Group 4-

Group Process/Socio-
psychological,
Instructional Classroom
Management
 Group Process/
Socio-Psychological
ESL classrooms are social settings:
Teaching and learning occur through social interaction between teachers and
pupils.
The interactions and relationships between teachers and pupils, and among
pupils, as they work side by side, constitute the group processes of the
classroom.
Group processes are significant in developing interpersonal skills, intrapersonal
skills, social competence and empathy which are essential for real life
The effectiveness of group processes can be affected by peer-
situations.
group relationships.
A peer group is a collection of interdependent, interacting individuals with
reciprocal influence over one another.
In classrooms as few as two people can form groups, as long as the paired
individuals have reciprocal influence through communication and mental
contact.
When the teacher engages the whole class in a learning activity common to all,
then everyone forms into a single group, or as Thelen (1981) wrote, a
"miniature society".
The teacher and pupils of one class can be a whole group or from time to time
many subgroups. Therefore groups are not simply people in proximity, but an
entity, which share and work toward a common goal.
From the social-psychological perspective,

pupils of a class form a miniature society with peers, teachers and aides.
As members of the miniature society they are interdependent and interact with
one another striving for common goals.
Many subgroups in the class affect how the larger classroom society works as
how individuals relate to and interact with one another formally and informally.
Hence over a period of time, these informal relationships with peers increase in
power and concentration. In effect, pupils self-concept is formed by the peer
group influence which can be either threatening or supportive.
As members of a social group, pupils need to achieve the social motives
of affiliation, achievement and power in order for them to feel
comfortable and secure. Inability to satisfy these goals will lead to
negative conditions such as
loneliness and rejection, incompetence, powerlessness, and alienation.

The group processes in the ESL classroom will contribute to higher

learner achievement if the social climate is positive and how teachers
manage their teaching and learning effectively.

Hence, this will result in high self-esteem in pupils and their positive attitudes
toward school, and ESL teaching and learning.
 Elements of positive classroom
climate and
A positive leadership occurs as power-with rather than
climate power-over;
exists
communication is honest, open and
when the transactional;
following
properties high levels of friendship are present among
are classmates;
present: expectations are high for the performance of
others and oneself;
classroom norms are supportive in maximising
pupils ESL competency; and
conflict is dealt with constructively and
peacefully.
Characteristics of effective teachers
Leadership styles
Autocratic:
Leader made all decisions about group goals and work procedures.
Autocratically lead groups had high quality work output, but low
morale.
Classroom research has shown that although autocratic teachers can
get pupils to accomplish high amounts of academic work, they also
create conformity, competition, dependency, and resentment.
democratic:
Leader specified group goals, but urged group members to decide
among alternative ways of working.
Groups with democratic leaders performed best with high quality work
output and high morale.
Pupils of democratic teachers accomplish both a great deal of
excellent academic work, and establish positive social climates.
laissez faire:
Leader abdicated authority, permitting youth to work as they pleased.
Groups with laissez-faire leaders performed worst overall.
Effective Communication
The key in understanding differences between autocratic and
democratic teachers.
Autocratic teachers use one-way communication in persuading
pupils to accept learning goals and procedures as well as rules
for classroom behaviour; such unilateral direction giving is
often an ineffective way of transmitting information.
In contrast, democratic teachers use two-way communication
often to encourage pupils to participate in making decisions
for themselves and in establishing group agreements for
classroom procedures.
By using transactional communication whereby pupils and
teachers reciprocate in trying to understand one another,
democratic teachers help build a climate that is participatory,
relaxed, personal, and supportive.
Attributes of democratic teachers who are effective
transactional communicators are receptiveness to pupils'
ideas, an egalitarian attitude, openness, warmth, respect for
pupils' feelings, sensitivity to outcasts, a sense of humor, and
a caring attitude.
Levels of friendship
Friendly feelings are integral to instructional transactions
between teachers and pupils and among pupils.
Pupils who view themselves as disliked or ignored by their
peers often have difficulty in performing up to their academic
potential.
They experience anxiety and reduced self-esteem, both of
which interfere with their academic performance. As outcasts
they might seek revenge, searching for ways to be
aggressive toward teachers and peers.
By watching their teacher interact with the class, pupils learn
who gets left out and who gets encouragement and praise.
Teachers can help rejected pupils obtain peer support by
giving them an extra amount of encouragement and praise in
front of their peers, and by assigning them to work
cooperatively with popular classmates.
Teachers with friendly classes see to it that they talk and
attend to every pupil rather than focusing on a few, and often
reward pupils with specific statements for helpful and
successful behaviour; they seek to control behavioural
disturbances with general, group-oriented statements.
High expectations
Teachers' expectations for how each pupil might behave
affect how teachers behave toward that pupil.
Thus, teachers should engage in introspection and
reflection to diagnose their expectations, and obtain
feedback from colleagues about how they are behaving
toward particular pupils.
Teachers should also use diverse information sources to
understand what makes their pupils behave as they do.
Teachers should reflect on their expectations and
attributions toward girls and boys, pupils of different
social classes and ethnic groups.
Teachers should deliberately seek new information
about pupil strengths in order to free themselves of
stereotypes.
Classroom norms
Classroom norms form when most pupils hold the
same expectations and attitudes about appropriate
classroom behaviours.
Although norms guide pupils' and the teacher's
behaviour, they are not the same as rules.
Rules, on the hand are regulations created by
administrators or teachers to govern pupils'
behaviour which are not neccessarily group norms.
Pupil norms frequently are in opposition to teachers'
goals, and can become counter productive to
individual pupil development.
Teachers should strive to help pupils create formal
group agreements to transform preferred rules into
pupil norms. In particular, cooperative peer-group
norms enhance pupil self-concept and language
learning more than do norms in support of
competition.
Managing conflict
Conflict, natural and inevitable in all groups, exists when one
activity blocks, interferes, or keeps another activity from
occurring.
Conflicts arise in classrooms over incompatible procedures,
goals, concepts, or interpersonal relationships. The norms of
cooperation and competition affect the management of
conflict differently.
With cooperative norms pupils believe they will obtain their
self-interest when other pupils also achieve theirs.
Teachers should strive, therefore, to build a spirit of teamwork
and cooperation in their classes, so that pupils will feel that it
is in their self-interest to cooperate with their peers.
When a competitive spirit exists, particularly when pupils are
pitted against each other to obtain scarce rewards, a pupil
succeeds only when others lose. In the competitive classroom,
interpersonal conflict will arise frequently between pupils.
Instructional Classroom
Management
Purpose
To prevent most management problems by actively engaging
pupils in high-interest lessons geared to meet their interests,
needs, and abilities.
Thus, pupils are motivated to attend class, positively participate in
activities, and manage their own behaviour.
The basis for the instructional approach to
classroom management
Well-planned and well-implemented instruction will prevent most
classroom problems.
The assumption is that pupils will not engage in disruptive
behaviour when well-planned and well-implemented lessons
engage pupils in the learning process with activities that meet
their interests, needs, and abilities.
Two models of classroom management that focus
on the principles of the instructional approach.
The Kounin Model
The Jones Model
 The Kounin Model
In a comprehensive comparison of effective and
ineffective classroom managers, Jacob Kounin
(1970) in Marzano et al (2003) found that teachers
handle classroom problems differently. The
primary difference was in the things the
successful managers did that tended to prevent
classroom problems.
They were totally aware of everything in the classroom
environment;
They kept pupils actively engaged; and they conducted
well-planned lessons with smooth transitions.
Kounin concluded that some teachers are better classroom
managers because of their skill in four areas: withitness,
overlapping activities, group focusing, and movement
management (Charles, 2002).
Withitness
the skill to know what is going on in all parts of the classroom at all times;
nothing is missed.
Withit teachers respond immediately to pupil misbehaviour and know who
started what.
A major component of withitness is scanning the class frequently, establishing
eye contact with individual pupils, and having eyes in the back your head.
Withit teachers dont make timing errors (waiting too long before intervening)
or target errors (blaming the wrong person and letting the real perpetrators
escape responsibility for misbehaviour).
Withit teachers prevent minor disruptions from becoming major and know
who the instigator is in a problem situation.
Overlapping
Overlapping means handling two or more activities or groups at the same time.
It is the ability to monitor the whole class at all times.
It involves keeping a small group on task, for example, while also helping other
pupils with their seatwork.
Movement management and group focus
The ability to make smooth lesson transitions, keep an appropriate pace, and
involve all pupils in a lesson.
Moreover, effective managers do not leave a lesson hanging while tending to
something else or change back and forth from one subject or activity to
another.
They keep pupils alert by holding their attention, by holding them accountable,
and by involving all pupils in the lesson.
 The Jones Model
Based upon over 10 years of researching classroom
difficulties, Frederick Jones (1979) in Moore (2005), found that
teachers lose 50% or more of their instructional time through
pupils time-wasting (e.g., talking and walking around the
room).

Jones contends that this wasted instructional time can be

reclaimed when teachers correctly implement four strategies:

Limit setting
Good body language
Incentive systems
Giving help efficiently
Setting limits, using body language, implementing an incentive
system, and giving help efficiently will not eliminate all behaviour
problems. When such problems do develop, Jones suggests, a back-
up system, such as in-class isolation or removal from the room, is
needed.
 The establishment of classroom boundaries
for appropriate behaviour.
According to Jones, these limits should
Limit include the formation of rules of behaviour,
as well as descriptions of appropriate work
setting behaviour, procedures for getting supplies
and materials, instruction on what to do
when stuck on seatwork, and what to do
when finished with assigned seatwork.

A set of physical mannerisms that tend to get

Body pupils back to work, the most effective of
which are physical proximity to pupils, direct
languag eye contact, body position (body orientation
e toward pupil), facial expressions, and tone of
voice.
 To keep pupils on task and to get them to
complete their work.
He suggests that preferred activities, such as time
on the computer, free time, use of educational
games, and free reading, can serve as
motivational rewards for desired behaviours.
Furthermore, Jones adds, the use of peer pressure
Incentive represents a quite effective motivator. For
example, time can be deducted from the class-
systems preferred activity time when an individual pupil
misbehaves. The deduction of time can be
recorded, as Jones suggests, with a large
stopwatch placed at the front of the room, so the
whole class can see. If a large stopwatch is not
available, a standard amount of time (e.g., one
minute) can be deducted for each instance of
misbehaviour.
To time on task.
His research revealed that teachers on the average
spend 4 minutes helping individual pupils who are
Giving having difficulty with seatwork.
help Jones recommends that this time be cut to no more
than 20 seconds per pupil. Doing so allows more
efficiently pupils to be helped and reduces the tendency for
pupils to work only when the teacher is standing
near them.