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National Research University Higher School of Economics Journal of Language & Education Volume 6, Issue 3, 2020
Anwar, K., Ubaidillah, M. F., & Sulistiyo, U. (2020). Exploring EFL Teachers' Classroom Management: The Case of Indonesian Remote Secondary Schools. Journal of Language and Education, 6(3), 22-35. https://doi.org/10.17323/ jle.2020.10549
Exploring EFL Teachers' Classroom Management: The Case of Indonesian Remote Secondary Schools
Kaspul Anwar1, M. Faruq Ubaidillah2, Urip Sulistiyo3
!STAI Ahsanta Jambi 2Universitas Negeri Malang 3Universitas Jambi
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Kaspul Anwar, English Education Department, STAI Ahsanta Jambi, Jambi, Indonesia. E-mail: kaspulanwar.as@gmail.com
Geared by the scant number of studies on EFL teachers' classroom management in remote secondary schools in Indonesia, this study seeks to investigate teachers' involvement in classroom management complexities and to what extent they deal with such predicaments. Data were collected through interviews with the teachers within three months and analyzed narratively. The findings suggest that they encountered multi-facet complexities such as (a) lacking learning facilities in terms of electricity supply, (b) students' demotivation and inability to use English, and (c) teachers' dilemmas in applying the new curriculum. To deal with such quandaries, the teachers made use of (a) a teacher-centered approach, (b) group learning, (c) students' row seating positions, and (d) non-integrated language skills learning. The implications of this study are discussed at the end of the paper.
Keywords: Case study, classroom management, EFL teacher, secondary school
Introduction
This study seeks to construe how four Indonesian EFL teachers dealt with complexities they encountered in terms of classroom management in remote secondary schools and to what extent they employed strategies for solving the problems. We reported on a case study to uncover the phenomenon since this approach caters to a wide array of portrayals of the participants' voices, agencies, and enactment in their classroom management discourses. In relation to this, scholars have recently explored how classroom management is geared by teachers (see, for example, Egeberg, Mcconney, & Price, 2016; Eisenman, Edwards, & Cushman, 2015; George, Sakirudeen, & Sunday, 2017; Jalali & Panahzade, 2014; Kubat, 2018; Liu & Babchuk, 2018; Selcuk, Kadi, Yildirim, & Celebi, 2017). The results have informed uniform findings that classroom management is essential for teacher-student interactions and negotiations (Dikmenli & ^if<<, 2016).
Theoretically, studies on classroom management deal with several aspects concerning the organization of classwork such as relationships with parents, teaching materials, overcrowded classrooms, seating arrangements, noise, and social-cultural activities (Macías 2018). This is consistent with the research reported by Sieberer-Nagler (2016), which unveiled that the teacher's roles in the classroom encompass implications for classroom management, including creating the setting, decorating the room, arranging the chairs, speaking to children and handling their responses, putting routines in place, developing rules, and communicating those rules to students. Furthermore, Aliakbari and Heidarzadi (2015) affirmed that investigating teachers' competence in managing a classroom is crucial. The reason is that teacher performance in the class and strategies used to manage the class play a pivotal role in influencing the achievement and learning of students. Previously, Pedota (2016) found that effective classroom management strategies such as motivating, challenging, and engaging students will not only help improve the students' behavior in their academic endeavors but also provide the key for students to understand how to act morally and ethically in society.
Research Article
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Anchored by the aforementioned rationales, the purposes of this case study are to examine (1) what complexities the teachers encounter in the context of classroom management and (2) what strategies they employ to deal with such problems during their classes. A recent study about classroom management in the Indonesian context has been previously carried out by Habibi et al. (2017, 2018) who listed six emerging issues related to classroom management, including (1) teachers' attitudes toward new technology for teaching, (2) schools' inadequate equipment, (3) too many students, (4) small rooms, (5) students' insufficient amounts of practice, and (6) too many students. However, these studies have yet to specifically focus on foreign language education in remote areas. Identifying the problems of teaching English at secondary schools in terms of how the teachers manage their classrooms is needed to bring some insights into what should be done by the teachers to better improve their quality of teaching. An in-depth study researching how EFL teachers struggle when working with their students in remote schools would inform policymakers with some perspectives on how to support the teachers with adequate teaching and learning resources as it was reported by Rahmadi and Istiqamah (2016) that educational inequality between remote areas and urban cities does exist. To fill this gap in the literature about teaching English in remote schools, we explored the EFL classroom management of secondary school teachers within a remote area of Indonesia, including problems encountered and strategies they employed to deal with them. The research questions were twofold: 1) in the context of classroom management, what complexities do the teachers encounter? and 2) what strategies do they employ to deal with such problems during their classes?
Literature Review
Research Focus on Classroom Management in General and in EFL Contexts
Almost three decades ago, Brophy (1988) defined classroom management as "the action taken to create and maintain a learning environment conducive to the attainment of the goals of instruction - arranging the physical environment of the classroom, establishing rules and procedures, maintaining attention to lessons and engagement in academic activities" (p. 2). In the context of Indonesia, the Ministry of National Educations in 2013 announced that classroom management is a set of procedures and skills that allows a teacher to control students effectively to create a positive learning environment for all. In a recent study, Liu and Babchuk (2018) conveyed that classroom management is related to the complicated and dynamic interaction between students and teachers in the process of promoting academic, social, and emotional development in a classroom setting. This is why "teachers must deal with unexpected events and control the students' behavior using effective classroom management strategies" (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016, p. 163).
Furthermore, two decades ago, Martin, Yin, and Baldwin (1998) divided classroom management into three main areas or dimensions, namely instructional management, people management, and behavior management. In the revised and revisited study, Martin, Yin, and Mayall (2008) contended that these three dimensions work together to create teachers' classroom management styles and guide their efforts to attain appropriate instructional objectives. According to Martin et al. (2008), instructional management includes all aspects such as overseeing seat work, organizing daily routines, and distributing materials, while the people management dimension pertains to what teachers believe about students as persons and what teachers do to develop the teacher-student relationship. Although related to discipline, the behavior management dimension is different in that it focuses on pre-planned efforts to prevent misbehavior rather than the teacher's response to it. Specifically, Martin et al. (2008) explained, "this facet including establishing rules, forming a reward structure, and providing opportunities for student input" (p. 11). Additionally, after a few changes, Martin and Sass (2010) developed a new classroom classification that consists of behavior management and instructional management. Thus, Sass, Lopes, Oliveira, and Martin (2016), in a study about the evaluation of behavior and instructional management, found that some aspects related to behavior and instructional management include student control, instructional style, setting rules, and the regulation of student misbehavior.
On the other hand, Sieberer-Nagler (2016) revealed that the most critical concerns related to classroom management are discipline, students' motivation, students' social and emotional problems, support from parents, and violence. For a productive learning environment, "it is also important to generate goodwill, respect, and cooperation" (p. 163-164). Habibi et al. (2018) stated that the beneficial outcome of proper
management in the classroom enables the comfort of the learning and teaching process. Similarly, Billingsley, McKenzie, and Scheuermann (2018) uncovered that a poorly managed classroom that relies solely on reactive consequences for student misbehavior was often associated with a multitude of adverse student outcomes.
To the best of our data and knowledge, many studies have discussed classroom management in the context of EFL and ESL classrooms (Aliakbari & Heidarzadi, 2015; Farrell & Bennis, 2013; Haukas, 2016; Kazemi & Soleimani, 2016). For instance, in a study investigating the relationship between EFL teachers' classroom management approaches and the dominant teaching style, Aliakbari and Heidarzadi (2015) revealed that classroom management approaches and teaching styles are related to one another. Furthermore, reflecting on ESL teachers' beliefs in classroom practices, Farrell and Bennis (2013) investigated and compared teachers' beliefs by observing classroom practices. They found that teachers' beliefs were not always realized in classroom practices but were directly related to the context of teaching. The study also unveiled that language teachers need to be challenged to reflect on teachers' existing beliefs and their classroom teaching practices.
In terms of a study about problems and coping strategies for EFL classroom management, Mer< and Suba^i (2015) elaborated on classroom management problems and coping strategies of Turkish teachers. Their study reported that classroom management is very much needed for an effective teaching-learning process. They also argued that effective teaching and management activities are one of the most significant variables in the teaching and learning process. Merc and Subasi further argued that by learning classroom management efficacy, teachers as educators and educational researchers could design effective teaching practices. More specifically, in a study investigating students' attitudes toward teachers' affective factors in EFL classrooms, Ranjbar (2016) found that teachers' self-confidence, culture, attitude toward native English speakers and the language, lack of anxiety (class and topic management), and motivation are the affective factors that most affect students' English language learning.
The Current Condition of Schools in Remote Areas of Indonesia
In the context of Indonesia, remote areas are defined as areas that prioritize agriculture as their principal economic activity, including natural management with the structure of functional areas for rural settlements, governments, and social services, such as schools (Mulyana, 2014). Furthermore, according to Luschei and Zubaidah (2012), studies about teacher training in rural Indonesian schools reported that many educational institutions in Indonesia are located in remote areas. In these remote areas, teachers face unique and challenging working conditions, including the need to teach "multi-grade" classes that combine children of different ages, grades, and abilities. Additionally, a teacher in a remote area may have difficulty managing small-group activities in their classes. Many teachers, as the respondents in this study, did not receive any training on how to teach effectively. Simultaneously, some teachers designed their own learning materials. Rahmadi and Istiqamah (2016) found that the gap in educational quality between remote areas and urban cities is immense. People who live in remote areas do not have access to equal educational quality due to the limited teacher resources and educational provisions.
Several problems were found in the Indonesian educational context, such as (a) teachers teaching multigrade classes, (b) too many students, (c) poor school facilities, (d) inadequate infrastructure, and (e) demotivated teachers (Oplatka, 2007). Furthermore, issues such as "(1) handling large-sized classes, (2) limited space and resources, and (3) the lack of requirements to teach different content to children with different abilities in the same classroom" also emerged (Luschei & Zubaidah, 2012, p. 342). In remote areas of Indonesia, the teacher is more likely to teach multiple subjects, making it possible that they were highly qualified in only some of the subjects they teach. However, it is difficult to recruit and retain new teachers not just because of the highly qualified teacher requirement, but because of their unique teaching conditions. The teacher must not only have the required credentials but should also be aware of the nature of small schools and their facilities (Barley & Brigham, 2008).
In response to the issues discussed earlier, we attempt to portray how teachers in remote-based schools enact classroom management. We will focus on English as a foreign language teaching since research in this area has not been explicitly explored in the Indonesian remote school contexts. In sum, we argue that researching classroom management in remote schools will yield new perspectives for teacher training programs and policymakers since teaching in remote areas will be attributed to teachers' professional identity development,
materials use, student engagement, and policy enactment. These factors are critical for investigation in the teacher education context. Although previous studies have explored classroom management in schooling sectors (Habibi et al., 2017; 2018), unfortunately, they have not specifically discerned foreign language learning in remote areas such as English language teaching. Thereby, this study seeks to investigate remote areas EFL classroom management. To guide the study, two research questions were put forth: 1) in the context of classroom management, what complexities do the teachers in remote areas encounter? and 2) what strategies do they employ to deal with such problems during their classes?
Method
This study employed a qualitative case study approach (Creswell, 2012; Elliott, 2005; Johnson & Christensen, 2008; Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2013; O'Donoghue & Punch, 2003) to explore the EFL classroom management of secondary school teachers in remote areas of Indonesia, including problems and coping strategies. Creswell (2012) asserted that case studies are generally conducted to explore situated phenomena in natural settings. The present study focused on exploring the EFL classroom management of secondary school teachers, including problems and coping strategies at two secondary schools in Jambi, Indonesia. Next, we introduce the research site and the four participants, with pseudonyms for anonymity. Then, we describe the data sources and analysis.
Research Site and Participant Recruiting Procedure
We conducted the study at two secondary schools in remote areas of the Jambi Municipality, the southern part of Sumatra Island, Indonesia. The schools selected were based on purposeful sampling with a convenient case strategy. This sampling procedure was used to access the existing data with ease (Creswell, 2012).
Table 1
Participants' Background Information
No Names Age Bachelor Degree Masters Degree Current Status Experience
1 Nana 53 Major Major Handles 3 classes <15 years
2 Nani 48 Major None Handles 3 classes <15 years
3 Rina 56 Major None Handles 4 classes <15 years
4 Rini 47 Major Non-Major Handles 3 classes <15 years
Prior to commencing the study, we obtained permission from the National Unity and Politics Agency (Kesbangpol) of Jambi Province, Indonesia. Regarding research ethics, the participants were asked to read, complete, and sign a consent form that indicated they willingly volunteered their time for the study, and they also reserved the right to withdraw their participation in any phases of this research. The participants involved in this study were four English teachers from two secondary schools. Their names were made into the pseudonyms Nana, Nani, Rina, and Rini (see Table 1). All the teachers have been teaching English in public secondary schools in Jambi Municipality.
Data Collection
Empirical data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews. Each session of the face-to-face interviews was recorded using a smartphone for a period of 30-45 minutes. The interviews were conducted using the participants' national language (Bahasa Indonesia) to avoid misunderstandings and to expand the understanding of the phenomena investigated in this study. During the interview, we asked the teacher participants about problems they faced in teaching English at secondary schools. These problems were related to student learning behavior during teaching and learning processes, a common problem encountered by students for speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, teachers' comments regarding problems faced with the teaching materials, teaching performance, and school support. Then we asked how they deal with such problems.
Data Analysis
To analyze the data, pattern coding proposed by Miles et al. (2013) was employed, whereby we developed provisional codes based on the research questions that were addressed by the topics and questions from the interviews. Coding helped in constructing effective labeling and retrieving data processes (Miles et al., 2013). All the transcripts among the four participants were analyzed and compared to identify similarities and differences, reread line-by-line in order to find regularities and emerging themes as well as sub-themes among the data (Jati, Fauziati, & Wijayanto, 2019; Muyassaroh, Asib, & Marmanto, 2019). In this process, we first read the transcripts to obtain a global understanding of the interview results. Afterwards, we grouped similar data into one theme based on our global view of the interview results. In grouping the data, we opted for the most salient voices which were, from our perspective, closer to the emerging themes.
Trustworthiness
To ensure the integrity of the research, Lincoln and Guba (1990) proposed that researchers need to do members checks by returning copies of the interview data, findings, and final report to each participant. This approach was carried out to guarantee that each participant agreed with the data that was extracted from them, which also allowed the researchers to use the data in the present study. This process ensured that our data were valid and reliable for qualitative interpretations.
Results and Discussion
Problems of Teaching English at Secondary Schools
In light of the participants' data obtained from the interviews, the analysis revealed that the teachers encountered multiple problems in teaching English at secondary schools. The areas where the teachers faced problems in the process of managing their classrooms were (a) learning facilities in terms of electricity supply, (b) students' interest and ability in English, and (c) teachers' pedagogical knowledge.
Lack of Electricity Supply
One of the problems that the teachers faced was a shortage of learning facilities in terms of electricity resources to support their teaching strategies. The teachers in this study complained that even though their school met a certain high and medium standard of school management and quality, not all classes in their school had electricity support. This situation makes teaching activities challenging. This situation is reflected in Nana's statement. She shared:
The use of additional tools to support teaching strategies is not very diverse; for example, the use of LCDs and the internet due to a lack of electricity resources. (Nana)
In a similar vein, Nani also commented on a similar condition she has to face when dealing with the use of electricity to support her teaching using media. It is depicted in her comment:
As a teacher, I really want to teach using media to help students achieve their goals of learning. However, my school is located in the suburbs with limited electricity supply so I can not rely much on the power supply, so I use conventional nonelectronic media. (Nani)
Rini, one of the teachers who was frustrated with this situation, expressed her frustration in the following comment:
Electricity supply and internet access are very limited. I try to do my best so that students understand the material I provide with these limitations. (Rini)
In line with Rini, Rina, another teacher participant, mentioned that it is a bit hard for her school to compete with other schools in the city as her school is in suburban areas that have less electricity supply. She contended:
The school is equipped with computers and projectors to help teachers deliver his or her teaching materials to the students, but without adequate power to turn them on, all of the equipment becomes useless. (Rina)
The problem faced by the teachers in this present study, in the context of lack of electricity supply, was also found in other studies conducted in the Indonesian context (e.g., Febriana, Nurkamto, Rochsantiningsih, & Muhtia, 2018; Mulyana, 2014; Rahmadi & Istiqamah, 2016). Hence, the complaints of these teachers are also quite reasonable. Livingstone (2012) examined the importance of integrating ICT and the internet in education in general and its relation to language teaching and found that (a) it is used to enable the widespread sharing of valuable resources in both traditional and interactive forms, affording the means of collaborative learning distributed over time and place as needed and (b) it is enacted for the learning of foreign languages with special educational needs. Meiring and Norman (2005) also reported that ICT plays a significant role in both enabling and enhancing the foreign language learning experience of students with special educational needs. Additionally, integrating ICT in ESL/EFL is a trend nowadays. Finally, Young (2003) suggested that the policy, curriculum, design, pedagogy, and the whole school supporting system (e.g., electricity and internet) should be updated and reinforced.
Students' Interests and Ability in English
The students' backgrounds and students' interest in learning English have contributed to creating difficulties for Nani, Rina, and Rini when they are teaching English to students. This is similar to what Madalinska-Michalak and Bavli (2018) found in their study about challenges in teaching EFL in Poland and Turkey. They revealed that some of the students' fear to speak and answer questions were associated with the students' background and other factors outside the classroom. Many students, especially those from low-socio-economic backgrounds, experienced familial challenges and faced other stressful factors such as limited vocabulary and a lack of confidence that kept them from performing well in the classroom. This was also experienced by teacher participants in the present study. Nani, Rina, and Rini reported that one of the problems they faced was that their students were not enthusiastic in the learning process, lazy about doing homework, and feared performing in front of the class. They reported that the students from middle to lower-income family backgrounds tend to have less engagement, a lack of attention, and less willingness and motivation to learn. It is depicted in these three narratives:
From the independent tasks given to the students, I found some students dis not finish their assignments [reason] lack of attention (engagements) from their parents (Nani).
Most of the students in my class came from middle to lower economic backgrounds. This is why I think most of them are not enthusiastic about the learning process (Rina).
On the other hand, Nana, another teacher participant in this study, found that the low willingness of the students to learn English is because this language is not used in daily conversation.
English is a foreign language for the students, and they feel that they will not use English in their daily lives. (Nana).
What the teacher participants tried to explain in this study is commonly held, especially in countries where English is not spoken as the students' first language (Souriyavongsa, Rany, Abidin, & Mei, 2013).
To sum up, the teachers' problems with the students' background and interest in learning English in this study corroborate recent studies such as parents' lack of engagement in education (Ceka & Murati, 2016), parents' low involvement in children's English education, students' unwillingness to communicate (Lee & Hsieh, 2019; Riasati, 2018; Riasati & Rahimi, 2018), students' low motivation for learning EFL (Liu, 2020), and language barriers between mother tongue and English as a foreign language (Saneka & Witt, 2019; Souriyavongsa, Rany, Abidin, & Mei, 2013).
On the other hand, Nani was the only one who faced the problem of the students' ability to understand English lessons. She articulated this in the following comment:
My students have difficulty pronouncing English words. These words are new to them; that is why these students need help to pronounce the words correctly (Nani).
This finding is also confirmed by Boakye and Ampiah (2017), who found that students were handicapped because of their inadequate knowledge of the English language and because they did not have the basic knowledge expected of them. In the Indonesian context, this finding is also similar to what Sayuri (2016) found in fresh pre-service teachers. The study conveyed that among 24 challenges in learning English, pronouncing English words was deemed the most difficult part. These challenges occur because they did not having self-confidence, were afraid of making mistakes, experienced shyness around others, felt nervous, were inhabit in speaking English, and practiced infrequently.
Teachers' Difficulties Applying the 2013 Curriculum
Concerning the implementation of 2013 curriculum, three of the teacher participants reported some problems in the implementation of the curriculum. Nana, for example, encountered complexities when enacting the curriculum. She reported that she experienced difficulties applying the curriculum when her students had low abilities and poor proficiency in English. Nana explained:
I still use the KTSP curriculum. In these models, students are introduced to the skill of listening first, then speaking, followed by reading and writing. This is not effective, but I am forced to do it because my students are not ready to learn the English language all in once (Nana).
This is the reason why she still applies the KTSP (henceforth, School-Based Curriculum, or SBC) curriculum framework. Applying the KTSP framework gives her the opportunity to teach English skills separately rather than using the 2013 curriculum framework, which requires the teachers to teach English skills via an integrated approach. What is reported in this study confirms the findings of previous research conducted by Widiati, Suryati, and Nurhayati (2018), who uncovered that in the real field of teaching, teachers face various challenges, including planning and implementing a lesson based on the 2013 curriculum. However, teachers' dilemmas uncovered in this study stem from their inadequate professional learning (Ooyyimah, Singh, Doherty, & Exley, 2019) and because of their lack of commitment to implementing the curriculum (Park & Sung, 2013).
Rina and Rini also experienced some difficulties implementing the 2013 curriculum in their classrooms. They pointed out that:
The 2013 curriculum requires the teachers to integrate the four skills of English into one learning activity. It is not easy to do that with poor facilities and learning support (Rina).
As an English teacher, I need training about the newest curriculum, but I teach in a remote area, which made me have less opportunity to get the training. It seems that the government does not prioritize the teachers from remote schools to have training or a workshop regarding the curriculum (Rini).
This finding indicates that teachers do not yet have sufficient qualifications to implement the 2013 curriculum. Therefore, it is important for the government, in this case, the Ministry of Education and Culture (henceforth, MoEC) to provide equitable training for teachers to help them implement the new curriculum (Sulistiyo, 2016; Sulistiyo, Haryanto, Widodo, & Elyas, 2019; Yuwono, 2005).
Teachers' Coping Strategies
Coping with a Lack of Electricity Supply
In the context of dealing with electrical problems, aside from students' backgrounds and the low interest in learning English faced by Nani, Rina, and Rini, students' poor understanding, and teachers' weak pedagogical practice, the teacher participants in this study copied learning material, prepared pictures and videos from home and brought them to the class, which enabled them to improvise some of the needed materials to support their teaching strategies. These strategies were used by teachers since their schools do not provide sufficient electricity for computers, internet, and other audio-video facilities. Therefore, what the teachers did in this
study aimed to select texts and activities at precisely the right level for the students, as what was found by Howard and Major, 2004. It is depicted in a conversation with Rini:
I usually look for and prepare sources of learning materials at home. For example, I have printed pictures from home. For listening, I download the sources from YouTube, then to play it, I use portable speakers. (Rini)
On the other hand, Nani made use of nonelectrical teaching devices to cope with the problem.
My school is located in the suburbs with limited electricity supply and I can not rely much on the power supply, so I use conventional nonelectrical media. (Nani)
Despite the lack of electricity to implement ICT in the learning process, teachers are required to think creatively, including utilizing appropriate alternative learning media with their students, even traditional media, as Nani did. Theoretically, creative thinking in teaching "will enable the students to solve problems in both educational and personal contexts effectively" (Kettler & Lamb, 2018, p. 164). Additionally, according to Bajracharya (2016), the choices of the teacher to choose conventional media in the learning process is still effective because of its ease of use and low cost.
Coping with Students' Low Interest and Ability in English
In terms of students' interest and ability to learn English, the teachers had different solutions to solve these problems. For instance, Nani and Rini encouraged students in the learning process by inviting high and low-achieving students to take part in small groups discussions. The goal was that one or two students who were active in the group could motivate their friends. These groups competed and indirectly encouraged students to be actively involved in the class. This strategy is depicted in Nani's and Rini's narratives:
Working in a small group is one of my ways to encourage students to learn English in a more interesting way. (Nani)
Engaging students is very challenging, but by having them learn in a group, it will make teacher's job easier. (Rini)
What has been done by Nani and Rini is in line with what is contended by Gremmen, van den Berg, Segers, and Cillessen (2016) who said that the goal of putting students into a small group was to provoke cooperation among the students. More importantly, the goal of grouping students is also to promote the quality of instruction and help students develop positive attitudes as well as to improve student achievement (Liu, 2008).
Meanwhile, Rina shared her way of dealing with such problems. To motivate students who did not actively participate in the class, she contended that the low-achieving students should be seated in the front row so that they were more focused and concentrated during the learning process. She commented that:
Seating the low-achiever students in the front row will help them concentrate and focus on the learning activities. This strategy works effectively to engage students in your teaching and learning activities. (Rina)
What Rina did was to utilize pedagogical approaches that support students' effective learning (Sentance & Csizmadia, 2017). However, based on the theory of classroom management in language teaching (Wright, 2005), the model of seating arrangement applied by the teacher in this study was known as the traditional rows model. Seating the students in fixed rows creates fewer opportunities for interactions and collaborative work (Contreas León & Chapetón Castro, 2017), and the number of interactions among students and teachers is ofter reduced (Correa, Lara, Pino, & Vera, 2017).
On the other hand, to deal with the students' inability to understand English lessons, Nani reported that, in this situation, she applied a teacher-centered approach. With this approach, she acted as a model for pronouncing and spelling English words well in front of the students. She pointed out that:
The teacher acting as a role model in teaching and learning activities is an effective way to engage students for learning English in the classroom. (Nani)
In the EFL context, what was done and used by Nani (a teacher-centered approach) is known as a traditional method (Jeon & Hahn, 2007). However, the approach practiced by Nani in this study indicates the pattern of needs, beliefs, and behaviors that she believes can solve the problems in the classroom. Geared by a multidimensional construct framework (Grasha, 1996), teachers with a personal model teaching style make an effort to provide personal examples to teach the material and establish a prototype to instruct learners how to think and behave, demonstrate how to do things by acting as a role model, and encourage learners to observe and then to imitate them (Aliasin, Saeedi, & Pineh, 2019).
Coping with the Curriculum Dilemma
Nana explained that she did not apply the 2013 curriculum because her students were not ready yet to learn English skills via an integrated approach. This is why she chose to teach the English skills separately in accordance with the KTSP curriculum instead of the more recent 2013 curriculum. In line with Nana, Rina preferred using the previous curriculum to teach English to her students. She reported that:
It is difficult to implement the new curriculum, so I just teach English skills separately in accordance with the KTSP curriculum. (Rina)
On the other hand, Rini has taken the initiative to learn about the 2013 curriculum by joining the English subject teacher's association (MGMP), where the English teachers in nearby areas can share information regarding the 2013 curriculum. She explained:
I joined the local English teachers' association to get information on how to implement the 2013 English curriculum. (Rini)
The initiative undertaken by Rini was indeed necessary. With limited access to formal training provided by the government, choosing to join the MGMP was a good decision. Indriati (2018) argued that the MGMP focuses on supporting teachers to achieve their learning goals as well as supporting teacher professional development (Yulia, 2017). The MGMP sets five criteria for the success of the organization. They are (1) to encourage teachers to improve their ability and skill to plan and implement meaningful and joyful learning activities as well as build good characteristics among teachers and students; (2) to share experiences and give feedback between teachers such as problems faced by teachers when implementing their daily responsibilities and to propose solutions in accordance with the characteristics of the subject matter, teachers, school conditions, and communities; (3) to improve teachers' knowledge, skill, and behavior as well as their performances both in and out of the school or classroom including the implementation of the curriculum, character building, and the development of science and technology; (4) to provide teachers with opportunities to express their ideas through classroom action research; and (5) to develop some cooperation with other institutions and governments, as well to conduct conducive, effective, and enjoyable teaching and learning processes (Indriati, 2018).
This study has indicated that the teachers generally used various teaching strategies to deal with their problems in teaching English at remote secondary schools in Indonesia (Boakye & Ampiah, 2017; He & Cooper, 2011). They also employed diverse learning resources to cope with the limited support for teaching and learning in their schools, particularly for their professional development. In addition, teachers' active participation in the MGMP is also contributive for improving their teaching methodology and materials development.
Conclusion
This study aimed to explore the EFL classroom management of secondary school teachers within a remote area of Indonesia, including their problems and the coping strategies they employed. We argued that identifying the significant problems of teaching English at secondary schools in Indonesia drives us to respond to the question of what should be done in order to support teachers performing their role of teaching EFL in remote schools.
Interestingly, apart from all of the problems faced by the teachers in this study, such as (a) learning facilities in terms of electricity supply, (b) students' low interest and ability in English, and (c) teachers' problems applying the new curriculum, we found that the most significant problem appeared to be themselves. This is indicated by the problems they faced and the ways they dealt with them. Their actions showed that their pedagogical knowledge and practices are inadequate. For instance, the teachers in this study still used traditional approaches in their teaching (e.g., a teacher-centered approach and sitting the students in rows).
Therefore, it is crucial for future teacher training programs to prepare teachers with adequate pedagogical knowledge and practice. More importantly, this underpinning idea should be further built through pre-service teacher programs (Chen & Goh, 2011), including teaching knowledge, such as subject matter, pedagogy, and pedagogical content knowledge, and also teachers' professional digital competencies to support learner motivation and learner autonomy (Fernandez, 2014; Khotimah, Widiati, Mustofa, & Ubaidillah, 2019; Madalinska-Michalak & Bavli, 2018).
Furthermore, based on the findings of this study, practically, this study recommends that (1) teachers prepare manual learning media such as pictures and videos from home to overcome the lack of electricity supply in their schools, (2) the teachers need to identify their students' learning styles so the approach they use in teaching can be adjusted to their students' learning styles, and (3) in doing so, teachers have greater potential to experience and apply various models of learning practices that can motivate students to learn.
To conclude, although this paper focused on EFL classroom management in Indonesia, teachers in other EFL countries may also face similar problems. Therefore, the results of this study may have implications for educational administrators and educational policymakers with information regarding teachers' problems of teaching EFL at remote secondary schools. For the government, in this case, the Ministry of Education and Culture (MoEC) must conduct equitable training for teachers to have the ability to implement the 2013 curriculum, both in cities and in remote areas. However, if the government cannot cover all these teachers, then it needs to consider supporting the MGMP because this organization is able to reach teachers in remote areas.
Moreover, the results can cater to future teachers and help develop teacher training programs' insights into the factors that may impact the practice of classroom management. Additionally, the findings of this study also have implications for educational policymakers to help them match teacher training programs to practices and develop their conceptual understanding of management for successful teaching.
Despite the best attempts to conduct the current research, some limitations need to be acknowledged by other researchers who are willing to conduct the study in the area of teaching English in remote schools. Firstly, this study was conducted with a limited number of participants who teach EFL in secondary schools in remote areas. Thus, the findings of the study need to be verified with a larger number of participants across different provinces in Indonesia to achieve more generalizable results, including involving the students as participants. Secondly, this study examined the teachers' problems related to their classroom management practice using a qualitative case study (interview); therefore, further research can be conducted using other instruments such as questionnaires, open-ended questionnaires, and observation to verify the findings.
Conflict of Interest
The authors of this study declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank participants involved in this study and the anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback on the earlier draft of this paper. Our gratitude also goes to the editorial team of Journal of Language and Education for facilitating the publication of this paper.
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