Teachers' Viewpoints of the Integration of Classroom Management in In-Service Training Programs

Abstract

In-service training programs (ITPs) are often thought to aid Iraqi EFL primary school teachers to recognize their pupils' needs and improve their teaching progression, and in return develop pupils' learning. Too, these programs offer the teachers with understanding of what can be directed to develop the teachers’ presentation in teaching classes. According to Finocchiaro and Bonomo (1973, p. 76), English teachers should be given a proportionate education and appropriate "training in professional education, psychology, and teaching methods". One important requirement for the training programs is the inclusion of classroom management (CM) as it plays a great role in the teaching career. Hence, this study endeavors to gather Iraqi EFL primary school teachers' points of view of the inclusion of the elements of CM in the ITP and its impacts on teachers' demonstration of English subject in Iraqi primary schools. Put
differently, it revolves around identifying the influence of the teachers’ CM on the efficiency of the training program. Eighty-three Iraqi primary school teachers from Al-Karkh and Al-Risafah sections of Baghdad constitute the sample of the study who have voluntarily participated in the questionnaire and answered its 18 items concerning CM dimensions. However, the questionnaire is followed by two questions, i.e. the influence of CM in the training program on teachers' performance and the application of CM in Iraqi classes. Based on Likert scale, Iraqi EFL primary school teachers' responses mostly show their agreement towards instructional and behavior (or discipline) rather than people management; they focuses on their observations of the inclusive nature of pupils’ general psychological environment, and on what they do to help their pupils learn, rather than on what teachers think about their pupils as individuals and what they do to assist their pupils to improve autonomous learning.