Effective Communication between Teachers and Students in the

Millennial Era to Create Students’ Self Regulation Capability in

Learning

Emilia Ramadhani

Department of Communication , Universitas Sumatera Utara, Jalan Dr. Sofyan No. 1, Medan, Indonesia

Keywords: Effective Communication, Self-Regulation, Curiosity.

Abstract: The rapid development of information technology nowadays will affect learning methods in schools. This

will make students not only depend on the teacher as the only information provider. The role of the teacher

at this time is more needed as a facilitator, whose job is to awaken the ability of self-regulation of students

(self-regulation learning). This study involved teachers and students spread across three (3) high schools

(SMA) in Sumatra Utara Province, namely: SMA Negeri 1 Kisaran, SMA Negeri 1 Medan and SMA Negeri

1 Binjai. The results found that the teacher felt that the concept of Self-Regulated Learning (SRL) was quite

easy to apply to students, so that it could influence student learning styles. The teachers also stated that the

enneagram method was very useful and could influence the way they communicated with their students.

1 INTRODUCTION

In simple terms, communication can be interpreted

as the process of someone delivering something

meaningful and wants the recipient to understand

what he is conveying. In the ongoing process,

communication usually becomes problematic

because of differences in interpreting messages in

the communication that occurs. This process then

impacts on the effectiveness of one's

communication. In general, effective communication

is communication that is able to convey thoughts

and ideas, or meanings that want to be

communicated with the same value between the

giver and receiver of the message. Effective

communication is very important for the teaching

and learning process, because it acts as a process

whereby the presence of students with diverse

cultures, family backgrounds and differences in

outlook and self-stability that is still vulnerable will

determine the success of communication itself. The

success of communication in the teaching and

learning process is not only determined by the

instructor (teacher) but also the mental readiness of

the child in the teaching and learning

communication process, while also being supported

by environmental conditioning and the management

of the school itself.

There are several important components that

determine the success of communication in the

teaching and learning process, the first is the teacher

as a communicant and the source that conveys

certain information to students. The second is

Encoding, the sender encodes information that will

be conveyed in a symbol or gesture. The third is

Message, the message can be in all forms that can

usually be felt or understood by one or more of the

recipient's senses. The fourth is the channel, which is

a way of transmitting messages, e.g. paper for

letters, air for words spoken, and the fifth is students

as receiver, namely people who interpret the

message of the sender, if the message is not

delivered to the receiver then communication will

not happen. Code interpretation (decoding) is the

process by which the receiver interprets the message

and translates it into meaningful information for

him. The more precise the recipient's interpretation

of the message intended by the sender, the more

effective the communication will be. Feedback is a

reversal of the communication process where the

sender's communication reaction is stated.

The simple process above, is not simple in

practice because of the interference in the massage

and channel that were formed sometimes causing

distortion which causes are very diverse and very

subjective. For example, only because a student does

274

Ramadhani, E.

Effective Communication between Teachers and Students in the Millennial Era to Create Students’ Self Regulation Capability in Learning.

DOI: 10.5220/0010018102740278

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social and Political Development (ICOSOP 3 2019) - Social Engineering Governance for the People, Technology and Infrastructure in

Revolution Industry 4.0, pages 274-278

ISBN: 978-989-758-472-5

not like the way the teacher smiles, it might then

have an impact on all communication that occurs

between the teacher and the students, making it

bland and causing distortion of meaning everywhere.

There are many teachers in the same activity all

the time, namely teaching in front of the class.

Among the many teachers maybe only a few in the

eyes of students who are classified as pleasant

teachers, idolized teachers and always make the

students want to be taught by that teacher. The

strength of a teacher in teaching is greatly influenced

by effective communication practiced in the

classrooms. Students are so absorbed in every word

and story the teacher develops. They are like being

implied in the strains of beautiful melodies that are

exciting. At this time, whatever teaching is conveyed

by the teacher, students have the convenience to

understand it.

The key lies in communication that is able to

create the same meaning and sense between teachers

and students, which will deliver that kind of

situation. The main problem is that such

communication cannot be learned with science and

logic, these abilities are the results of the mental

creations and communication skills of teachers

which have been forged for years. According to an

American Management Association expert there are

10 basic things if you want to communicate well,

namely (1) explain your concept/ideas before

communicating, (2) understand the real purpose in

communication, (3) consider the environment and

time atmosphere, (4) relationship between parties,

(5) be aware of the tone and content of the news, (6)

someone's communication is helpful and valuable to

the recipient, (7) follow-up communication, (8)

communication for the future as well, (9) action

consistent with the word, and (10) be a good listener.

If a teacher is able to fulfil these 10 basic things,

certainly communication developed in the classes

will have an impact on both the teaching and the

students (https://pumpingpublisher.com).

The hardest thing in communication with the 10

basic things above is the ability to build

relationships with students, follow-up

communication, consistency and when teachers must

be good listeners. In some basic cases the teacher

needs to understand self-concepts with an adequate

understanding of behavioural psychology

approaches. If the success of communication has

been established in a class, it cannot necessarily be

practiced in different classes. The teacher needs

again the ability to build relationships between

students and themselves. Because of differences in

behaviour and character of each student, teachers are

required to have the ability to practice basic

psychology about human behaviour.

Recognizing the communication barriers in this

learning process, authors are interested in

conducting a research with a communication

psychology approach entitled “Effective

Communication between Teachers and Students in

the Millennial Era to Create Students’ Self-

Regulation Capability in Learning”.

1.1 Problem Formulation

Based on this background, the problems in this study

are: What communication models are able to provide

solutions to overcome communication barriers in the

learning process so far in high schools in Sumatra

Utara?

1.2 Research Purposes

Finding an Effective Communication Model

between Teachers and Students Based on

Behavioural Understanding in High Schools in

Sumatra Utara.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Character of Independence in

Learning

Humans are creatures that maintain the comfort of

life by adapting to their environment. This

adaptation process starts from the stimulus received

from the environment which is then processed

internally, given meaning, and then triggers a stress

response (eustress/distress) due to changes that

occur, for then do with the choice of face or run

(fight or flight response). The results of these actions

will be feedback which then becomes a material

comparison with the conditions needed, and then

again becomes a stimulus towards the process of

achieving the desired results. In this process changes

occur, both cognitive, metacognitive and

behavioural.

Stress is like two sides of a coin, which has both

good and bad sides. Stress that has a positive impact

is termed Eustress, and stress that has a negative

impact is termed distress (Gadzella, Baloglu, Masten

and Wang, 2012), Cannon was the first researcher to

develop a stress concept known as a "fight-or-flight

response" in 1914 (Bartlett, 1998).

Effective Communication between Teachers and Students in the Millennial Era to Create Students’ Self Regulation Capability in Learning

275

Thus it can be concluded that humans cannot not

be in a learning condition, because the environment

is always changing. Learning is a continuous process

either consciously or unconsciously to maintain a

comfortable condition (homeostasis). This means

that the learning process is something that is already

available to humans. But the learning process is also

a trigger condition of the fight and flight response

itself, namely how humans have choices for what is

learned, the learning objectives, the learning

processes, the expected outcomes externally and

internally, and the accompanying social factors.

2.2 Self-learning Personality

Learning is an active mental process for gaining,

remembering, and using knowledge. A person's

behaviour is determined by his perception and

understanding of situations related to his learning

goals. Learning is a change in perception and

understanding, which cannot always be seen as

visible behaviour. Learning is an activity that

involves a very complex thought process and is

interconnected with the entire context of the

situation.

Learning is a process for gaining new

understanding or modifying existing understanding,

whether it is knowledge, behaviour skills, values or

reference standards (Gross, 2015).

The purpose of education is social efficiency by

providing the ability to participate in activities for

the fulfilment of common interests and welfare,

freely and optimally. The structure of society that

can accommodate individuals who have the above

efficiency is a democratic system based on freedom,

the principle of mutual respect for common interests,

and this principle is a means of social control.

Because education is a community process and

there are many types of society, a criterion for

criticism and development of education contains

major and special ideals. Such a society must have

some kind of education that gives individual interest

to individuals in social relations and has thoughts

that guarantee social changes.

The basis of democracy is trust in human

capacity. Namely, belief in human intelligence and

in group strength and experience of working

together. It is undeniable that all can grow and

awaken the advancement of knowledge and wisdom

needed in joint activities.

In John Dewey's philosophy, it is mentioned that

there is an experimental continuum or a series of

experiential unity, namely the educational process

that starts from experience towards the idea of habits

and self to the relationship between knowledge and

awareness, and returns to education as a social

process. The unity of the series of experiences has

two important aspects to education, namely the

continuation of the relationship between individuals

and society and the continuation of the relationship

of thoughts and objects (Bashori, 1999).

2.3 Enneagram

Enneagram comes from Greek which consisted of

ennea - nine and grammos - a picture. Enneagram

which means a nine-point image is one of the ways

to get to know a person's personality based on 9

basic types of humans (Baron and Wagele, 2015):

 The Reformer: realistic, considerate, and holding

principles. A person who lives with a high ideal

standard (perfectionist);

 The Helper: warm, caring, caring and sensitive to

the needs of others;

 The Achiever: energetic, optimistic, confident,

and goal oriented;

 The Individualist: expressive, dramatic, tend to

be egocentric and temperament but romantic;

 The Investigator: individuals who tend to be

introverted, full of curiosity, analytical, and

insightful;

 The Loyalist: responsible, trustworthy, and

upholds loyalty but tends to be anxious and

suspicious;

 The Enthusiast: people who are spontaneous,

energetic, optimistic, responsive, and tend to be

materialistic;

 The Challenger: honest, self-reliant, confident

and protective person;

 The Peacemaker: easy to accept, like to please

and support others. A person who tries to blend

with his surroundings.

This study used the Enneagram method in

understanding behaviour (profiling) because

information about types, takes the foundation of

people's communication about their experiences with

each other. In addition, the selection of the

Enneagram as a method of understanding behaviour

in this study is also because the Enneagram has great

potential for use in schools, for example, through

shifting attention from ethnic, nationality, and racial

differences, to the same personality differences that

all people have. Many universities and private

institutions offer Enneagram knowledge, which is

also available in book form from various disciplines

and levels of complexity (Baron and Wagele, 2015).

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2.4 Self-Regulated Learning (SRL)

The word self-regulated learning is defined as

learning that is managed by oneself. This word

consists of two elements, namely self-regulation and

learning. According to Markus & Wurf, self-

regulation is a concept in psychology that deals with

the process of controlling and directing actions that

involve setting goals, cognitive preparations in

behaving towards goals and monitoring and

evaluation of the intended behaviour (Fiske and

Taylor, 1991).

Self-regulation in learning means the ability of

learners to understand and control their learning

(Zimmerman in Miltiadou, 2003). Corno and

Mandinach (in Purwanto, 2000) define it as an

individual effort in carrying out learning activities

by involving the process of metacognition (including

planning and monitoring) and the affections that

they have. Active learning and student self-reliance

(Self-regulated Learning) have close links. Both

strengthen the activeness, critical and reflective

thinking patterns of students, and teacher

involvement to facilitate and encourage students.

While active learning involves teaching and learning

methods that are directed by the teacher, SRL

emphasizes the processes that are determined by the

students themselves (Virtanen, Niemi, & Nevgi,

2017).

The use of the Self-Regulated Learning (SRL)

learning approach in the learning process has

strategic value especially because SRL is the

foundation of a lifelong learning process that teaches

students to plan their thoughts, attitudes, and actions

in a planned and cyclical manner to achieve learning

goals (Smith, 2001). SRL is a learning approach that

is based on social theory of cognition that

emphasizes the interaction between personal factors,

behaviour and environment (Bandura, 1997). These

three factors are mutually causal for other factors,

therefore they are called triadic reciprocality theory

(Kuiper, 2002).

Self-Regulated Learning is a learning or training

activity that involves aspects of metacognition,

motivation and behaviour (Zimmerman, 1990). The

use of learning approaches that place a balanced

emphasis on aspects of metacognition, motivation,

and behaviour is still very rare. In active learning

every student should be directly involved in the

preparation of objectives, strategies, monitoring and

evaluation of learning activities. That way, their

motivation will always direct their behavior to

achieve learning goals, and ultimately manifested in

their behaviour to always achieve the learning goals

that have been set.

Based on the main ideas above, this research

becomes very important especially because the

learning approach that will be applied involves the

learning activities of students metacognitively,

motivatively, and behaviorally. Also emphasizes the

development of independence, personal

responsibility, and motivation of students during the

learning process and encourages teachers to be more

creative and innovative in communicating. It is

suspected that the Self-Regulated Learning approach

through effective character-based communication

will have a higher and more significant influence

than the conventional approach where the teacher

holds complete control over the students.

3 RESEARCH METHODS

3.1 Methods

This research, seen from its purpose, is classified as

a development research because the steps of research

work was begun with exploration activities, model

experimentation, evaluation and revision of the

model. Another reason is that this research was

developed in a rather long period of time (2 years)

and carried out in stages.

This research took the location of research in

three district/city high schools (SMA) in Sumatra

Utara Province, namely SMA Negeri 1 Kisaran,

SMA Negeri 1 Medan and SMA Negeri 1 Binjai.

These three districts/cities are selected based on

criteria as division cities, towns and big cities by

taking samples of favorite public schools in each

city. Public schools were chosen because the target

of this research apart from students was the teachers

who had been certified. Because it is expected that

all teachers who have been certified must attend a

behavior-based communication training through the

Enneagram method as one of the requirements to be

able to teach.

This research is a development of research that

has been done before. Thus this research is an

implementation of research results from the previous

year. The research procedures carried out are as

follows:

 Application of Effective Communication Models

Between Teachers and Students Based on

Behavioral Understanding in High Schools in

Sumatra Utara through training activities, namely

in SMA Negeri 1 Medan, SMA Negeri 1 Kisaran

and SMA Negeri 1 Binjai;

Effective Communication between Teachers and Students in the Millennial Era to Create Students’ Self Regulation Capability in Learning

277

 Conducting analysis, evaluation and monitoring

of the ongoing training process;

 Refine (revise) the Effective Communication

Model Training module between Teachers and

Students Based on Behavioral Understanding.

3.2 Data Collection Techniques

Data collection was carried out using observations,

and interviews during the training process.

Observation was carried out to see directly the

training activities. Interviews were conducted to

collect data in the form of information about the

effectiveness of training activities as a form of

feedback from the training participants.

3.3 Data Analysis Techniques

Research data were analysed using qualitative data

analysis techniques by providing an assessment of

the participants' activeness during training and

analysing feedback given by participants during the

training.

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The training was conducted to introduce a model of

effective communication between teacher and

student based on behavioural understanding. In this

model the teachers will be trained to have effective

listening skills, and the ability to understand

personal character through the enneagram method.

The expectation of this training is that the teacher

has the ability to listen effectively and also the

ability to use the enneagram method to develop

students who have self-regulation (Self-Regulated

Learning), namely students who can manage their

own learning by activating their cognitive, affective

and behaviour so that learning goals are achieved.

Some teachers felt that the concept of Self-

Regulated Learning (SRL) was quite easy to apply

to students, so that it could influence student

learning styles. The teachers also stated that the

enneagram method was very useful and could

influence the way they communicate with their

students.

5 CONCLUSIONS

From the results of the study it can be concluded

that: Effective Communication Model between

Teachers and Students Based on Behavioral

Understanding in High Schools in North Sumatra

was very effective to be used to get to know

students' learning styles.

6 SUGGESTIONS

Based on the results of the study, researchers gave

advice to the government, especially at the national

education office to provide training to teachers on

effective listening skills and knowledge about

student profiling through the enneagram method.

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