Teacher Roles - Organizing

Introduction

The organizing role involves teachers in making arrangements and developing an orderly structure, which will unify all elements in the classroom into a coherent and functioning whole. It is through the organizing tasks of developing and modifying structures and routines, orienting participants, assigning tasks, coordinating and sustaining contributions, that teachers arrange classroom space, time and resources and coordinate the efforts of individuals towards the achievement of the educational objective of the class, and the broader goals of the school.

Sound organizing is closely linked with systematic planning. Whereas planning is concerned with the identification of appropriate activities, organizing is concerned with making arrangements and structuring the classroom to implement planned activities. In fact the organizing role of the teacher links planning with all the other roles of communicating, motivating and controlling.

Each person in a classroom affects every other person, and some, most frequently 'leaders' and 'deviants', influence the behavior of members of the group more than others (Johnson & Johnson, 1984). In most cases a number of sub-groups and cliques are found, and it is an important task for the teacher to organize the classroom to overcome differences and problems, and to develop a feeling of group cohesion among all individuals and groups.

Aims

The major aims of the organizing role are to establish within a classroom a structure which will:

• Facilitate the achievement of the classroom mission within the constraints imposed by the school and classroom settings.
• Implement the policies, goals, and plans formulated by the school.
• Realise specific objectives of school programmes through planned and effective courses of action.
• Carry out agreed-upon tasks within the classroom in as efficient a manner as possible.
• Foster positive classroom climate through a sense of achievement resulting from success in the cooperative implementation of plans of action.
• Achieve efficiency and optimal student learning through sound management of time, personnel and material resources.
• Ensure all pupils understand their roles and accept tasks properly assigned to them.
• Coordinate individual and group efforts within the classroom in an appropriate way.

In primary classes, where a teacher is in close contact with the same group of children throughout most of the school day, it is generally easier to work on developing class cohesion than is the case in secondary schools, where a number of teachers work with various groups throughout the day. In organizing a classroom a teacher must consider the operation of structures which which will be established in that classroom, and the ways in which work, people, resources and time interact.

Studies of classrooms organized by effective teachers, reported by Evertson (1989), displayed the following characteristics:

• Concrete and explicit rules that contribute to classroom order and work accomplishment.
• Rules are clearly explained, signals for beginning and stopping work are taught, and procedures are modeled and rehearsed.
• Immediate concerns are focused upon initially, and other procedures are introduced as the need arises.
• During the first few weeks students are monitored closely and reminded of appropriate procedures if inappropriate behaviour occurs.
• Effective teachers anticipate possible problems and have procedures ready for dealing with these.

According to Burden (1995), the classroom is viewed as the place where teaching and learning take place. But there is more to it. teachers and students spend several hours each day together in classrooms, and additional purposes are served by the classroom and the way it is arranged. Steele (1973) indicates that physical settings serve six basic functions: security and shelter, social contact, symbolic identification, task instrumentality, pleasure and growth.

Security and Shelter

The physical security and shelter of students is a basic concern, involving the physical conditions that affect their senses. The temperature and quality of the air, noise, light, and the quality and comfort of the seats and other facilities are physical aspects of security and shelter. Psychological security and shelter, another element, means that the students feel secure, comfortable, safe, and protected. Based on these physical and psychological issues, teachers could do the following to provide for security and shelter for students:

• Arrange for a comfortable temperature, and assure proper ventilation for fresh air.
• Eliminate or minimise distracting noise.
• Adjust lighting to a comfortable level; reduce glare.
• Add elements to soften the environment (e.g. warm colours, plants).
• Minimise distractions (e.g. keep desks away from heavy traffic areas).
• Arrange for a place for students to go if they need a break (e.g. a voluntary time out area, a private work area).

Social Contact

The next function is to enable interaction among students and between teacher and students. Common arrangements are rows, clusters of two or more desks, and semicircles. The degree of interaction and teacher directedness vary with each arrangement. The degree of interaction you want among your students should be the key determinant in selecting the seating arrangement.

Beginning teachers might want to use rows of desks because this format directs student attention to the teacher, reduces student interaction, and makes it easier for students to concentrate on individual assignments (Bennet & Blundell, 1983; Wheldhall, Morris, Vaughan & NG, 1981). Later when feeling more confident about classroom control, beginning teachers can more comfortably experiment with other seating arrangements.

Based on these issues you could do the following to address the social interaction in the classroom:

• Select a room arrangement that facilitates the interaction you want to achieve among students. (Rows are more teacher centered, clusters or circles are more student centered).
• Make efforts to interact with all students, regardless of where they are seated.

Symbolic Identification

The physical setting provides a means for students to have symbolic identity within the classroom. This is a personal identification through symbols such as work samples, posting of personal information, photographs, posters and other objects. These objects can be displayed to show students' accomplishments, personal background, interests, and activities. At the start of the year, you might have students prepare bulletin boards as a means to show something personal. Throughout the year the classroom could be decorated with samples of student work. In an effort to provide symbolic identification to personalise the classroom, you could do the following:

• Display objects that give information about the students ( e.g. work samples).
• Display objects that communicate something personally about the teacher and students (e.g. photographs, trinkets, etc.).

Task Instrumentality

Task instrumentality deals with the way the physical environment can help teachers and students carry out tasks and activities, Students may work independently, in pairs, or in groups; the physical arrangements may help ,or hinder the work. Students may need to obtain supplies from various locations in the room, the location of the storage area and the traffic patterns created thus affect this task. To complete the task, students will need to see teacher. These are examples of the effects of the physical environment. taking the task instrumentality into consideration, you could do the following (Weinstein & Mignano, 1993):

• Make sure frequently use materials are accessible.
• Make sure students know where things belong.
• Plan pathways to avoid congestion and distraction.
• Offer students a personal space in which to keep belongings.
• Situate your desk in an appropriate place.
• Separate incompatible activities (e.g., noisy-quiet, messy-neat, and wet-dry).

Providing Pleasure

Another function of the setting is to provide pleasure, and making the classroom attractive is an important means toward this end. In reviewing studies on environmental attractiveness, Wienstein & Mignano (1993) noted that students who were in classrooms that they found attractive had a tendency to be more persistent on tasks, had better attendance and a sense of group cohesiveness, and participated actively in class discussions. A classroom could include both warm and cool colours, open spaces and small private areas, hard and soft surfaces, and various textures. There should be moderate variation; too little may not be very stimulating, while too much may produce feelings of anxiety and disorder. In order to implement these issues about providing pleasure, you can do the following:

• Use a moderate variety of warm and cool colours in the classroom.
• Use a moderate variety of textures ranging from smooth to rough.
• Provide for a variety of spaces (e.g., open, private, formal, and informal)
• Provide a variety of surfaces, ranging from hard to soft.

Stimulating Growth

The classroom can be arranged to stimulate students' growth, especially in the cognitive area. Classroom are often arranged to allow for teacher-directed instruction, seatwork, and small group work. At the same time, the setting should invite children to explore, observe, test, and discover (Weinstein & Mignano, 1993).

Burden (1995) suggests that an open-closed continuum could be used to categorise materials provided, with one end representing open-type materials that lead to many possible answers, and the other end representing closed-type materials that lead to only one possible answer. The open-closed continuum can comprise both closed materials - puzzles and workbooks leading to one correct answer, and open materials - art materials or creative writing lead to many possible acceptable answers (Jones & Prescott, 1978).

Library books, computer programs, and other instructional materials could be displayed to invite students to read, explore, and discover. Provisions need to be made in the schedule to allow students to observe the materials, select what they would like to use, and then use the materials at an appropriate location. Taking these growth factors into account, you can do the following when arranging the physical setting:

• Provide materials that enable a range of closed (one answer) to open (many possible answers) responses.
• Display library books, computer programs, and other instructional materials for students to use.
• Make provisions in the schedule to allow students to look at, select, and use the invitational materials.

The information contained in the sections on security and shelter, social contact, symbolic identification, task instrumentality, providing pleasure, and stimulating growth were adapted from 'Burden. P. R., 1995, Classroom Management and Discipline, Longman, New York'.