WHAT THE TEACHER OF SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL IN A RURAL AREA OF CIANJUR

IMPLEMENTS TO DEVELOP HER TEACHING

Ihsan Nur Iman Faris

Indonesia University of Education

Ihsannif@gmail.com

ABSTRACT The lack of supports and facilities in a rural area teaching context can influence the self-development process

of teachers in that area. Considering teacher development determines the quality of teaching in class, this

research emerges to investigate what the teacher in a rural area in Cianjur implements to develop her

teaching and the reasons triggering the teacher to implement that ways of development. This research is a

single case study employing an interview as the instrument to collect the data. List of ways of development

and underpinning principles of teacher development are utilized as the ground for comparing theories and

phenomenon. The findings show that the teacher implements (1) reading local textbooks, (2) establishing a

mentoring relationship, (3) talking with other teachers to develop her teaching and (4) considering the

opinions of students’ parents. The main reasons of the implementation are (1) the gap between theories and

practices, (2) the needs to cooperate with others and (3) the demand of the authorities and society. In

general, the teacher relies on local textbooks and people around her to develop her teaching due to problems

in her teaching context and demand from the authorities. Then, it is suggested that teachers explore other

ways of development underpinned by EFL teaching theories and authorities make a regulation reinforcing

teachers to implement ways of development relevant to EFL teaching theories.

Keywords: rural area, teacher, development

INTRODUCTION

Teacher development is a crucial process determining how teachers professionally face various

contexts of teaching. According to Evans (2002), teacher development is the process of enhancing teaching

professionalism. One of the factors influencing teacher development is teaching setting (Gebhard, 2009).

Hence, there is a tendency of disparities between teacher development in a rural area and urban area. Teacher

development in urban area can be supported by many facilities, high exposures of English, and easy access to

the sources of knowledge. In contrast, teachers in rural area tend to have more difficulties in developing their

teaching. Arnold et al (2005) states that facilities to support teaching-learning process and self-development

are not sufficient. Although the disparities make teachers in rural area generally disadvantageous, teachers in

one rural area to another may develop differently as their development is influenced by the need to attain

knowledge-in-practice (Cochran-Smith & Lyte, 1999 cf. Mukeredzi, 2013) based on specific teaching

contexts. The research investigating the teacher development in rural area is still limited. Thus, it needs to be

enriched since the findings can help teachers in that context to develop their teaching and improve the quality

of education.

Due to various conditions and considerations, teachers will develop differently. In rural area, some

ways of development may be impractical to be implemented. Take for example the research conducted by

Mukeredzi (2013) investigating teacher development in Zimbabwe and South Africa. In the contexts of

teaching considered as rural areas, teachers in Zimbabwe and South Africa generally develop their teaching

by having discussions with students‟ parents and other teachers. It was said that some ways of development

such as reading journal articles and books about EFL/ESL teaching and attending professional conferences

are not practical in their contexts. In the different context of teaching, in America considered as an urban

area, Levin (2003) found that teachers develop their teaching generally by reading and applying theories of

EFL/ESL teaching, attending conferences, establishing a mentoring relationship, and talking with other

teachers. It can be inferred that supporting facilities in urban area enable teachers to develop more ideally

based on theories of EFL/ESL teaching. The two previous studies portray how different teaching settings can

influence teacher development. As the context of one rural area to another is also different, this research is

aimed at investigating what the teacher of a senior high school in a rural area of Cianjur implements to

develop her teaching. This research is geared toward answering the following research questions.

.

1. What does the teacher of the senior high school in a rural area of Cianjur implement to develop her

teaching?

2. Why does the teacher implement particular way(s) of development?

Among many definitions proposed by scholars, this research take the definition of teacher development

proposed by Evans (2002), stating that it is an on-going or completed process of enhancing the

professionalism of teaching. The quality of teachers and administrators are seen as the essential factor to

improve the quality of education (Guskey, 2002). Although professional status is embedded to teachers

passing teacher preparation program, teacher development does not stop after the graduation (Levin, 2003).

The tendency that teachers face different situations with what they have learned in teaching preparation

programs is high. Then, teachers are triggered to have self-development (Levin, 2003; Goodwyn, 1997).

According to Villegas-Remers (2003), there are four underpinning characteristics of teacher professional

development. First, teacher development is drawn on constructivism where teachers are seen as active

learners. Second, professional development is considered as collaborative process where discussions and

interaction between teachers and teachers or other stakeholders take place. Third, professional development

occurs in a specific context related to daily activities of teachers and students. Fourth, a teacher is considered

as a reflective practitioner entering the professions with prior knowledge. Moreover, Gebhard (2009) stated

that there are seven central factors of self-development: 1) time; how long teachers have been engaged to

teaching/learning activities 2) ongoing commitment; the eagerness and the consistency of teachers to learn

new things 3) problem solving encounters; experiencing facing various problems to solve 4) exploration for

exploration’s sake; how teachers are interested in applying and discovering new methods or strategies 5)

paying attention to and reviewing basics of EFL/ESL teaching; trying to apply the theories of EFL/ESL

teaching while reviewing the relevancy between the practice and the theories 6) searching out opportunities

to develop; searching for experiences improving their teaching ability such as joining seminars and teachers

forum, and 7) cooperation with others; how the development of teachers are influenced by others. As teacher

development depends on individual choice and various contexts faced by individuals, ways of development

undergone by each teacher may vary. Yet, Gebhard (2009) points out the ways of development which are

implemented generally by teachers are as follows: (1) reading articles and books about teaching and learning

(2) reading teacher narratives: (3) Attending professional conferences (4) establishing mentoring relationship

(5) putting together teaching portfolio (6) Learning another language (7) conducting action research (8) doing

self-observation (8) observing other teachers (9) talking with other teachers (10) being keen on teacher

journal.

How teachers define learning and development influences the choice of pedagogic approaches,

materials, content, and learner activities (Mukeredzi, 2013). This learning defined by teachers can also hinder

the process of teacher development, especially when the sources of development are from the external parties.

Years of teaching experience on particular contexts may contradict the information and strategies presented

by other parties. Hence, the tendency that teachers usually do what they had been doing all along, though new

exposures have been given may be found in the field (Harwell, 2003). It is because teachers already have a

conception which Brown (2004, p.303) defines as “more general mental structures, encompassing beliefs,

meanings, concepts, propositions, rules, mental images, preferences and the like”. He suggests that the

most contributory to teacher conceptions are the lessons from schooling and observations of their own

teachers, yet, Goodwyn (1997) argued that conception can also be shaped by practices and experiences of

day-to-day teachings teachers carry out.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This research was a single case study employing an interview as the instrument to collect the data

(Fraenkel, et al, 2012). The participant of this research was one teacher of senior high school in a rural area of

Cianjur. The interview was conducted to collect the information regarding what the teacher implements to

develop her teaching and the reasons why the teacher implements the way(s) of development. The interview

was started by asking the participant‟s teaching experiences and problems related to her teaching context.

Then, the questions related to self-development, considered as how the teacher undergoes a long term process

to deal with the problems, were asked. The questions why particular ways of development were not tangible

were asked following the answers of the previous questions. Then, why particular ways of development were

seen practical were addressed to unearth the reasons why the teacher implements the ways of development.

The questions related to the roles of other stakeholders such as students‟ parents and the government were

also addressed to investigate the influences of those stakeholders to the development of the teacher. The data

collected from the interview were transcribed, categorized based on list of ways of development (Gebhard,

2009), and then were analyzed and discussed qualitatively.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

The Teacher’s Ways of Development

The investigation found that the teacher reads local textbooks, establishes a mentoring relationship,

talks with other teachers, and considers opinions of students‟ parents to develop her teaching. The local

textbooks used by the teacher are not books related to basic theories and principles of teaching. The textbooks

generally consist of instructions and practices developed by local authors. The mentoring relationship in this

case is teachers‟ forum (MGMP) conducted at least once a month. In this forum, the teacher has a discussion

about improving English teaching usually led by senior members. Moreover, the teacher usually also has

informal talks with other English teachers related to how to teach particular class. The ways of development

mentioned previously are in line with Gebhard‟s (2009) list of ways of development. Another way of

development, considering the opinion of students‟ parents, is not listed on the theory. Thus, the influence of

students‟ parents may be considered as another point influencing teacher development.

The teacher uses local textbooks to help the development of her teaching. The textbooks used are

those developed by local authors, consisting more practical instructions of language teaching and practices

for students. Theories of EFL teaching contained by the other books are seen irrelevant and cannot be

implemented optimally to teach students in her condition. She said that the socio-cultural and infrastructure

conditions such as the the large size of the class, the limited access to information and communication

technology, and low exposure of English are the conditions not taken into considerations by authors of EFL

theories books. She also found that the theories learned in teaching preparation program in the university

cannot accomodate the teaching in her context optimally. Therefore, local textbooks are seen more practical

to be used as the source of teaching development and guidance to teach in her context, although sometimes

she considers some points in the textbooks are not suitable for students in her teaching context. According to

Goodwyn (1997) the gap between theories and practices in the classroom is the main triggers of teacher

development. Albeit the insufficient support in infrastructures and sources, the teacher is aware that students

cannot be taught by the „raw‟ knowledge she obtained from teaching preparation program. This realization

implies a commitment to learn, which Gebhard (2009) stated as the first points for self-development. The

moment when the teacher found that theories cannot be fully implemented trigger her to develop her own

ways of teaching. She chose textbooks as the main source of her development. However, to some extent, the

use of textbook implies that the teacher is reliant, not confident enough and not yet developed her full

potency (Gebhard, 2009; McGrath, 2002). The teacher should gradually decrease the reliance on textbooks to

maximize her potency in teaching and to cover the needs and conditions of students in her context not

covered by textbooks.

The teacher also explains that she attends MGPM (teachers‟ forum). According to the teacher,

MGMP is a forum where teachers from various school share their experiences and discuss current issues

related to English teaching in her area. She explains that albeit the coming of many English teachers, the

teachers considered senior tend to be the facilitators of the forum. The teacher views this forum as a valuable

input since the topic discussed is related to local context of teaching. Moreover, the teacher also prefers

talking with other English teachers at school to develop her teaching. The informal talk with teachers in the

same context can help her to develop since the conditions faced by the teachers are relatively the same,

therefore, the inputs obtained are more practicel. The findings are in line with Gebhard (2009) stating that

establishing mentoring relationships and talking with other teachers can help teacher to develop. However,

what should be underlined is that teachers to whom a teacher consult should understand the context of

teaching faced by the teacher. Otherwise, the consultation and suggestions given will be seen irrelevant.

Lastly, the teacher explains that the direction of her development is also determined by what

students‟ parents want from their children learning English. The teacher explained that students‟ parents in

her teaching context tend to have low level of education. This attribute is viewed as one of the factors

determining how parents see the benefit of learning English. The parents in her teaching context tend to give

less support to her English teaching. Some parents in her teaching context even discourage her students to

learn English due to particular belief. The lack of support from students‟ parents tend to trigger the the

teacher to achieve a short-term tangible objective of learning English which is passing the final examination.

The development of teaching method facilitating students to be fluent in English is seen contradictory to the

demand of society around. How society sees the importance of English education tends to differ from one

area to another. The difference can be due to the exposure of English use and how English is used in

particular area. This lack of support from the society around may be frequently occurred in the context of

rural area. In contrast, English teachers in urban area may find students‟ parents more supportive. Hence, the

stakeholder outside school or education context should be taken into account in analyzing teacher

development.

The Reasons behind The Teacher’s Ways of Development

The research found that the teacher 1) reads local textbooks 2) establishes a mentoring relationship 3)

talks with other teachers and 4) considers the opinion of students‟ parents in developing her teaching. The

reasons why those ways of development are implemented by the teacher can be discovered by paying

attention to the data collected from the interview and by relating those data with theories proposed by some

scholars (see for examples Villegas-Remers , 2003; Gebhard, 2009, Goodwyn, 1997). Generally, the teacher

develops the ways of development because of: 1) the gap between theories and practices encouraging the

teacher to be an active learner 2) the needs to socialize and cooperate with others and 3) the supports and

demands from the government and society.

The teacher in this research claims that her students cannot be taught by using the knowledge she

acquired from the teaching preparation program. The claims are inferred from the explanation that the needs

of students in her context of teaching cannot be accommodated by the knowledge she acquired in the

university. To deal with this problem, the teacher learns actively to find the solution. The moment the teacher

learns by herself is relevant with Villegas-Remers (2003), stating that in order to develop, teachers should be

active learners. This phenomenon is also in line with Gebhard (2009) stating that encountering problems to

solve and doing exploration are central factors making teachers develop. However, the other central factor

Gebhard considers as the key factors, paying attention to and reviewing basics of EFL/ESL teaching, is not

utilized since the teacher claims theories are not entirely relevant. The problem solving and development

processes then occur based on what the teacher sees relevant without correlating them to the existing theories.

The teacher herself suggests research be conducted in the rural area in order to fulfill the need of theories

suitable with rural area condition. Research can bridge the gap between theories and practices and the teacher

development can be accompanied by the relevant theories developed based on research.

The other ways of development done by teachers are establishing a mentoring relationship and

talking with other teachers. The two ways of development are implemented in the form of attending MGMP

(teacher forum) meetings. The two ways of development are actually underpinned by Villegas-Remers (2003)

explaining that professional development occurred as collaborative process where discussions and interaction

between teachers and other teachers or stakeholders take place. In the other words, the reason why the teacher

implements those ways of development is due to the needs of cooperating with others (Gebhard, 2009).

Generally, the need to talk with other teachers infer that the teacher is aware of the roles of other stakeholders

in helping her development. This finding confirms the previous research conducted by Mukeredzi (2013)

finding that teachers in Zimbabwe and South Africa developed mainly by having discussions with other

teachers and stakeholders.

The reason why the teacher implements particular ways of development can be because of political

and ideological influence which Calderhead & Sorrock (2008) claim as stronger influence than the main

objective of teaching itself. The political and ideological concerns can be in the form of society‟s demand and

curriculum, directing the teacher to fulfill particular objectives by particular ways of teaching, one of them is

passing examination. The purpose of teaching English for communication to some extent can be overridden

by the need to pass the examination. The reasons why theories she learned in the teaching preparation

program are seen irrelevant can be not only because the different context and practice she encounters, but also

because of the demand of the education system and society. The development is motivated by the need of

society. When the system and society see passing examination as a more important objective to follow, the

teacher is encouraged to fulfil that demand. Hence, the direction of teacher development is also directed

toward the fulfilment of what education system and society want as the result of English learning.

CONCLUSIONS

Teacher development is influences the choice of materials and ways of delivering the knowledge. In

this research, it is found that the teacher develops by reading local textbooks, establishing a mentoring

relationship, talking with other teachers, and considering the opinion of students‟ parents. The ways of

development implemented by the teacher are in line with the underpinning characteristics of teacher

development proposed by Villegas-Remers (2003). Furthermore, the practical reasons gearing the teacher

toward utilizing those ways of development are the gap between theories and practices of her teaching, the

needs to cooperate with other, and the demand of education system and society. Then, the suggestions

according to this research are (1) investigations regarding teacher development in rural area should be

enriched and (2) the government and society‟s awareness regarding how they can influence teacher

development should be raised.

REFERENCES

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Retrieved from UNESCO website: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0013/001330/133010e.pdf.

CURRICULUM VITAE

a. Complete Name : Ihsan Nur Iman Faris, S.Pd.

b. Institution : Indonesia University of Education

c. Education :

English Education Master Program of Indonesia University of Education

English Education Bachelor Program of Indonesia University of Education

d. Research Interest :

Teaching English as an International Language

English materials evaluation

Teacher development