Classroom Managements

Establishing classroom routines and maintaining classroom disciplines

Ron evaluated this class as a more difficult class compared to the classes that he taught before because of the students‟ different language proficiency levels and negative learning attitudes. He stated that “students in this class were very lazy and lacked learning motivations. I felt that they needed someone to push them to study.”

(Formal Interview 1, May 3^rd, 2010). To facilitate students‟ learning outcomes, he tried hard to draw students‟ attentions and to strictly discipline their behaviors by adopting several strategies. The first was, before the class started, he always re-arranged students‟ seats and turned off the fan in the classroom. As he stated,

The purpose of rearrangement was to maintain classroom discipline. Students always chose the seat next to their friends. They would talk with each other during class. On the other hand, some students preferred to sit in the last row, which allowed them to be distracted. I often re-organized their seats before starting my class. (After-Class Interview, May 17^th, 2010)

Second, Ron began to deal with classroom businesses, including checking the attendance of students, reporting the absence to the administrator, distributing worksheets to each student, and preparing learning materials. He seldom waited for late students because he knew that aboriginal students tended to be late for everything and did not take studying seriously. As a result, in his course, Ron hoped to establish regular routines to raise students‟ time awareness and responsibility for their own learning. From the classroom observation, if students were late, he would point at his watch showing the time to students and ask them what time it was. If students were

41

late for class several times, he would ask students not to attend his class anymore and reported this to the administrator. Due to his strict disciplines, students always

attended his class on time. Additionally, Ron also prevented aboriginal students from speaking swear words. The students would be isolated immediately if they spoke swear words and asked to see the administrator.

Third, Ron had low-toleration in noise, so he scolded or even shouted at students who did not pay attention to the class or made noise. As he stated,

I felt that students would learn nothing if the class was too noisy. You know, school teachers were too young in the mountainous areas to discipline those aboriginal students‟ behaviors. Some parents did not take responsibility to take care of their children. Thus, those aboriginal students who were not disciplined from the elementary schools would think that they could do what they wanted to do in class. I did not agree with that. The learning attitude was not correct.

(Formal Interview 2, June 7^th, 2010)

For Ron, guiding students to the learning path was of importance. Silence was the first step that could help students pay attention to the class. As a result, he focused on classroom management. However, when controlling students‟ behaviors, Ron lost his temper several times. Once, he asked students to be quiet, but one student ignored his words and kept whispering to his classmate. Then, Ron stopped his lesson and

scolded the student. The class became quiet and no one dared to make any noise.

Finally, Ron asked the students to go downstairs and talk to the administrator. At that time, students were very scared of him. He later explained his behaviors in the event.

I knew that many students, the administrator, and even other teachers noticed that I was the strictest person in the institution. I said, “OK!” I did not mind that comment. Because students had many disciplinary problems, I felt that I had to be stricter than other teachers did. (Formal Interview 3, July 10^th, 2010)

42

For Ron, being very strict with students was effective in terms of classroom management and students‟ learning outcomes. From classroom observations, the administrator often told him that his students (grade 7) were very noisy and mischievous in all courses except in his class. Students‟ good learning conditions reinforced Ron‟s belief in strict discipline. Also, he self-reported that “students whom he taught before said that because of the harsh discipline, we studied hard at that time and our English improved a lot. But now, we forgot many English words because teachers were too lenient.” (Formal Interview 3, July 10^th, 2010). Students‟ successful learning experiences were positive reinforcements for Ron and indirectly supported this kind of classroom management. He said, “I thought that being strict was necessary to aboriginal students because their school teachers and parents seldom treated them in a severe way.” (Formal Interview 2, June 7^th, 2010).

Fourth, Ron sometimes re-arranged some students‟ seats when they were not willing to study hard and behaved well in his class. The reason why Ron needed to pick up students was that students held different reasons attended the remedial courses in this institution. According to his observation, he said,

Some students came here because they were bored at home. Some wanted to escape from their parents who drank and punished them severely without any reasons. We did not welcome those who did not do their best to work hard. They would interrupt my teaching and other students‟ learning. That was why I needed to kick them out. (Formal Interview 3, July 1^st, 2010)

Before kicking students out, Ron would give students the second chance to change themselves. As he said,

Before kicking students out of my class, I would give many opportunities to students and then assessed their learning progress. If I found he/she still did not

43

want to strive for the best, I would ask the student not to attend my class because it wasted our time. What‟s worse, my teaching and other classmates‟ learning may be interrupted by their distraction and misbehaviors.

(Classroom Observation, June 22^nd 2010)

In addition to students‟ self-reflections, Ron also discussed students‟ learning

conditions with the administrator. If necessary, he would request her to re-arrange the students to another class or suspend the students from the remedial courses. Unlike the public high school, where teachers could not choose students, in this remedial program, Ron could choose class members and hoped to help students in need achieve higher academic performance. For Ron, re-arrangement of class members aimed to raise students‟ awareness of learning rather than deprived their educational

opportunity.

Playing roles as a priest and an English teacher in the classroom

Ron played two major roles in the English class, a priest and an English teacher.

The two roles often interplayed with each other. As an English teacher, Ron held a cognition that strict discipline was very important for students, but influenced by the role of a priest, he usually implemented different standards for each student who was against his prior cognition. Sometimes, he would ignore students‟ bad behaviors and low learning motivations. Moreover, he expected that students should have a correct learning attitude. Nevertheless, his role as a priest further caused expectations that students should hold not only correct attitudes but also have a bright outlook towards their lives. To keep students from going astray from the path of god, he tried to show that them that he cared about students‟ moralities, things they like to do, and the friends they made out of the classroom. Ron‟s high expectation of his students in and outside the classroom could be attributed to his two roles.

44

4.1.3.2 Curriculum Plan