Regulatory Focus on Higher Secondary School Teachers with Reference to Classroom Climate with Selected Variables – A Study

Classroom climate is an important factor in the teaching and learning process. Both physical and psychological aspects of the classroom should be conducive to learning. Less number of students, student-teacher ratio and undivided attention of the teachers have a great influence on students’ academic performance. The study is conducted to find out whether gender has any impact on the performance of teachers in classrooms and their qualifications based on the subject they studied have any influence on their teaching. Experience enhances everybody’s learning. So, the teaching experience is an important factor that should be considered in managing a class. This study is done with 150 teachers selected from 10 higher secondary schools from the Kancheepuram district. A simple random technique is used to collect the sample. The teaching experience is classified as below 5 years and above 5 years. The tool, Classroom climate inventory, is standardised by the investigator. T-test and Correlation were used to analyse data.


Introduction
Classroom climate is nothing but the interaction of teachers and students. How well a classroom is managed by the teacher, their ability to make the students comfortable in their class determines the learning outcome of the students. Overcrowded classrooms are stressful to both the students and teachers. Disruptive classroom behaviour is often a result of overcrowding. Teachers are solely responsible for maintaining a positive atmosphere in the classroom. Teachers who run respectful classrooms are respected by the students in turn. A teacher's duty is not only to teach the subject but to make sure that students are comfortable and enjoy the learning experience. This study is about finding out whether gender, educational qualification and teaching experience of the teachers influence their classroom climate.

Review of Related Literature
Joseph et al. (2013) conducted a study on effective teacher and student interactions in secondary classrooms. For this purpose, 643 students from 37 secondary schools were selected. After accounting for the previous year's test performance, qualities of teacher interactions were predicted and the results showed that when classrooms have a positive emotional climate, the achievement of students was high. Moreover, the teacher-student interactions were greatest in classrooms with fewer students. Santhi. S (2018) undertook a study about the Perception of classroom climate of the teachers. For this study, a sample of 325 male and female higher secondary teachers were selected from the Salem district of Tamil Nadu. The findings showed that more than 90% of the teachers are encouraged by their colleagues. Government school teachers have more commitment towards low achievers and 90% of the CBSE and government school teachers are not afraid of critical questions from the students. The teachers should avoid negative perceptions.

Objectives of the Study
• To determine whether there is any significant difference between male and female higher secondary school teachers concerning classroom climate. • To find out whether there is any significant difference between the educational qualification of higher secondary school teachers concerning classroom climate. • To find out whether there is any significant difference between the teaching experience of higher secondary school teachers concerning their classroom climate.

Hypotheses
• There would be no significant difference between male and female higher secondary school teachers concerning classroom climate. • There would be no significant difference between the educational qualification of higher secondary school teachers concerning classroom climate. • There would be no significant difference between the teaching experience of higher secondary school teachers concerning classroom climate.

Methodology
A normative survey method was adopted for this study. The study sample consists of 150 higher secondary school teachers selected from 10 schools of the Kancheepuram district. A random sampling technique is used to select the sample. Government and matriculation types of schools were selected for this study. The tool used was classroom climate inventory standardised by the investigator. Mean, Standard Deviation, t-test and correlation coefficient was used to analyse the data collected.  From the above table, it is inferred that the calculated 't' value 2.119 is greater than the table value 1.96 at a 0.05 level of significance. Hence it is concluded that there exists a difference between the educational qualification of higher secondary school teachers concerning classroom climate. From the above table, it is inferred that the calculated 't' value 0.540 is lesser than the table value 1.96 at a 0.05 level of significance. Hence it is concluded that there is no difference in the teaching experience of higher secondary school teachers concerning classroom climate.

Findings of the Study
• There exists a significant difference between higher secondary school teachers concerning classroom climate in the case of gender.
• There exists a significant difference between higher secondary school teachers concerning classroom climate in the case of educational qualification. • There exists no difference between higher secondary school teachers concerning classroom climate in the case of teaching experience.

Conclusion
The study reveals that male teachers have better ability than female teachers in maintaining the classroom climate. This is because the knowledge of various classroom management skills is low among female teachers. If we implement various classroom management-oriented programs for female teachers, it will help them improve their classroom skills and daily routine in managing their class. Teaching experience, whether it is above 5 years or below 5 years, do not matter. But the qualification in science and arts degree shows a significant difference in maintaining the classroom climate.