Investigating EFL Classroom Management in Pesantren: A Case Study

Classroom management (CM) is one of the most important issues in education and this research was aimed at understanding the classroom management problems and the coping strategies of Indonesian Islamic Boarding schools’ [hereinafter-termed pesantren] with the uniqueness of their system from the perspectives of the English teachers. Specifically, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom management (CM) problems and the coping strategies of Indonesian Islamic boarding schools’ teachers. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions (FGD), and observation with eight English teachers working in the three pesantren. We organized our analysis and discussion around their perspectives and the contexts in which the classroom management problems and the coping strategies they encountered emerged. Seven major themes emerged, which were (1) challenged by students’ participation and motivation, (2) managing students’ behaviors: between punishment and encouragement, (3) dealing with three languages in the classroom, (4) teachers’ performance as a source of challenges in CM, (5) teachers’ discipline: rule breaking due to lower salary, (6) non major English teachers, but forced to teach English, (7) struggling with time management, and (8) struggling to manage large classes