Investigating Strategies of English Teachers in A Primary School in Salatiga to Help Students Achieve Their Maximum Learning Outcomes in Online Classes

Abstract

The existence of social distancing regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic has forced schools to undertake distance learning. This condition has led teachers to quickly switch from face-to-face learning to online learning. This difference in learning methods is predicted to have an impact on students' learning outcomes, although more is to be known whether this prediction holds true. To this end, the current study attempts to address this research question: What are the strategies that English teachers in a Salatiga-based elementary school use to help students achieve maximum learning outcomes in online classes? Utilizing a qualitative methodology, in the current research we employed interviews and online classroom observations. Two English teachers at a private primary school and a student-teacher (final year student who is doing an internship at the school) joined the interview sessions, where the observations were conducted in one of the English teachers' online classes. The teachers participating in the current study shared experiences of starting from their efforts to start online learning to how they helped students to achieve their learning outcomes. Even with all the limitations that existed at the beginning of the online learning period, teachers attempted to improve their skills so that students could learn as much as possible, such as by creating two different teaching methods. The first one is by uploading the material to the learning management system (LMS) and the second is by doing online meetings. Improvisation carried out by the teacher also needs to be supported by the understanding given by the teacher. Since online learning is a new thing, adjustments to teacher standards or expectations are also needed. There is no need to force students to get perfect scores, but to make student comprehension the main goals of learning.