacher education are discussed.

For years, effective classroom management and the constraints which affect teachers’ classroom management have been of much concern to both teachers and teacher educators. Despite such paramount importance, this issue has been far less explored in general and the Iranian EFL context in particular. Therefore, the current study employed a phenomenological inquiry to delve into the constraints which set hurdles in the way of effective classroom management. To that end, 20 Iranian EFL teachers from different branches of the same English Language Institute were selected through purposive sampling and interviewed in person to extract thick and in-depth data. The interviews then were transcribed verbatim and their content was inductively analyzed to let frequent themes emerge. Results of the analysis indicated that four major themes, namely ‘institute-related’, ‘learner-related’, ‘teacher-related’, and ‘social-cultural differences’ frequently manifested. It should be noted that each main theme also comprised several sub-themes. Some stakeholders such as teachers and teacher educators could benefit from the findings to promote the quality of EFL teachers’ classroom management.

The present study aimed to study the relationship between teachers’ creativity, classroom management, age and gender. To achieve these goals, 70 Iranian EFL teachers participated in the study by filling out two questionnaires: Creativity Fostering Teacher Behavior Index developed by Soh (2000) ,and Behavior and Instructional Management Scale developed by Martin and Sass (2010). Analysis of the questionnaires revealed that there is a statistically positive significant relationship between teachers’ creativity and classroom management. In addition, the findings indicated that there is statistically significant difference across the three age groups regarding their attitudes towards creativity and classroom management. Likewise, it was revealed that there is significant difference between Iranian EFL male and female teachers concerning their attitudes towards creativity. However, the findings also indicated that there was not any statistically significant difference between Iranian EFL male and female teachers regarding their attitudes towards classroom management. The findings have implications for EFL teachers.

The present study aimed to explore whether there is any significant relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ traits in terms of personality type and their classroom management orientation. To this end, 130 EFL teachers from private language institutes and schools participated in this study. Three data collection instruments were used: a) personal demographic questionnaire, b) Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control inventory, and c) Five Factor Model personality questionnaire. The results showed that, out of five factors of personality trait and three factors of classroom management orientation, there were two significant relationships; there was a significant relationship between conscientiousness personality trait and instructional classroom management orientation, and there was also a significant relationship between conscientiousness and behavioral classroom management. No other significant relationship was found between other factors of personality and classroom management. The findings of this research can help raise awareness of teachers and teacher trainers alike of teacher personality traits and their possible relationship with classroom management orientation (of teachers).

Research has shown that classroom management plays a critical role in facilitating effective learning, making it a permanent concern for teachers as well as researchers. In the related literature, one area which needs further consideration is to explore the effect of different personal and contextual factors on the way teachers choose to manage their classrooms. Therefore, the present study aimed at exploring the effects of age, gender, teaching experience, teaching context, and academic degree on Iranian English teachers’ classroom management behaviors. To achieve this, a researcher-made questionnaire based on four classroom management questionnaires was developed. The questionnaire was distributed among 152 EFL teachers teaching in different settings in Iran. To analyze the obtained data, Point-Biserial correlation followed by an independent samples t-test, and one-way ANOVA were used. The results revealed that men and women were quite different with regard to the classroom management behaviors they showed. However, age, teaching context, teaching experience, and academic degree did not significantly affect teachers’ classroom management behaviors. Possible explanations of the results in light of the previous literature are further discussed.

Teachers’ classroom management plays a potent role in Teaching English as a Foreign Language, especially in relation to other psychological variables, namely self-efficacy and personality types. Consequently, the present study aimed at generating a structural equation model of evidence to better illustrate the relationship among classroom management, self-efficacy, and personality types as well as the pertinent sub-scales. A sample of 249 Iranian EFL teachers completed three questionnaires including the Behavior and Instructional Management Scale, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Personality Type, and Teacher Efficacy Scale. The structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and the schematic illustration confirmed the hypothesized model (x2df = 1.28; RMSEA=.03; RMR =.03; GFI =.98; AGFI=.95; NFI =.98; CFI =.99; IFI =.99; TLI=.98), revealing significant internal interplay among the classroom management approaches, self-efficacy, personality types, and their sub-scales. The results of multiple regression further confirmed the direction of the path model illuminating the predictability power of the teachers’ personality types and their self-efficacy concerning the EFL teachers’ classroom management approaches. In other words, EFL teachers’ personality types and self-efficacy can predict their classroom management approaches. The study offered pedagogical implications for teachers, policymakers, and stockholders.

Objective: The present study sought to explore EFL teachers’ cognition of rapport establishment and maintenance, as one of the aspects of classroom management, in the context of Iran’s foreign language institutes’ face-to-face EFL classes.Method: The study involved 12 Iranian teachers who taught adult learners. The sample size was determined based on reaching saturation, and the participating teachers were selected through purposeful sampling. The main instrument utilized in this qualitative study was a semi-structured one-to-one in-person interview, which aimed to elicit the participants’ cognition of rapport development. These individual interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically.Results: The findings revealed that the participants believed in the importance of rapport creation for efficient classroom management. Besides, they recommended strategies for establishing rapport with learners, such as familiarization, verbal immediacy, non-verbal immediacy, attention to learners’ emotions, judicious L1 use, playing games, and utilizing social media. Moreover, they held that teachers’ personality traits and communication skills could impact their approach to building rapport.Conclusion: Altogether, the participants had a sound cognition of rapport maintenance as one of the aspects of classroom management. The findings of the current study provide implications for teacher educators, teachers, and institutes’ supervisors.