<p>Bu biyografik nitel çalışmanın amacı, sınıf yönetiminde yaygın olarak<br />karşılaşılan olayların irdelenmesidir. Veriler dokümantasyon tekniği ile<br />toplanmıştır. Öğretmen adaylarından geçmişteki öğrenim yaşantılarında sınıf<br />ortamında karşılaştıkları ve unutamadıkları bir olayı yazılı kompozisyon<br />formatında hikâyeleştirmeleri istenmiş ve bu belgeler araştırmanın veri<br />dokümanları olarak kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen toplam 58 hikâyenin içerikleri<br />betimsel olarak çözümlenmiştir. Araştırmadan elde edilen bulgular, olayın<br />gerçekleştiği sınıf ortamının özellikleri, meydana gelen olay çeşitleri, olaylara<br />karşı öğretmen tepkileri ve yaşanan olayın birey üzerindeki etkileri şeklinde<br />dört ana tema altında özetlenmiş ve yorumlanmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda<br />öğrencilerin unutamadıkları sınıf olaylarının genellikle eğitim kademesi olarak<br />lise döneminde, ders türü olarak matematik dersinde ve sınıf davranış ortamı<br />olarak ise katı kontrollü sınıflarda gerçekleştiği görülmüştür. Olaylar genellikle<br />öğrenci kaynaklı olup “sınıfta konuşma ve gülme”, “derse karşı ilgisizlik” ve<br />“dersten başarısız olma” ilk üç sırada yer almıştır. Öğretmenlerin bu olaylara<br />tepkisinin ise genellikle olumsuz yönde olduğu ve sınıf ortamında çıkan<br />problemlere karşı etkili olamadıkları ortaya çıkmıştır.</p>
<p>Background<br />Classroom management has been consistently regarded as the most serious<br />challenge pre-service and beginning teachers (Başar, 2006; Erdoğan, 2001;<br />Evertson and Weinstein, 2006; Jones, 1996; Weinstein, 1996). Student discipline<br />related issues have been among primary reasons for leaving the profession for may<br />teachers (Ingersoll, 2001). These studies indicate that managing student behavior is<br />one of the strong teacher stressors. One of the prerequisites for coping with this<br />stress is to have adequate knowledge and skills about possible incidents in the<br />classrooms and how they can be resolved in an effective manner.<br />Purpose<br />The primary purpose of this study is to examine common classroom incidents by<br />means of analyzing pre-service teachers’ written stories of real classroom situations<br />from their educational experiences. The research questions were: (a) What were<br />the characteristics of classrooms in which reported incidents happened?, (b) What<br />kinds of incidents were frequently mentioned in the stories, (c) How did the<br />teachers react to incidents? and (d) How did the incidents and teacher reactions<br />effect the individuals?<br />Method<br />This study was designed as a biographical inquiry. Data were collected through<br />documentation obtained in the form of written stories. Participants were 58 senior<br />students enrolled in the “Classroom Management” course during the 2008-Spring<br />semester at the Faculty of Technical Education, Suleyman Demirel University.<br />Senior students were asked to narrate an unforgotten classroom memoir in a<br />written story format. The stories were analyzed by using content analysis. The data<br />analysis process involved Miles and Huberman’s (1994) three fundamental<br />activities: data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing. Each researcher<br />examined some stories to determine salient concepts and thematic issues. Then,<br />researchers discussed their notes and then developed a consolidated coding list.<br />Each researcher used this list to code the stories. After sorting and summarizing the<br />coded data, categories were tabulated with frequencies and percentages. Finally,<br />categories and relationships among categories were interpreted.<br />Findings<br />The findings were grouped into four main themes. The first one was related to<br />the characteristics of classroom environments in which incidents took place. It was<br />found that unforgotten classroom incidents in the stories took place mostly in high<br />schools (45%), mathematics lessons (38%), and strictly-controlled classrooms<br />Sınıf Yönetiminde Karşılaşılan Olaylar<br />27<br />(45%). The second theme focused on the types of common classroom incidents.<br />The findings related to this theme were grouped into two sections as studentrelated<br />and teacher-related incidents. Most of the incidents were negative and<br />germane to disruptive/unwanted student behaviors. The first three most frequently<br />reported student-related incidents were “speaking and laughing loudly” (26%),<br />“neglecting lessons” (16%), and “being unsuccessful in the courses” (16%).<br />Teacher-related incidents included three negative ones as “being unfair” (2%),<br />“giving special attention to a student” (2%), “misunderstanding a student” (2%),<br />and one positive one as “being adequately interested in all students” (2%).<br />Teachers’ reaction to resolve classroom incidents was the third theme of the study.<br />The first three most frequent teacher reactions were “physical punishment” (34%),<br />“dealing with the student to solve the problem” (14%), and “shaking students’<br />confidence” (10%). The final theme that arose from the data analysis was the<br />consequences of the incidents on the individuals, which were grouped into three<br />parts as positive effects on the students, negative effects on the students, and<br />positive effects on the teachers. Exhibiting negative attitude towards the course<br />(24%) and the teacher (16%) and increasing the level of shyness (14%) were the<br />most frequently reported negative consequences whereas understanding his or her<br />mistake (12%), being successful (9%), and gaining positive attitude towards the<br />course (9%) were the positive ones. Understanding his or her mistake and<br />apologizing (5%) was the only consequence on teachers found in the stories.<br />Conclusion<br />This study indicated that teachers may encounter classroom management<br />challenges mostly in the classrooms with adolescent students (grade 8 to 12), in the<br />courses about which student are anxious and stressed (e.g. math), and in the<br />strictly-controlled classrooms. Therefore, these results suggest that students’ age,<br />motivation, and teachers’ classroom management strategies can be significant<br />factors in predicting management problems. The study also suggested that teachers<br />can encounter classroom incidents that are more likely related to disruptive student<br />behaviors or discipline problems. Teachers are more likely to use aggressive and<br />humiliating reactions to discipline problems rather than negotiation-oriented<br />approaches. Past research shows that application of punishment is not an effective<br />strategy for preventing from discipline problems, on the contrary, it is rather<br />associated with increased misbehavior and loss of motivation (Lewis, 2001; Lewis,<br />Romi, Qui and Katz, 2005). Similarly, in this study, generating negative attitude<br />towards both the course and the teacher appears to be the consequences of<br />aggressive teacher reactions to classroom incidents.</p>