Teachers’ practices of proactive and reactive classroom management strategies and the relationship to their self-efficacy

Teachers’ proactive and reactive classroom management strategies are a significant component of teaching effectiveness. Teachers need to develop such strategies to structure a positive classroom environment. In addition, teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs concerning their classroom management strategies are equally significant. This research aimed to identify the teachers’ effective proactive and reactive classroom management strategies. It also sought to investigate the obstacles that inhibit proactive classroom management use and identify the association between teachers’ self-efficacy and classroom management practices. The research adopted a mixed-methods paradigm, consisting of two tools: a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The sampling included 80 Saudi teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) participated in the survey and eight teachers participated in the interviews. The results showed that EFL teachers find proactive classroom management strategies more effective than reactive strategies. In addition, there was a difference between novice and experienced teachers’ effective classroom management strategies, in which experienced teachers found proactive strategies more effective. The findings also indicated that there are four types of obstacles that hinder proactive classroom management strategies. System-related obstacles (subject-centered curriculum and institutional rules), system/teacher related obstacles (institutional rules and teachers’ predispositions concerning e-tools), teacher-related obstacles (lack of understanding of the discipline plan), and student-related obstacles (unmotivated students). The final finding cited the positive association between teachers’ high self-efficacy and proactive classroom management application.