Classroom management competence of novice teachers in Vietnam

Abstract This study focuses on determining the classroom management competences of novice Vietnamese teachers and aims to identify the differences in these competences among teachers with one to five years of experience. Questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted with novice teachers from different provinces in Vietnam. The results showed that these novice teachers were not regularly performing the competences of classroom management in their classrooms. Additionally, teachers were more concerned with teacher-oriented activities, which were implemented more regularly than student-oriented activities. There were significant differences in the classroom management competences of teachers with experiences between one and five years. The teachers with five years of experience paid more attention to classroom management than those with one year of experience. They implemented the competences in their classroom practices more frequently, including building a learning environment, managing student learning activities, and managing student behavior. Finally, the study recommended the application of a social constructivist approach considering features of a Confucian heritage culture to develop a classroom management strategy to solve the remaining problems and help novice teachers manage classrooms effectively.


Ngô Vũ Thu Hằng
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Ngô Vũ Thu Hằ ng has been a teacher educator and a researcher at Hanoi National University of Education in Vietnam for more than fifteen years. She obtained her doctoral degree in education at Utrecht University, The Netherlands. Her research focuses on social constructivism in education. Currently, she and her colleagues are working on a two-year research project on classroom management with the application of a social constructivist perspective. This study is a part of that research project and aims to discover the current state of classroom management competences of novice teachers in Vietnam. It is expected to create a knowledge foundation for proposing reasonable suggestions and solutions to improve the classroom management competences of novice teachers in Vietnam.

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT
This study focuses on determining the classroom management competences of novice Vietnamese teachers and aims to identify the differences in these competences among teachers with one to five years of experience. The results showed that these novice teachers were not regularly performing the competences of classroom management in their classrooms. Additionally, teachers were more concerned with teacher-oriented activities, which were implemented more regularly than student-oriented activities. The teachers with five years of experience paid more attention to classroom management than those with one year of experience. They implemented the competences in their classroom practices more frequently, including building a learning environment, managing student learning activities, and managing student behavior. The study recommended the application of a social constructivist approach considering features of a Confucian heritage culture to develop a classroom management strategy to solve the remaining problems and help novice teachers manage classrooms effectively.

Introduction
Classroom management (CM) is one of the most important tasks teachers need to master (König & Lee, 2015). Effective CM creates an environment that promotes teaching and learning (Sieberer-Nagler, 2016). Effective teaching cannot take place in a poorly managed classroom. If students are disorderly, do not respect teachers, or do not have clear rules, chaos will occur frequently, which affects both teachers and students: teachers have to struggle to teach and students learn less than they should. In contrast, well-managed classrooms create an environment that fosters teaching and learning. However, a well-managed classroom does not come naturally. A teacher is responsible for creating a good learning environment that requires considerable effort. Many studies have shown that teachers affect student learning outcomes. Teachers have three primary responsibilities: look for and select effective teaching methods, design and implement lessons to facilitate learning for students, and implement effective CM. Students will find it difficult to learn, if teachers fail to perform well in one of these tasks.
Many studies have been conducted focusing on CM to better understand the concerns of novice teachers (NTs). A key aspect of an effective school is its ability to retain quality NTs (Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2019). However, studies worldwide point to a significant attrition rate among NTs (Arnett-Hartwick & Cannon, 2019). The first few years of teaching are a period of intense transition in which NTs take on the responsibilities of managing a classroom while encountering incompatible notions regarding the best means to educate students (Smagorinsky et al., 2015). According to Smagorinsky et al. (2015), NTs moving between universities and schools often experience dissonance when trying to develop a conception of effective instruction.
In Vietnam, an educational reform has been implemented with an aim to develop students' character and competences (Ministry of Education and Training [MOET], 2018a). The role and significance of NTs are emphasized because they are the key to implementing the newly designed curriculum. The NTs are also believed to adapt to educational innovations more quickly than longtime teachers, who are accustomed to traditional educational approaches. Subject curricula and lessons have been designed in an innovative, competence-based approach for NTs to implement, and teaching methods and techniques to promote students' active learning have also been introduced for NTs to apply in classrooms. However, the literature provides scarce information on CM to support NTs in successfully implementing the new curriculum and effectively teaching newly designed lessons. Additionally, there is a lack of studies on the CM competences of Vietnamese NTs. This can hinder NTs from successfully implementing the newly designed curricula because CM is considered a foundation for effective teaching. This study, which is a part of a broader research project on effective CM strategies, aims to discover the current state of CM competences of NTs in Vietnam. It focuses on answering two research questions: a) To what extent are CM competences performed by NTs in Vietnam? and b) What are the differences in the CM performances between NTs with one to five years of experience? NTs have the same responsibility as a teacher with many years of service, although the first year is generally acknowledged to be the most difficult period in a teacher's career. Comparing the CM performances of NTs with one to five years of experience can help reveal the CM characteristics of NTs. Answering these research questions can help provide insights into CM competences of NTs in Vietnam and create a knowledge foundation for proposing reasonable suggestions and solutions to improve the CM competencies of NTs. Thus, the study can contribute to the literature on CM and improve the quality of school education under the current educational reform process in Vietnam.

Competences of classroom management
CM determines the quality of teaching and is often understood as teachers' efforts to monitor classroom activities, including the teaching process, social interactions, and student behavior (Burden & Byrd, 1999;Evertson et al., 2003;Simonsen et al., 2008). Brophy and McCaslin (1992) argued that CM comprises the efforts of teachers to establish and maintain the classroom as an effective environment for teaching and learning. It includes teachers' attitudes and actions that affect students' behavior in the classroom (Doyle, 1986;Good & Brophy, 2003;Wang et al., 1993).
Many studies have shown a close relationship between CM and the quality of teaching. Researchers have demonstrated the belief that CM skills play a significant role in determining the success of teaching activities (Marzano et al., 2003;Wang et al., 1993). Specifically, a teacher who lacks CM skills can hardly complete the teaching. Many studies on effective teaching skills and analyses of teachers' teaching plans have shown that excellent teachers show greater prominence in CM skills, starting from lesson plans to classroom teaching practices (Marzano et al., 2003). Effective teaching cannot occur if teachers do not have the cooperation of students and do not use their CM skills to engage students in teaching activities. In addition, poor CM wastes classroom time, reduces student work time, and degrades the quality of the learning environment (Emmer et al., 1980). CM competence is understood as the ability to establish and maintain an effective learning environment for students (Doyle, 1986;Evertson et al., 2003;Kounin, 1970;Marzano et al., 2003). A CM competence-qualified teacher has the following abilities: (1) Building a learning environment refers to the efforts of teachers in establishing physical and social learning environments in the classroom. The classroom environment includes not only the classroom atmosphere, attitudes, emotions, and interactions among class members, but also the classroom space and physical facilities that support the classroom teaching and learning (e.g., desks, chairs, boards, technology devices, learning materials; Froyen & Iverson, 1999;Wong & Wong, 2001). Therefore, CM also includes the organization and arrangement of tables and chairs, facilitation of classroom coverage, movements, approaching students, organization of learning activities, and arrangement of documents and classroom supplies to benefit students' learning.
(2) Managing student learning activities include teachers' actions and measures to encourage and maintain students' active response and cooperation while the students process organized competence-oriented learning activities. The management skills involved in student learning activities are demonstrated through the following teachers' activities: • Observing the classroom organization (3) Managing student behavior helps create a disciplined and orderly learning environment that fosters teaching and learning. Teaching skills relevant to this aspect of CM include: • Establishing rules and codes of conduct • Intervening in behavioral concerns • Establishing a teacher-student relationship The aforementioned activities of CM are consistent with those described in the Vietnamese professional standards for school teachers, which require the teachers to implement a safe and healthy educational environment to support students' learning (Ministry of Education and Training. [MOET], 2018b). Accordingly, Vietnamese teachers need to manage students' behaviors effectively to ensure a good and safe learning environment. They need to be attached to students, treat students with dignity, build relationships rooted in mutual respect, and continuously observe proper boundaries appropriate to a teacher's professional position. Along with the CM requirements for professional Vietnamese teachers, the CM activities used in this study aim to develop standards for determining CM competences performed by NTs in Vietnam.

The concerns of novice teachers
"Novice teacher," also known as an apprentice or a beginner, refers to a licensed professional educator whose seniority does not exceed five years of teaching (Perrone et al., 2019;Räsänen et al., 2020). NTs often describe their first teaching job following graduation as a shocking experience (Caspersen & Raaen, 2014). They are not thoroughly proficient and need ongoing assistance. Many educational researchers have indicated that CM is one of the three problems faced by NTs (Greenberg et al., 2014) and causes many teachers to leave the teaching profession (Lyons et al., 2011;Maciejewski, 2007). Many other studies have confirmed that poor CM and quarrelsome students are the biggest barriers to NTs' professional success (Marzano et al., 2003;O'Neill & Stephenson, 2011). Meister and Melnick (2003) reported that in examining NTs' perceptions, three major concerns emerged: managing the behavior and diverse needs of students, time constraints and workload, and conflict with parents and other adults. Other studies identified setting up the classroom, preparing for the first weeks of school, curriculum expectations, salary, and the maintenance of personal sanity as areas that posed the greatest difficulties for NTs (see, Fantilli & McDougall, 2009). In Vietnam, educational reform has motivated educators to seek innovative approaches to improve educational quality. Many studies have been conducted on competence-based education focusing on curriculum development and teaching methods, but a surprising lack of studies on school teachers' CM and the concerns of NTs have been observed. Unless CM practices and the concerns of NTs are identified, the implementation of newly designed curricula may remain problematic owing to the close relationship between teaching and CM and that between an ideal and implemented curriculum (

Research context
Vietnam has been deeply influenced by a Confucian heritage culture. The country is in the process of improving general education. The School Curriculum 2018, designed according to a competencebased approach, has been implemented since 2019. Its main goal is to help students develop core competences, including 1) autonomy and self-directed learning, 2) communication and cooperation, and 3) problem solving and creativity, along with professional competences associated with the school subjects (Ministry of Education and Training [MOET], 2018a). Currently, Vietnam has also been implementing a long-term national project on enhancing teacher education at all levels. This educational project has provided various short training courses to develop pedagogical competences of teachers, so that they can meet the requirements of educational innovation. Within this project, teachers have acquired significant knowledge and skills related to the innovative curriculum, competence-based teaching and learning approaches, and psychological consultation and assistance for students, which are emphasized in teachers' new professional standards.
CM and student behavior management have been emphasized for years in Vietnamese schools. The Confucian maxim "Learn civility first and foremost and then learn literacy" [Tiên học lễ, hậu học văn] has been popularly used as a slogan, which can be seen easily in many Vietnamese schools. The maxim implies that students must learn how to appropriately behave with good manners before learning academic knowledge. Additionally, in every school, a poster of Hồ Chí Minh's 5 things to teach teenagers and children has been hung on classroom walls. The five things stated by Hồ Chí Minh in 1961 are as follows: (i) Love your motherland, love your fellow citizens.
(ii) Study well, work well.
(iii) Embody strong solidarity and strict discipline.
These are believed to contain the tradition and values of many generations of Vietnamese. Both Confucian ideology and Ho Chi Minh's ideology about education and teaching emphasize CM with a focus on students' behavioral management. They also reflect cultural features such as collectivist roots and a focus on virtue (Hằng et al., 2015). Teachers use these general rules to teach Vietnamese students and manage their behaviors.

Research methods
This study aimed to determine the current state of CM competences of NTs in Vietnam. The study was conducted to answer two key research questions:

What are the differences in the performance of CM between NTs with one and five years of experience?
To this end, the study used a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, in which questionnaire surveys are used as a key research method to collect data on the current state of CM by NTs in Vietnam. In-depth interviews were conducted to verify the values obtained through questionnaire surveys.

Questionnaire survey (data source A)
A questionnaire survey was used to collect opinions from NTs in all three regions of Vietnam on the current status of CM in their classrooms. Closed-ended questions were asked using a Likert scale to assess the NTs' implementation of CM competences in their schools. The questionnaires were developed from the framework of CM competence required for school teachers. The questionnaires focused on three main themes of CM competence: 1) building a learning environment (2 items), 2) managing student learning (25 items), and 3) managing student behavior (16 items). The CM competence of building a learning environment focused on two activities: seat arrangement and learning aids arrangement in classrooms. The CM competence of managing student learning focused on five activities: The CM competence of managing student behavior focused on three activities: (i) Establishing rules and regulations of behavior (ii) Behavior intervening and handling (iii) Establishing a teacher-student relationship The questionnaires used a 4-point Likert scale to assess the NTs' implementation of CM competences. This scale consisted of four options to answer in terms of frequency, including regularly, occasionally, rarely, and never, with the scores ranging from 3 to 0. The questionnaires were piloted and adjusted to be more plausible before being utilized in this study.
NTs with one to five years of working experience were selected to participate in the survey. Of the 618 NT participants, 26.70% were male and 73.30% were female. All of them were class teachers at various public schools, distinguished in terms of educational qualification and background. Approximately 15.7% of them were college graduates, and 84.3% were university graduates; additionally, 30.91% of them were primary teachers, and 69.09% of them were secondary teachers, whose teaching subjects included Mathematics, Vietnamese, and History. The NTs were randomly selected from 12 provinces in Vietnam, including four provinces in the northern, four provinces in the central, and four provinces in the southern regions. Of these provinces, four were in the mountainous area (30.25%), and eight were in the city area (69.75%). The NTs were guided by the second and the third author, prior to responding to the questionnaire. They were also encouraged to be honest and detached in answering the questions regarding their CM. Table 1 presents information about the NTs participating in the questionnaire survey.

In-depth interviews (data source B)
The in-depth interview method was used to exploit the thoughts and perceptions of Vietnamese NTs regarding their practices, as these would be difficult to investigate using a questionnaire survey method owing to the limitation of this research method. The interviews were conducted after the questionnaire surveys were completed and provided initial results. The content of the interviews also focused on classroom practices in which CM activities were implemented by the NTs and on the extent and frequency of these activities. In the end, 37 teachers directly participated in the interviews, including NTs from five provinces in all three regions of Vietnam, with teachers from mountainous and rural areas (43.24%) and urban areas (56.76%). The information about the interviewed NTs is also presented in Table 1. Ten face-to-face interviews were conducted, including two single interviews and eight group interviews with NTs. The interviews were directly conducted by authors 2 or 3, who used open-ended questions focusing on the CM activities of NTs. The two authors took notes during the interviews. Voice-recording was used when interviewees consented to it. The interviewers encouraged and motivated the NTs to openly answer interview questions and share their thoughts and explored their initial responses. The teachers' responses were carefully recorded and later transcribed verbatim to help the authors obtain authentic and detailed data.

Data analysis
Mathematical statistical methods and cross-checking were used to analyze the data and validate data reliability. Data from the questionnaire survey (Source A) were used as the primary data source, which were then processed using SPSS software version 20.0. Cronbach's alpha test was used to assess the reliability of the scale and the type of variables, if the obtained values were not within the allowable limits. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.83 (i.e., within the allowable limit of >0.6-<0.9). This reliability test allowed the authors to confirm the reliability of the scale. The survey results on the current state of CM competences of the NTs were analyzed according to the descriptive statistical parameters of frequency, mean score, and standard deviation to detect the Vietnamese NTs' frequency of performing CM activities and their CM strengths and weaknesses.
In addition, the authors compared the CM competences of the two groups of NTs: those with one year and those with five years of experience. Independent samples test was used to test the two groups of NTs to learn the differences in their CM.
The data from the in-depth interview source (Source B) were processed and coded by writing words representing categories of CM and divided into themes for the findings. These findings were later used to verify the data values obtained from the questionnaire survey source (Source A). Thus, the authors identified the extent of CM competences performed by NTs in Vietnam, as well as the changes and CM development in the NTs after working for five years.

The competences of building a learning environment and managing student learning activities
The results of the survey on the competences of building a learning environment and managing student learning activities of the NTs in Vietnam are presented in Table 2.
The survey results in Table 2 show that the overall mean scores of competences of building a learning environment and managing student learning activities of the NTs in Vietnam were not high (2.02). Thus, the NTs in Vietnam were not usually implementing the competences of building a learning environment and managing student learning activities in their CM practices.
The competence of building a learning environment was at an average level, showing that NTs were not paying enough attention to the arrangement of seats to make them convenient for observing the class, moving, approaching students, and organizing learning activities (mean = 2.00). The exploration of the competence of managing student learning activities showed that detecting and promptly handling students' problems during classes were being implemented at the lowest extent of frequency by the NTs in Vietnam (mean = 1.62). The second-lowest competence was establishing and maintaining a two-way interaction with students in class (mean = 1.64). The CM activity implemented most frequently by NTs was using clear, coherent expressions that are easy for students to understand (mean = 2.43). Among the groups of CM activities, class time management seemed to be the CM activity group that the NTs in Vietnam paid the most attention to. However, class witnessing was the least implemented activity group. Notably, many important CM activities, such as establishing and maintaining two-way interactions with students in class, delivering diverse learning tasks suitable for students, and organizing various learning layouts in class, were not implemented at a high level by the NTs (Source A).
Based on the survey results described above, the CM of the NTs in Vietnam can be characterized as follows: • The teacher-oriented CM activities are conducted at a relatively high frequency, including the following activities: These results of the NTs' competencies of building a learning environment and managing student learning activities (Source A) are highly consistent with those obtained from the in-depth interviews (Source B). Up to 78.37% of the NTs showed that they focused the content knowledge, and 72.97% of them confirmed that they regularly took notes on things that need to be learned and changed in the next lesson. Only 18.91% of the NTs showed the importance of fostering students' interactive activities in class, and 24.32% of them were interested in exploiting students' experiences to engage them in learning activities (Source B). Most interviewed teachers said that in the first one to two years of working, they paid attention to the activities such as preparing lesson plans, presenting on the class board, and adjusting their voices. In other words, they focused on their own activities, or their activities were directed at themselves.

• In the first years of teaching, I often paid a lot of attention to such things as carefully preparing lesson plans, partly because I was afraid of being inspected. I paid attention to adhere to the lesson plans and lesson designs in the curriculum. (Teacher N.P.T.)
Most of the interviewed NTs admitted that in the early years, they paid attention to the lessons' content of knowledge, but did not focus on CM. Sometimes Vietnamese NTs are also often "crazed for knowledge," leading to the phenomenon of trying to teach all knowledge in the lesson to avoid exceeding the time limit. This may be due to too much focus on their own activities, forgetting that they cannot simultaneously perform two jobs equally well: teaching students and managing the classroom flexibly and smoothly (Source B).

• Usually, when I focus on writing on the board, I can't observe the students. Gradually later I would learn how to write on the board and see what the students were doing. In the first year, there were many days when I couldn't get away from the lesson plan. If I intended to use a method as written in the lesson plan, I would just go to class and use that method to teach students. (Teacher N.P.T.)
The results of the interviews with the NTs also confirmed that the activities of observing the class and maintaining two-way interactions in the classroom were the NTs' weak CM competences. The reasons are clear from the following explanations provided by the teachers:

The competence of managing student behavior
The results of the questionnaire survey on the competence of managing student behavior of NTs are summarized and shown in Table 3.
The results in Table 3 show that the NTs' performance level regarding student behavior management was above the overall mean score (by 2.07), implying that the NTs occasionally manage student behavior. Comparison between the three groups of competence, including establishing rules and regulation of behavior, behavior intervening and handling, and establishing a teacherstudent relationship, showed the following results: • The activity group of establishing rules and regulating behavior was performed with the highest frequency (overall mean score = 2.23) • The activity group of behavior intervening and handling was implemented with the lowest frequency (overall mean score = 1.96) Based on these results, it can be concluded that behavior intervention and handling was a major shortcoming of the Vietnamese NTs in managing student behavior within their CM competence. The analysis of the data from the in-depth interviews also provided similar results to the above survey results. Of the interviewed teachers, 70.27% emphasized the establishment of rules and regulation of behavior in managing student behavior. The common rules mentioned by them were as follows: class rules, school rules, and the five items that were taught by Ho Chi Minh to teenagers and children. More than half (67.56%) of the teachers regularly disseminated classroom rules and regulations and guided students to implement them, and the highest percentage of teachers (72.97%) regularly supervised and maintained the students' implementation of rules and regulations during class hours (Source B). The in-depth interviews revealed that although the NTs had paid attention to the establishment and implementation of school rules, their ways of doing so did not seem reasonable, with the usual way being teachers making rules and imposing them on students. When asked about the steps to develop rules, 62.16% of the teachers gave answers such as "build them myself," "provide them by myself," and "ask students to follow." Almost no students participated in the process of developing the classroom rules. This greatly affected students' cohesion and sense of responsibility in implementing school rules. More than 50% of the teachers said that they had not been trained in the method of developing classroom rules (Source B).
The results of the in-depth interviews also showed that the competence of intervening and handling student behavior was weak among the NTs in Vietnam. The NTs intervening and handling of behavior cannot be characterized as preventive, but as a way to deal with students' behavioral problems when they occur.  Although the teachers showed awareness of the necessity to manage the classroom effectively, they only focused on good teaching in their classrooms. According to them, the lack of professional experience also hindered them from effectively managing student behavior. Regarding reminding students when they made mistakes, 83.7% of the teachers said that they did, whereas only 35.13% of teachers showed signs of detecting and promptly handling students' problematic behaviors. Only 24.32% of teachers said that they would praise certain students for good behavior to remind those who made mistakes about how to behave (Source B).

• Although we knew how to observe students, we didn't know all the types of behavior in students in the first year, so I didn't have a formula for dealing with a certain type of specific behavior. Only when a problem occurred, up to the actual situation, I would find a way . . . So I can say that when I first started my job as a teacher, I couldn't determine the consequences of the behavior and did not discuss it with the students to come to any agreement. (Teacher N. T. T.)
Additionally, • In the first year, I paid attention to the lecture, so sometimes I didn't observe all the students . . . If the students were involved and committed to following the rules from the beginning, the handling of violations would be better. I believe that when students participate in the development of rules, they will voluntarily implement them rather than being imposed by the teacher. (Teacher L. T. H.) The results of the teachers' interviews showed that at the beginning of their time working as a teacher, the NTs were not able to properly and consistently implement discipline to deal with students' misbehaviors. This is because they did not appropriately apply techniques of building rules. This is a relatively emergent characteristic in the NTs in Vietnam. The detection and timely handling of students' problematic behaviors by NTs has primarily been a situational response but has not focused on prevention (Source B).

Differences in the NTs' competences of building a learning environment and managing student learning activities
The experience of working from one to five years can make a difference in NTs' CM competences. These competences were compared to discover the differences in the competences of building a learning environment and managing student learning activities between teachers with one and five years of experience. The results are presented in Table 4.
The results of the independent samples test of the CM activities in Table 4 show that 23/27 activities have p < 0.05. This confirms the significant difference in the CM competences of the two groups of teachers: teachers with 1-year and 5-year experience. The significant difference is manifested by the following activities: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, (Table 4). Only 4/27 CM activities, which are 1, 2, 22, and 25 (Table 4), have p > 0.05, indicating that these activities are not significantly different. The effect size is 1.9, indicating that the difference in the competences of building a learning environment and managing student learning activities between the two groups of NTs is large (Cohen, 1988).
The results in Table 4 show that there was a clear difference in the competences of building a learning environment and managing student learning in the activities of the two groups of teachers. It is noteworthy that in most of the compared activities, the mean scores of the teachers with five years of experience were higher than those with one year of experience. Therefore, it can be affirmed that the activities of building a learning environment and managing student learning were more concerned and were performed more often when the NTs increased their number of years of working experience. As seen in Table 4, the overall mean score increased from 1.83 to 2.90. In other words, the more experienced teachers tended to pay more attention and perform more often the activities of building a learning environment and managing student learning (Source A). The emergent activities that had a considerably increased frequency of implementation according to the number of years of working experience of the NTs are i) establishing and maintaining two-way interactions with students in class; ii) organizing various learning layouts in

Differences in the NTs' competence of student behavior management
The results of comparing the NTs' competence of student behavior management between 1-yearexperienced teachers and 5-year-experienced teachers are summarized and presented in Table 5.
The results of the independent samples test of the CM competence in Table 5 show that there are 16/16 activities with p < 0.05, which allows confirming the statistically significant difference in the competence of behavior management of the two groups of teachers. Table 5 also shows the increasing trend of mean scores in student behavior management activities of teachers with between 1 and 5 years of experience (overall mean score increased from 1.88 to 2.47). The effect size is 1.03, indicating that the difference in the competence of student behavior management between the two groups of NTs is large (Cohen, 1988).
The group of student behavior management activities with significant increases includes i) detecting and promptly handling students' problematic behaviors; ii) adequately and consistently implementing discipline for misbehavior (what has been agreed with students); and iii) intentionally paying attention but showing no interest in some inappropriate behaviors. Behavior management activities that did not differ significantly between teachers with 1 and 5 years of experience (slight increase) included i) praising certain students' good behavior to remind students who make mistakes how to behave, and ii) establishing positive, friendly, and respectful interactions and relationships with students.
Based on the comparative results, it can be confirmed that teachers with five years of experience pay more attention to and regularly perform student behavior management activities than teachers with one year of experience. This result can lead to an inference that the more the NTs work, the more they realize the necessity and importance of the activities of student behavior management; therefore, they tend to focus on and perform the activities more regularly to have better CM in their classrooms.

Conclusions and discussion
Regarding the first research question, that is, To what extent are CM competencies performed by NTs in Vietnam?, the results showed that the CM competencies have been performed to a moderate extent by NTs in Vietnam. NTs have not been concerned with or built a learning environment at a high frequency. This is understandable, given the fact that classroom space in Vietnam is still arranged traditionally: seats are usually arranged in horizontal rows facing the classroom board. The competence of managing student learning activities, that is, detecting and promptly handling students' problems during class hours, was rated at the lowest level. Establishing and maintaining two-way interactions with students in the classroom was also a weak aspect in the CM of the NTs in Vietnam. The teacher-oriented CM activities were performed at a relatively high frequency. The studentoriented CM activities were performed at a relatively low frequency. It was found that NTs have not exploited students' experiences frequently to engage them in learning activities. Additionally, NTs have not effectively connected the content knowledge with students' existing knowledge. This is consistent with the results from previous studies, which showed that a social constructivist approach (Beck & Kosnick, 2006) has been implemented to a low extent in teaching and learning practices in Vietnam, which is considerably influenced by a Confucian heritage (Hằng et al., 2015). Teaching and learning in a Confucian heritage were mainly textbook-based and teacher-centered, knowledge was transmitted by the teacher and reproduced by students, students' personal aspects were discounted, and hierarchical interactions remained in classroom practices (Hằng, 2019;Hằng et al., 2015). The hierarchical interactions can be explained from a cultural perspective of Confucianism, which stresses a hierarchical order with its core objective of building a stable and well-ordered society (Berthrong & Berthrong, 2000). In Confucian culture, hierarchical interactions are manifested through respect for age, position, and family background. Accordingly, two kinds of hierarchical subjects, including superior and inferior, are determined for human interactions and social communications. In classroom practice, the teacher is traditionally considered superior, and students inferior. However, effective CM supports equitable relationships and interactions between teachers and students. It requires teachers to listen to students and respect their diversity.
In terms of student behavior management, the NTs showed a focus on building and implementing classroom rules and supervising students to implement the rules. However, the manner of implementing this remains imposing. The NTs' management of student behavior is not highly preventive. Additionally, intervention activities and dealing with students' behavioral problems are performed with the lowest frequency. This can be considered a major shortcoming in the CM competences of the NTs in Vietnam.
In the first five years of doing their job as teachers, the NTs in Vietnam tend to focus on managing their teaching rather than on managing students' learning. To focus solely on their teaching activities, teachers fail to pay enough attention to effectively manage students' learning activities. This can be a reason that their teaching and students' learning tend to be problematic.
As for the second research question, that is, What are the differences in the performance of CM among NTs with one to five years of experience?, the results showed that there were significant differences in the CM competences among teachers with one to five years of experience in Vietnam, in that NTs with five years of experience paid more attention to the CM activities than their counterparts. The results revealed that the first-year teachers scored themselves low in the surveys. This reflects the low confidence of first-year teachers in managing classrooms and their probability of facing many difficulties in ensuring smooth classroom practices. However, the NTs gradually overcame the mechanical rigidity in managing the classroom, and focused more on students rather than their own activities. The study results also showed the increasing efforts and progress of NTs over five years, which is reflected in the increase in the mean scores in some criteria. Thus, with increasing experience, NTs become more effective in managing the classroom. Such findings support the assertion that the first year is generally the most difficult in a teacher's career, and new teachers spend a disproportionate amount of time and effort simply to keep their heads above water (Fantilli & McDougall, 2009).
Reportedly, NTs in difficult situations often feel like failures and without adequate supports, and only the strongest and most determined teachers succeed (Colbert & Wolfe, 1992;Fantilli & McDougall, 2009). Additionally, adequate mastery of CM is clearly related to student achievement, whereas insufficient mastery may lead to stress and burnout among teachers (König & Lee, 2015). Therefore, this study's results provide a knowledge foundation for proposing suggestions and solutions to improve the CM competencies for NTs in Vietnam. This is necessary for the effective implementation of the School Curriculum 2018 (Ministry of Education and Training [MOET], 2018a). Furthermore, it is important to develop approaches to support NTs so that they can respond to the challenges as they develop their abilities to connect with and teach diverse students in their classrooms (Stewart & Jansky, 2022). To improve CM competences for Vietnamese NTs, further studies should be carried out focusing on issues such as developing CM strategies and training the NTs to implement the strategies effectively. Thus, the application of a social constructivist approach for designing CM strategies can be a possible solution to solve the problems in the practices of NTs' CM. Social constructivism is acknowledged to involve both culture and experience, and it is meaningful, critical, social, and holistic (Beck & Kosnick, 2006). Social constructivism is appropriate for solving challenges in Vietnamese NTs' CM because it can create a progressive approach among learners and make CM more meaningful and relevant for both teachers and students. With its emphasis on the social aspect, cooperation in teaching and learning, and educating communities, social constructivism is believed to align with a Confucian culture such as that of Vietnam, in which some of the emergent cultural features support a social constructivist approach (Hằng et al., 2015), as presented below: -The collectivist root: This supports interactive communication and cooperation in CM.
-The virtue focus: This supports the value of educating and managing of students' behaviors.
-The family value: This supports a relationship and partnership of families with schools in managing students' behaviors and learning.
To apply a social constructivist approach in managing classrooms, Vietnamese NTs should change significantly. As social constructivism emphasizes realistic situations and social interactions and values students' experiences and construction, Vietnamese NTs need to apply two-way interactions to remain open-minded in communicating with students and to adhere to a studentcentered approach to managing their classrooms. The application of a social constructivist approach in CM requires Vietnamese NTs to encourage students to present their ideas strongly while remaining open to the ideas of others. It completely involves the student: their thoughts, emotions, and actions. Thus, NTs need to create a classroom culture by focusing on a material classroom environment in terms of a flexible seat arrangement and classroom decoration, as well as on a mental classroom environment in terms of an active and supportive learning atmosphere, social constructivist teaching roles, and family-school partnership.
However, this study's empirical results should be considered in light of some limitations. The results were derived from NT's opinions and interpretations of the given activities rather than observations. If the study provided more data and performed a qualitative analysis using the observation method for data triangulation, the evaluation of the CM actions that occurred in school practices could have brought a more detailed and practical picture of Vietnamese NTs' CM. Nevertheless, the study provides insight into CM competences of NTs in Vietnam and identifies the differences in the performance of CM among NTs with one to five years of experience. The study contributes to the literature on CM and helps find solutions to improve the quality of school education under the current educational reform process in Vietnam.