STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD ‘TEACHING JOURNAL’
IN TEACHING PRACTICUM
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Rakhmani Puspa Sari 112011106
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD ‘TEACHING JOURNAL’
IN TEACHING PRACTICUM
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Rakhmani Puspa Sari 112011106
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
SALATIGA
STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD ‘TEACHING JOURNAL’
IN TEACHING PRACTICUM
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Rakhmani Puspa Sari 112011106
Approved by:
Rindang Widiningrum, M.Hum
Supervisor
Debora Tri Ragawanti, MA-ELT
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Students’ Attitudes toward‘Teaching Journal’ in Teaching Practicum
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Students’ Attitudes toward ‘Teaching Journal’ in Teaching Practicum
Rakhmani Puspa Sari
ABSTRACT
‘Teaching Journal’ is used with the hope that later students can reflect on their teaching for their own teaching skill development to be better in teaching, show that they are growth professionally as a teacher, and aware of their learning process. However, the previous studies showed that some students see ‘Teaching Journal’ is beneficial for them, while others say it is ineffective. Hence, this study was conducted to find what students’ attitudes toward ‘Teaching Journal’ in Teaching Practicum are. In conducting this study, questionnaire and interview were used. There were 82 participants in filling the questionnaire and 10 of them were interviewed. They are students of ELEP, FLL, SWCU who enrolled in Teaching Practicum course in the first semester of 2014-2015. The findings show that students do not like writing ‘Teaching Journal’ with some reasons. Even though students only write ‘Teaching Journal’ to fulfill the requirement in teaching practicum, students do not have intention to only make summary and impress their mentor teaching through ‘Teaching Journal’. Interestingly, they have different opinions about ‘Teaching Journal’ which tend to be positive for them. They also stated that they are willing to use ‘Teaching Journal’ as a part of their learning in teaching.
Key words: students ‘attitudes, ‘Teaching Journal’, Teaching Practicum
INTRODUCTION
Teaching Practicum program in English Language Education Program
(ELEP), Faculty of Language and Literature (FLL), Satya Wacana Christian
University (SWCU) has facilitated students with a learning tool called ‘Teaching
Journal’. Basically, each student has to write reflection of his/her teaching right
after he/she finishes his/her teaching in ‘Teaching Journal’. Many opinions lead to
an assumption that ‘Teaching Journal’ is good for students. One said that students
can reflect on their teaching for their own teaching skill development. Hsu (2008)
to be better in teaching. In addition, reflection is believed as the very important
part for a teacher to show that they are growth professionally (Bain, Ballantyne,
Packer, & Mills, 1997). The reflection can also show that the teacher is aware of
their learning process in teaching which will result in effective learning (Al-Saadi,
2011). However, one question still needs to be answered: whether students see
‘Teaching Journal’ is good for them or not. There might be different attitude
toward the using of ‘Teaching Journal’ in Teaching Practicum.
The previous studies showed that there are various opinions toward the
using of ‘Teaching Journal’ in Teaching Practicum. On one hand, students said
that ‘Teaching Journal’ gives benefit for them, for example they can examine their
teaching in detail and look for strategies to make their teaching better (Lee, 2008).
On the other hand, students stated that they do not see ‘Teaching Journal’ is
beneficial for them, for example making reflection in ‘Teaching Journal’ is
difficult and spent a lot of time (Spencer, 2009).
The two opposite opinions show that actually there is no single opinion
toward the using of ‘Teaching Journal’ in Teaching Practicum. There might be
various opinions toward it. This has triggered the researcher to do this study
which attempts to find what actually students’ attitudes toward ‘Teaching Journal’
in Teaching Practicum are.
The researcher believes that the present study can give some advantages.
The findings in this study can help any related fields in deciding to use ‘Teaching
Journal’ as a part of learning process in Teaching Practicum program or not.
ELEP, FLL, SWCU whether the program will continue to use ‘Teaching Journal’
to facilitate students’ learning or not.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Definition of ‘Teaching Journal’
Some experts tried to define ‘Teaching Journal’. According to Lee (2008),
‘Teaching Journal’ is a reflection about teaching experiences which is written and
kept by students during their teaching practicum. Besides in a form of writing,
‘Teaching Journal’ can be in a form of recording (Richards & Lockhart, 1996).
‘Teaching Journal’ may also include ideas, thoughts, and feelings about teaching
(Maarof, 2007). Based on those three experts ‘opinions, it can be concluded that
‘Teaching Journal’ is a written or recorded reflection, ideas, thoughts, and feelings
about teaching experiences which is kept by students during the teaching
practicum. However, in this study the researcher focus on the written form
because the ‘Teaching Journal’ used in English Teacher Education, FLL, SWCU
is in written form.
Purposes of ‘Teaching Journal’
There are two purposes of ‘Teaching Journal’ (Richards & Lockhart,
1996). The first is for later reflection which means that the students could later
reflect on the events or ideas they have got from teaching. The second is the
process of writing journal itself helps students to stimulate their understanding
about teaching. Lew & Schmidt (2011) clarified Richard & Lockhart’s opinion on
reflect on their behaviors in teaching, such as strengths, weaknesses, and
strategies of their teaching. Based on these, it can be concluded that the purpose of
‘Teaching journal’ is to help students to reflect on their teaching, such as their
strengths, weaknesses, strategies, or others in teaching. By doing this reflection,
the students could have better understanding about teaching especially their
progress in teaching during teaching practicum.
Benefits of Keeping ‘Teaching Journal’
Many previous studies showed the benefits of using ‘Teaching Journal’ as
a part of learning through reflection in teaching practicum. It was claimed that
‘Teaching Journal’ can help students to sharpen their teaching skills, such as
lesson-planning, using new materials or adopting a teaching’s approach, managing
classroom to overcome classroom difficulties, and evaluating teaching and
learning process to seek for improvement for the next teaching (Ahmed &
Al-Khalili, 2013; Lan & Wang, 2013; Sahota, 2010; and Lee, 2008). Besides that, it
was also claimed that ‘Teaching Journal’ can help students to identify their
strengths and weaknesses in teaching (Ahmed & Al-Khalili, 2013). In addition, by
reflecting through ‘Teaching Journal’, students are able to consider anything
related to their teaching before they teach. Therefore, they will be more confident
in the next teaching (Lan & Wang, 2013). The consideration in teaching then can
be called as students’ awareness of what they do, how they do it, and why they do
it. Being aware of teaching will help students to develop and improve as a teacher
Drawbacks of ‘Teaching Journal’
Even though the findings from the previous studies show that ‘Teaching
Journal’ is beneficial for students, there are also findings which said that
‘Teaching Journal’ is not beneficial. Instead of using it to reflect on their learning
process in teaching, some students only used it to summarize the content of what
they had learned, make their teacher admired of their performance in teaching, or
achieve at grades (Lew & Schmidt, 2007). Besides that, some students said that
they are overwhelmed in writing ‘Teaching Journal’ because it is difficult and
spends a lot of time (Spencer, 2009). It might be difficult because of the inability
of the students to do reflection. In other words, they do not know what they have
to write in their reflection (Gyahe, 2011). Especially, writing a reflection which
shows their learning process in teaching.
Definition of Attitude
Since the present study is going to seek for the students’ attitudes, it needs
to clarify the definition of attitude. There are many definitions of attitude.
According to Eagly & Chaiken (1993), attitude means tendency to judge
something whether someone like or do not like it. They added that attitude
involves beliefs, thoughts, emotions, intention, and behavior which results in
obvious/unobvious, cognitive, or affective/behavioral response. Wenden, A.
(1991) defined attitude similar with Eagly & Chailken. It is said that attitude
refers to judgment or response to approach or avoid something. In addition, it is
said that attitude involves three components cognitive (i.e. beliefs, perceptions,
agreement/disagreement, or approval/disapproval), and behavioral which means
the response toward the attitude object makes someone more likely to behave in
certain ways. Based on these, it can be concluded that attitude is the way of a
person evaluates and gives response toward an object. These reactions are
influenced by three components: cognitive (i.e. belief, thought, perception, idea,
and information toward the object), affective which involves feeling/emotion (i.e.
like or dislike, agreement or disagreement, approval or disapproval), and behavior
which involves the way of the people act toward something.
THE STUDY
Context of the Study
The present study was conducted in ELEP, FLL, SWCU because this
faculty has Teaching Practicum program for the students. In particular, the
Teaching Practicum program was held in the first semester of 2014-2015. This
program required students to do teaching practicum in schools assigned by the
faculty for about three months. In three months, the students were expected to
teach at least six times in six different classes. After each teaching, each student
had to write reflection about his/her teaching in ‘Teaching Journal’ which is the
focus of this study.
Participants
The participants of this study were the students of ELEP, FLL, SWCU.
The total numbers of the participants were 82 students. They were enrolled in
because of their experience in writing ‘Teaching Journal’ during their teaching
practicum. They were all participating in filling the questionnaire. Then, ten
participants out of it were selected based on the similar responds in their
questionnaire and the questionnaire findings.
Based on agreement made with the participants, the name of each
participant in this study especially in the interview will not be revealed in this
paper.
Data Collection Instruments
The data of the study were collected from questionnaire and interview.
The questionnaire was adopted from the questionnaire made by Lan & Wang
(2013) with some changes according to the researcher’s need. It contains 16
Likert-scale items in English. It is based on the three components of attitude:
cognitive (number 2-8), affective (number 1, 11, and 12, and behavior (number 9,
10, and 13-16).
The interview was conducted to complement the questionnaire findings. It
was done after the questionnaire had been counted. It sought for elaborative
information, opinion or reasons based on the questionnaire finding. The researcher
used semi-structured interview. Based on the questionnaire findings, the
researcher compiled it into seven questions about why students do not like writing
‘Teaching Journal’, in what partsstudents think that writing ‘Teaching Journal’ is
difficult, what students get from ‘Teaching Journal’, what students do after
writing reflection in ‘Teaching Journal’, what results that students get from
Journal’ make a teacher considers anything before teaching, and what reasons
which make students decide to use ‘Teaching Journal’. However, when the
interview was conducted, the researcher added some questions according to the
researcher’s need.
Data Collection Procedures
The questionnaire was piloted first, and then was revised. After that, the
revised questionnaire was distributed to 82 participants by approaching them one
by one and asking them to fill in the questionnaire. If it was not possible to
approach them one by one, the researcher asked each leader in each school to
distribute the questionnaire to the participants.
After the questionnaire had been distributed and counted, the interview
was conducted by piloting the questions first. Some of the participants were asked
to join in the interview. Then, from this the questions were revised. After that, 10
participants were interviewed by arranging schedule first to decide the right time
to do the interview. The interview spent around 10 minutes for each participant
and was conducted using Indonesian language to make the participants were
comfortable in delivering their thoughts. The conversation in interview was
recorded and then transcribed.
Data Analysis Procedure
A thematic analysis was used to analyze the data collected from
questionnaire and interview. There are four themes in this study: students’ feeling
Journal’, students’ opinions about writing ‘Teaching Journal’, and students’
willingness to use ‘Teaching Journal’. These themes were created based on the
three components of attitude: cognitive, affective and behavior. Students’ opinions
about writing ‘Teaching Journal’ belong to cognitive because in here students
stated what they belief or think about ‘Teaching Journal’. Students’ feeling
belongs to affective because in here students stated how they feel is when writing
‘Teaching Journal’. Students’ intentions and willingness belong to behavior
because it relates with how students act toward ‘Teaching Journal’.
The researcher provided data from questionnaire and interview in each
theme. The questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively in percentage to find the
majority responds towards each item in the questionnaire. Then, the percentage
data was described. The researcher also gave additional data from interview to
support the questionnaire findings by presenting short excerpts from the
participants.
DISCUSSION
This study highlights four findings: students’ feeling toward writing
‘Teaching Journal’, students’ intentions of writing ‘Teaching Journal’, students’
opinions about ‘Teaching Journal’, and students’ willingness to use ‘Teaching
Journal.
Students’Feeling toward Writing ‘Teaching Journal’
This section discuss about students’ feeling toward writing ‘Teaching
Journal’. Figure 1 gives the data collected from questionnaires filled by the
FIGURE 1
Students’Feeling toward Writing ‘Teaching Journal’
No. Statements
Total Agree Total Disagree
N % N %
1 I like writing ‘Teaching Journal’. 33 40.24% 49 59.76%
11 I feel that writing reflection in
‘Teaching Journal’ spends a lot of time. 62 75.61% 20 24.39%
12 Writing reflection in ‘Teaching Journal’
is not easy.
55 67.07% 27 32.93%
The majority of participants (59.76%) in questionnaire stated that they do
not like writing ‘Teaching Journal’ as it can be seen from figure 1, number 1. The
following are some reasons mentioned by participants.
Writing ‘Teaching Journal’ spends a lot of time
Based on figure 1, number 11, it can be seen that 75.61% of the participants
agreed with the statements that writing ‘Teaching Journal’ spends a lot of time.
However, only two participants (S2 and S4) out of ten participants in interview
who said like that. Even though data from questionnaire and interview are slightly
different, it can be indicated that the time spent for writing ‘Teaching Journal’
becomes one of the reasons why students are overwhelmed in writing ‘Teaching
Writing ‘Teaching Journal’ is difficult
The difficulty in writing ‘Teaching Journal’ also contributes in students’ dislike
toward ‘Teaching Journal’. It can be seen from figure 1, number 12. The majority
of the participants (67.07%) stated that writing ‘Teaching Journal’ is not easy.
Data from interview also reveals similar finding. Seven participants out of ten
participants (S3, S4, S5, S6, S8, S9, and S10) in interview said that writing
Teaching Journal’ is difficult. This reason also in line with Spencer (2009) who
ever said that the difficulty in writing ‘Teaching Journal’ makes students
overwhelmed in writing it. The participants in interview mentioned two parts
about the difficulty in writing ‘Teaching Journal’
(a) Recalling back to what have been done
Three participants (S3, S4, and S6) mentioned recalling back to what have been
done in class as one of the difficulties in writing ‘Teaching Journal’. The data is
represented by S4.
S4: The difficulty was recalling the moment…even though it was written at night after teaching…there were some missing parts which [I] did not realize.
This statement shows that the inability to remember past events influence in the
difficulty of writing ‘Teaching Journal’. In writing ‘Teaching Journal’, students
have to remember again the moment when they were teaching. In fact, students do
not have capability to remember all of what they have done. They might forget
some parts of their teaching. That is why this situation hinders them when writing
(b) Deciding which one belong to strength and weakness
The other difficulty is deciding which one belongs to strength and weakness as
mentioned by S5 and S10. Basically, in ‘Teaching Journal’, students have to state
their strengths and weaknesses about their teaching. However, there is a situation
when students are hard to decide which one belongs to strength or weakness
especially when they do not aware of it and have different opinion with others
about it.
S5: [the difficult one] is in strength…sometimes [I] said that it is normal, but others said that it is good.
S10: …the difficult one is thinking again I am weak in what [part] in the previous [teaching]… I felt that actually I am not weak, but if others said that actually you are weak in this, then how I should write this?
These statements show that different opinion toward a student’s performance in
teaching influence in how the students decide their strength or weakness which
he/she do not aware. Once a student does not aware that he/she is actually good or
bad because he/she feels that what he/she has done is something ordinary, but
others say on the contrary with his/her opinion. These kinds of situation make
them confused and do not know what should be written in ‘Teaching Journal’ as
stated by Gyahe (2011).
Student does not like writing
The interview also reveals additional reasons which contribute to students’ dislike
toward writing ‘Teaching Journal’. It is related with students’ subjective reason
that they do not like writing as stated S6 and S8. Here is the respond from S6
S6: The reason…comes from me because I do not really like writing.
From this statement, it can be seen that what is needed in ‘Teaching Journal’ does
not match with what student stated. In ‘Teaching Journal’, students need to write.
However, S6 stated that he does not like writing. That is why it can be learned that
if student does not like writing, he/she will not like writing ‘Teaching Journal’.
Students stated inability to reflect in written form
The other reason is related with student’s inability to do reflection in a written
form as stated by S6 in interview.
S6: … I am not good enough to reflect on what I have done in a written form.
These statements show that students’ problem to reflect in written form contribute
to students’ dislike toward writing ‘Teaching Journal’. Later in the interview
session, S6 said that he preferred to reflect in spoken form. He is more able to tell
his reflection by speaking spontaneously rather than write it in ‘Teaching Journal’.
Students’ Intentions of Writing ‘Teaching Journal’
This section discuss about students’ intentions of writing ‘Teaching
Journal. Figure 2 gives the data collected from questionnaires filled by the
participants.
Based on the data in figure 2, there are three intentions stated by the
FIGURE 2
Most of the participants (65.91%) stated that instead of writing ‘Teaching Journal’
to reflect on their teaching, they only write it to fulfill the requirement in teaching
practicum as it can be seen in figure 2, number 15. This data is in line with Lew &
Schmidt (2007) who said that students write ‘Teaching Journal’ to arrive at
Student does not only summarize the procedure of their teaching
The second intention is students do not write ‘Teaching Journal’ only to
summarize the procedure of their teaching as. Most of the participants (60.98%)
disagreed with statement number 13 in figure 2. It challenges the Lew &
Schmidt’s opinion (2007) who said that students only made summary of the
content of what students have learned.
Student does not write ‘Teaching Journal’ to attract their mentor teacher
The last intention is students do not write ‘Teaching Journal’ to attract their
mentor teacher about their teaching performance. Most of the participants
(82.93%) disagreed with statement number 14 in figure 2. This data also
challenges Lew & Schmidt (2007) who said that students write ‘Teaching Journal’
to make teacher admires of their performance in teaching.
Students’ Opinions about Writing ‘Teaching Journal’
This section discuss about students’ opinions about writing ‘Teaching
Journal’. Figure 3 give the data collected from questionnaires filled by the
participants.
FIGURE 3
Students’ Opinion about Writing ‘Teaching Journal’
No. Statements
Total Agree Total Disagree
N % N %
on my teaching.
4 ‘Teaching Journal’ helps me to
recognize what I did well in class.
79 96.34% 3 3.66%
5 ‘Teaching Journal’ helps me to
recognize what I did not do well in
class.
75 91.46% 7 8.57%
6 ‘Teaching Journal’ helps me to learn
from my successes and mistakes in
class.
77 93.90% 5 6.10%
8 ‘Teaching Journal’ helps me to come
up with good ways to improve my
who considers anything before
teaching.
48 58.54% 34 41.46%
about teaching.
Even though in the previous discussion students said that they do not like
writing ‘Teaching Journal’ and only write it to fulfill the requirement in teaching
practicum, most of the students stated different opinions about writing ‘Teaching
Journal’. It tends to be positive as it can be seen from figure 3. The following is
students’ opinions about writing ‘Teaching Journal’.
‘Teaching Journal’ helps students to reflect on their teaching
Most of participants (91.46%) in questionnaire stated that ‘Teaching Journal’
helps them to reflect on their teaching as it can be seen in figure 3, number 2. In
interview, there are only three participants out of ten participants (S1, S2, and
S10) who have similar opinion. Even though these data are slightly different, it
can be highlighted that this data is in line with Richards & Lockhart (1996) who
said that by having ‘Teaching Journal’, students could later reflect on their
teaching.
‘Teaching Journal’ helps students to know what they did well or did not do well
in teaching
Most of the participants in questionnaire stated that ‘Teaching Journal’ helps
students to know what they did well/strength (96.34%) or did not do
well/weakness (91.46%) in teaching as it can be seen in figure 3, number 4 and 5.
Six participants (S1, S2, S4, S5, S6, and, S7) out of ten participants in interviews
Even though in the previous discussion students include deciding strength
or weakness as one of the difficulties in writing ‘Teaching Journal’, but it only
appears in situation when they do not aware that they have done such strength or
weakness and they have different opinion with others about it. That is why they
are difficult to accept whether they have such strength/weakness or not. However,
most of students agreed that writing ‘Teaching Journal’ enables them at least to
know their strength and weakness as stated by Ahmed & Al-Khalili (2013).
Data in interview reveals that most of the participants said that ‘Teaching
Journal’ helps them to know their weakness in teaching. There are six examples of
weakness that students shared in interview.
(a) Inability to manage time
Two participants (S1 and S5) said that through ‘Teaching Journal’, they were able
to know their weakness in managing time. S1 represents the data.
S1: …at that time, I was too excited with my students. When I gave an activity, the students were very active. They asked many things to me until I only had a short time to discuss the lesson…sometimes the goal of the lesson was not told because the time was over.
These statements show that by writing ‘Teaching Journal’, the students are able to
know that they cannot manage their time well which causes them do not have time
to do the next activity in teaching.
(b) Mistake in grammar used
Another weakness shared is about grammar used in class by S2.
From this statement, it can be seen that by writing ‘Teaching Journal’, the student
are able to know that they make mistake in grammar.
(c) Unimportant gestures
S2 also said that she can know that she make unimportant gesture in class.
S2: …sometimes I did unimportant gestures during teaching maybe because of nervous or confused about what I have to do after this.
This statement shows that S2 is not only able to know her weakness about making
unimportant gesture but also able to state the reason why she did that unimportant
gesture in ‘Teaching Journal’ which is because nervous or confused about what
she has to do next.
(d) Wrong or ineffective approach used
Furthermore, S4 shared about an approach used in class.
S4: …the approach or process that I gave when I was teaching at that time was wrong or ineffective for students with a certain characteristic.
This statement shows that in ‘Teaching Journal’, S4 is not only able to know her
weakness that her approach at that time was not effective but also able to
differentiate type of students which is not suitable for the approach used.
(e) Not fluent in delivering activity
Besides that, S6 are able to know his performance in delivering the activity.
S6: … the not good enough thing was how to deliver the activity smoothly…there was a part when an activity has been finished, [I asked to myself] what should I do next? What should I tell?
This shows that by writing ‘Teaching Journal’, the student are able to know that
he cannot deliver his activity smoothly because he is confused about what he has
(f) Inability to manage classroom
In addition, S7 shared about classroom management.
S7: ...when I asked the students to make a group in the first teaching, I did not pay attention to the total number of students…, I did not pay attention that grouping students would spend a lot of time.
From this statement, by writing ‘Teaching Journal’, S7 is not only able to mention
her weakness but also the reasons why she spent a lot of time in grouping the
students. It is said that she did not pay attention to the total number of the
students.
Even though the participants mostly stated about weakness, but some of
them also stated that they are able to learn from their strength in class. There are
four examples of strength shared.
(a) Giving appropriate activity
S2 stated that she is success to give appropriate activity for students.
S2: My strengths were usually in activity used in class…students were rather enthusiast with the activity that I used in class…I used games because my students love game and they tended to give positive respond.
This statement shows that S2 is not only able to know her strength that she can
give appropriate activity but also able to state the reason why she was able to do
it. It is stated that S2 pays attention to students’ favorite activity and common
students’ respond toward it.
(b) Ability to fulfill time estimation
S2 also shared about her ability to fulfill the time estimation.
This shows that by writing ‘Teaching Journal’, the student are able to teach
according to the time that she has planned.
(c) Ability to manage classroom
In addition, S2 also said her ability to manage the class.
S2: … I could manage the class.
This also shows that S2 are able to mention their strength in managing class when
she writes ‘Teaching Journal’.
(d) Ability to teach according to lesson plan
The other strength is about ability to teach according to lesson plan.
S5: My strength was what I have done in class were according to what I have planned in lesson plan.
This statement shows that by writing ‘Teaching Journal’, the student is able to
know that she can teach according to what she had planned.
It can be pointed out that by writing ‘Teaching Journal’, students are not
only able to know their strength or weakness but also the reasons why students
have done such weakness or strength. They are also able to mention the reasons
why they are success or fail in doing an activity. They are also able to know the
impact when doing such strength or weakness. In addition, they are also able to
think of what activity is suitable for certain students in class.
‘Teaching Journal’ helps students to learn from their successes and mistakes
The third positive impact is ‘Teaching Journal’ helps students to learn from their
number 6. Three participants in interview (S1, S2, and S7) also shared similar
opinion. S2 represents the data that she learned from her weakness.
S2: After I realized my weakness in the first teaching, I would try to fix it in the second teaching. I read again my weakness [in ‘Teaching Journal] and from that, I practiced again so later in the second teaching it will not happen again.
This statement shows that S2 does some actions which indicate that she learns
from her weakness. She read again her weakness in ‘Teaching Journal’ and
practice again so that she will not repeat the same mistake. From this, it can be
learned that ‘Teaching Journal’ provides a place in which students can read again
their mistakes and learn from it.
‘Teaching Journal’ helps students to make good ways to improve their teaching
Beside the ability to learn from successes and mistakes, ‘Teaching Journal’ also
enables students to make good ways to improve their teaching as stated by
73.17% of the participants in figure 3, number 8. Six participants (S1, S2, S4, S5,
S7, and S10) out of ten participants in interview also shared similar opinion.
These data are in line with Ahmed & Khalili (2013), Lan & Wang (2013), Sahota
(2010), and Lee (2008). Data from interview gives six examples of improvement
that students can make after writing ‘Teaching Journal’.
(a) Reducing the number of activity
S1 reduces the number of activity used in class.
S1: …I deducted the activities…from three activities to two activities…so in the last two teachings I taught in time.
This shows that in order to improve her teaching, S1 reduced the number of
(b) Improving grammar
Furthermore, S2 can make better improvement in grammar.
S2: …before [teaching] I wrote the instructions that I would give [to students] so later I did not [speak] spontaneously and [resulted] in wrong [grammar].
From this statement, it can be seen that S2 so an action in order to make her
grammar better. She wrote the instruction first before teaching so that she will not
make mistakes in grammar again.
(c) Deciding appropriate exercise
Besides that, S4 improves in deciding the appropriate exercise used in class.
S4: …I did not use that type of exercise…which was too hard for students and did not match with their level…because they did not like it and were easily get bored.
This statement shows that S4 consider the students’ reaction toward the exercise
given to decide whether she will use it again or not.
(d) Making more creative activity
In addition, S5 improves in making the activity for students.
S5: I created activity which was different…more creative…from the previous [teaching] to make my students were not bored.
This shows that in order not to make the students are not easily get bored, the
student makes different activity which is more creative than the previous one.
(e) Grouping the students faster
Besides that, S7 can make good way to group the students faster.
This shows S7 makes strategies in order to group the students faster. She asked
the students to count so that she is able to group the students based on the number.
(f) Using new materials to make students more understand
In addition, S10 improves in making the students more understand with the
lesson.
S10: …[to make my students] could understand what I taught, [I did not] just deliver the lesson verbally, …[but I gave] pictures, videos, handouts,… and games.
These statement shows that S10 uses new materials, such as pictures, videos,
handouts, and games to make the students more understand about the lesson.
Based on these data, it can be learned that ‘Teaching Journal’ provides a
place for students to make good ways to improve their teaching. It can be from
their mistakes in class or from considering students’ reaction when an activity is
given. From this then they can improve their teaching.
‘Teaching Journal’ helps students to plan for future situations
In addition, ‘Teaching Journal’ also helps students to make plan for future
situation as stated by 82.93% of the participants in figure 3, number 7. Two
participants (S4 and S5) in interview out of ten participants shared similar
opinion. S5 represents the data.
S5: Besides [made plan from] my weakness, I also think of what might happen…so later if there were something, I still could teach well.
From these statements, it can be seen that in ‘Teaching Journal’ students are able
plan for any situation that might happen in the next teaching in order to make their
teaching runs smoothly.
Doing reflection in ‘Teaching Journal’ makes students more confident
Furthermore, doing reflection in ‘Teaching Journal’ also make students more
confident as stated by 60.98% of the participants in figure 3, number 9. S2, S3,
and S4 in interview stated reasons why they become more confident.
S2: …if there was an improvement from the first teaching to the second teaching…I would be more confident.
S3: …I became more confident when I faced similar situation with same activity…[because] I have made ‘Teaching Journal’ and I knew my weakness.
S4: [I was more confident because] at least I had a picture [in my mind about the previous teaching].
From these statements, it can be seen that students have improved better, have
know their weakness, and have picture about the previous teaching after reflecting
in ‘Teaching Journal’ are the reasons why they become more confident as stated
by Lan & Wang (2013).
Doing reflection in ‘Teaching Journal’ makes students consider anything
before teaching
The next is reflecting ‘Teaching Journal’ makes students consider anything before
teaching as stated by 58.54% of the participants in figure 3, number 10. S5 in
interview represents the data.
in ordinary way, not sufficient enough. Moreover, students are developing based on their era…so from it a teacher can reflect and later can teach better.
From this statement, it can be seen that ‘Teaching Journal’ make the students
consider anything before teaching as stated by Lan & Wang (2013). S5 has a
strong opinion that a teacher always thinks to be better in teaching. A teacher will
reflect in ‘Teaching Journal’ from his/her mistake and students’ development
which is different from one era to another era in order to make her teaching better.
‘Teaching Journal’ helps students to learn about teaching
Students also say that ‘Teaching Journal’ helps them to learn about teaching as
stated by 75.61% of the participants in figure 3, number 3. This data is in line with
Richards & Lockhart (1996) who said that the process of writing ‘Teaching
Journal’ itself helps students to stimulate their understanding about teaching.
‘Teaching Journal’ provides written data to be recalled later
The interview reveals additional opinion that by having ‘Teaching Journal’, S4
has written data to be recalled later if she needs it.
S4: Because by writing [‘Teaching Journal’], I have a record which can be recalled again for the next teaching from what I have written in it.
From this data, it can be seen that by having ‘Teaching Journal’ the student has
written data about their teaching which can be used as reference to refer back if
she needs it. It matches Lee (2008) who said that ‘Teaching Journal’ is a written
‘Teaching Journal’ provides place to share feeling after teaching
Besides having written data to be recalled later, ‘Teaching Journal’ can help S7 to
share their feeling after teaching.
S7: [‘Teaching Journal’] can be a place to share my feeling…how my feeling is after teaching.
From this data, it can be seen that by writing ‘Teaching Journal’, students are able
to share their feeling after teaching as stated by Maarof (2007).
Students’ Willingness to Use ‘Teaching Journal’
This section deals with students’ willingness to use ‘Teaching Journal’ in
the future. Figure 4 gives data from questionnaires filled by participants.
FIGURE 4
Students’ Willingness to Use ‘Teaching Journal’
No. Statements
Total Agree Total Disagree
N % N %
16 I will use ‘Teaching Journal’ as a part
of my learning in teaching.
62 75.61% 20 24.39%
Even though in the previous discussion students state that they do not like
writing ‘Teaching Journal’ and only use it to fulfill the requirement in teaching
practicum, the majority of participants in figure 4 number 16 (75.61%) agreed that
they will use ‘Teaching Journal’ as a part of their learning. Data from interview
S1: …I am certainly will use ‘Teaching Journal’ because I have already know the impacts…really, really helpful.
S2: …I think…it can be a tool to learn.
From these statements, it can be seen that students will use ‘Teaching Journal’
because they have known the impacts of writing ‘Teaching Journal’, such as it is
helpful and can be a tool to learn for them. Another reason is stated by S2.
S2: …for example when they do not have another tool to do reflection, at least they can do a simple thing which is using ‘Teaching Journal’.
From this statement, it can be seen that writing ‘Teaching Journal’ can be a simple
way to do if there are no other tools to be used to do reflection.
CONCLUSION
This study aims to find what students’ attitudes toward ‘Teaching Journal’
in teaching practicum are. The results from this study show that students do not
like writing ‘Teaching Journal’. There are four reason stated. First, writing
‘Teaching Journal’ spends a lot of time. Second, writing ‘Teaching Journal is
difficult especially in recalling back the moments and deciding which one belong
to strength or weakness. Third, there is subjective reason that students do not like
writing. The last, students are not able to do reflection in a written form.
Even though students only write ‘Teaching Journal’ to fulfill the
requirement in Teaching Practicum, students have different intentions which
challenge the previous studies. First, students do not have intention to only make
summary of their teaching in ‘Teaching Journal’. Second, students do no thave
Interestingly, even though they do not like writing ‘Teaching Journal’,
they have different opinion about ‘Teaching Journal’ which tends to be positive,
such as by having ‘Teaching Journal’, they have an ability to reflect on their
teaching, to know their strength and weakness, to make good ways to improve
their teaching, to make plan for any situation that might happen in class, to be
more confident, to consider anything before teaching, to learn about teaching, to
have record of teaching, and to share feeling after teaching.
In further discussion, students also stated that they are willing to use
‘Teaching Journal’ as a part of their learning in teaching. There are three reasons
stated. First, they have known the impact of writing ‘Teaching Journal’ which is
really helpful for them. Second, ‘Teaching Journal’ can be a tool to learn. The
last, ‘Teaching Journal’ can be a simple way to do reflection if students do not
have other tool to do reflection.
The researcher believes that the results of this study can give implication
for any fields which have teaching practicum in providing good consideration to
use or keep using ‘Teaching Journal’ due the findings achieved from writing
‘Teaching Journal’. . However, the researcher also realizes that not all of students
in Teaching Practicum nowadays use ‘Teaching Journal’ due to the technology
era. They might use other ways to reflect on their teaching. The researcher
welcomes any further researches to measure whether students still have positive
attitudes toward the use of ‘Teaching Journal’ or not for the sake of learning in
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
First and foremost, I would like to thank God for His blessing to me so
that I could finish my thesis. I would like also to thank my supervisor, Mrs.
Rindang Widiningrum, M. Hum and my examiner, Mrs. Debora Tri Ragawanti,
MA-ELT who have guided me patiently during my work in finishing this thesis. I
would like also to thank all of the participants who were involved in this study
because without your help, I cannot finish this thesis. For the last but not the least,
I would like to thank everyone who supports me in finishing this thesis, my
family, my friends, and my partner in life. May God always bless you in all of
REFERENCES
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teaching approach on developing teaching skills of primary science student teachers. The Online Journal of New Horizons in Education, 3(2), 58-64.
Bain, J., D., Ballantyne, R., Packer, J., & Mills, C. (1997, November-December). Using journal writing to enhance student teachers’ reflectivity during field experience placements. Paper session presented at the meetings of the Annual Conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Brisbane, Queensland.
Eagly, A., H., Chaiken, S. (2007). The advantages of an inclusive definition of attitude. Social Cognition, 25(5), 582-602.
Gyahe, T. (2011). Teaching and learning through reflective practice: a practical guide for positive action. Oxon: Routledge.
Hsu, P. (2008). Using videotaping and reflective journal writing to improve student-teachers’ performance in classroom. Chaoyang Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 6(2), 97-120.
Lan, M., & Wang, K. (2013). The effects of reflective teaching on an intensive teacher training program. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 3(1), 81-102.
Lee, I. (2008). Fostering preservice reflection through response journals. Teacher Education Quarterly, 117-139.
Lew, M., D., N., & Schmidt, H., G. (2007). Online reflection journals: learning through assessment. Proceedings ascilite Singapore 2007: Concise paper, 578-582.
Lew, M., D., N., & Schmidt, H., G. (2011). Self-reflection and academic performance: is there a relationship?. Adv in Health Sci Edu, 16, 529-545.
Maarof, N. (2007). Telling his or her story through reflective journals. International Education Journal, 8(1), 205-220.
Richards, J., C., & Lockhart, C. (1996). Reflective teaching in second language classrooms. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Sahota, M. (2010). Improving your teaching practice through reflective journal writing. KOTESOL’S “The English Connection” magazine. Retrieved
https://eltrantsreviewsreflections.wordpress.com/improving-your-teaching-practice-through-reflective-journal-writing/
Spencer, C., T., G., K. (2009). Teacher educators’ perspectives on the meaning and most effective strategies to develop reflective practice among initial teacher trainees. The Higher Education Academy: Health Science and Practice.
APPENDIX A Questionnaire
NIM : _____________________
Dear participants,
I am a student from English Language Education, Faculty of Language and
Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University who are doing a research on
students’ attitudes toward ‘Teaching Journal’ in Teaching Practicum. The purpose
of this research is to find the students’ attitude in English Teacher Education,
Faculty of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University toward
‘Teaching Journal’ in Teaching Practicum. ‘Teaching Journal’ is a written
reflection, ideas, thoughts, and feelings about teaching experiences which is kept
by students during the teaching practicum (Lee, 2008; Richards & Lockhart, 1996;
Maarof, 2007). Please be kindly to fulfill the questionnaire below as honestly as
you can by putting a checkmark (√) in the appropriate column. It will not affect
your grade. Many thanks.
SA = Strongly Agree, A = Agree, D = Disagree, and SD = Strongly Disagree
No. Statements SA A D SD
1 I like writing ‘Teaching Journal’.
2 ‘Teaching Journal’ helps me to reflect on my
teaching.
3 ‘Teaching Journal’ helps me to learn about teaching.
well in class.
5 ‘Teaching Journal’ helps me to recognize what I did
not do well in class.
6 ‘Teaching Journal’ helps me to learn from my
successes and mistakes in class.
7 ‘Teaching Journal’ helps me to plan for future
situations that might happen in class.
8 ‘Teaching Journal’ helps me to come up with good
ways to improve my teaching.
9 Doing reflection in ‘Teaching Journal’ and learn
from it make me more confident for the next
teaching.
10 Doing reflection in ‘Teaching Journal’ makes me
become a teacher who considers anything before
teaching.
11 I feel that writing reflection in ‘Teaching Journal’
spends a lot of time.
12 Writing reflection in ‘Teaching Journal’ is not easy.
13 I write ‘Teaching Journal’ only to summarize the
procedure of my teaching.
14 I write ‘Teaching Journal’ to impress my mentor
teacher about my teaching performance.
my teaching, I write it only to fulfill the
requirement in teaching practicum.
16 I will use ‘Teaching Journal’ as a part of my
learning in teaching.
Consent form:
If you would like to be further interviewed, please kindly fill in your contact
below:
Telephone:
Email:
APPENDIX B Interview Questions
1. Mengapa Anda tidak suka menulis ‘Teaching Journal’?
2. Menurut Anda di bagian mana menulis ‘Teaching Journal’ itu sulit?
3. Apa yang Anda dapat dari ‘Teaching Journal’ untuk praktek mengajar Anda?
4. Apa yang Anda lakukan untuk mengajar Anda selanjutnya dari refleksi yang
sudah Anda tulis di ‘Teaching Journal’?
5. Hasil apa yang Anda dapat di mengajar Anda yang selanjutnya dari hasil
refleksi mengajar sebelumnya?
6. Ada pernyataan bahwa melakukan refleksi tentang mengajar membuat
seorang guru mempertimbangkan segala sesuatu sebelum mengajar.
Bagaimana pendapat Anda?
7. Alasan apa yang membuat Anda memilih untuk menggunakan ‘Teaching
