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DESAFÍOS DE LA GESTIÓN DEL AULA EN LAS CLASES DE INGLÉS COMO LENGUA

EXTRANJERA EN COLOMBIA A TRAVÉS DEL MODELO DE SISTEMAS

ECOLÓGICOS DE BRONFENBRENNER

CHALLENGES OF CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT IN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN

LANGUAGE CLASSES IN COLOMBIA THROUGH BRONFENBRENNER'S

ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS MODEL

Autores: ¹Alexandra Novozhenina, ²Valeria Ríos Olarte, ³Luna Martínez Orozco.

¹ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0639-8243

²ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-8075-2416

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0400-519X

¹E-mail de contacto: alexandra.novozhenina@amigo.edu.co

²E-mail de contacto: valeria.riosol@amigo.edu.co

³E-mail de contacto: luna.martinezor@amigo.edu.co

Afiliación:

1*2*3*

Universidad Católica Luis Amigó, (Colombia).

Artículo recibido: 3 de Junio del 2026.

Artículo revisado: 6 de Junio del 2026.

Artículo aprobado: 6 de Junio del 2026.

¹Licenciada en Filología, egresada de la Universidad Federal del Sur (Rusia) con 14 años de experiencia laboral. Magíster en Didáctica

de Inglés egresada de la Universidad de Caldas (Colombia).

²Cursando Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras con énfasis en Inglés en la Universidad Católica Luis Amigó (Colombia), semillero de

investigación DIPELEX: Didáctica, Pedagogía y Lenguas Extranjeras.

³Cursando Licenciatura en Lenguas Extranjeras con énfasis en Inglés en la Universidad Católica Luis Amigó (Colombia), semillero de

investigación DIPELEX: Didáctica, Pedagogía y Lenguas Extranjeras.

Resumen

Esta investigación fenomenológica exploró la

gestión del aula desde la perspectiva de

docentes de inglés como lengua extranjera en

educación secundaria en regiones del

noroccidente de Colombia. El estudio tuvo

como objetivo identificar los desafíos de la

gestión del aula y examinar sus causas

subyacentes a través del modelo de sistemas

ecológicos de Bronfenbrenner. Se realizaron

ocho entrevistas en profundidad en línea con

docentes de siete departamentos del país, las

cuales fueron analizadas mediante un enfoque

temático. Los resultados revelaron que, a pesar

de las diferencias entre los sectores público y

privado, las zonas rurales y urbanas, y las

distintas regiones del país, los docentes de

inglés enfrentan en su mayoría desafíos

similares en la gestión del aula. Asimismo, se

concluyó que las causas de estos problemas son

altamente complejas y se distribuyen en los

cinco niveles del modelo ecológico, siendo el

macrosistema, la capa más amplia según

Bronfenbrenner, el más influyente. El artículo

enfatiza la importancia de que los profesionales

de la enseñanza del inglés comprendan las

causas que subyacen a los problemas de gestión

del aula, con el fin de tomar decisiones más

informadas sobre cómo abordarlos. Dado que el

estudio analiza los cinco niveles del modelo

ecológico, este trabajo resulta relevante para

docentes en formación y en ejercicio,

responsables de políticas educativas a nivel

institucional y nacional, así como para padres y

cuidadores.

Palabras clave: Bronfenbrenner, Inglés,

Lengua extranjera, Manejo de aula, Teoría

de Sistemas Ecológicos.

Abstract

This phenomenological research explored

classroom management through the perspective

of English as a Foreign Language secondary

school teachers from north-western regions of

Colombia. It intended to explore classroom

management challenges and examine their

underlying causes through the lens of

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Model.

A total of eight in-depth online interviews were

conducted with teachers from seven different

departments of the country and were later

analyzed thematically. Results revealed that

despite the differences between private and

public sectors, rural and urban zones, and the

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distinct regions of the country, EFL teachers

face mostly similar challenges related to

classroom management. Moreover, it was

concluded that the causes of classroom

management problems were extremely complex

and were distributed across all the five levels of

the model, with the Macrosystem, the widest

layer according to Bronfenbrenner, being the

most influential. The article emphasizes the

importance for EFL professionals to understand

the causes underlying classroom management

issues to make more informed decisions on how

to handle them. Due to the fact that the study

analyzed all the five levels of the ecological

model, this paper is of great use for pre-service

and in-service teachers, policy makers on

institutional and national levels, as well as

parents and caregivers.

Keywords: Bronfenbrenner, English,

Foreign language, Classroom management,

Ecological systems theory.

Sumário

Esta pesquisa fenomenológica explorou a

gestão de sala de aula sob a perspectiva de

professores de Inglês como Língua Estrangeira

(ILE) de escolas secundárias das regiões norte-

ocidentais da Colômbia. O objetivo foi

investigar os desafios da gestão de sala de aula

e examinar suas causas subjacentes por meio do

Modelo de Sistemas Ecológicos de

Bronfenbrenner. Foram realizadas oito

entrevistas on-line aprofundadas com

professores de sete departamentos diferentes do

país, que posteriormente foram analisadas de

forma temática. Os resultados revelaram que,

apesar das diferenças entre os setores público e

privado, zonas rurais e urbanas e as distintas

regiões do país, os professores de ILE

enfrentam desafios majoritariamente

semelhantes na gestão de sala de aula. Além

disso, concluiu-se que as causas dos problemas

de gestão de sala de aula eram extremamente

complexas e estavam distribuídas nos cinco

níveis do modelo, sendo o Macrossistema, a

camada mais ampla segundo Bronfenbrenner, o

mais influente. O artigo enfatiza a importância

de os profissionais de ILE compreenderem as

causas subjacentes a esses problemas para

tomarem decisões mais informadas sobre como

lidá-los. Como o estudo analisou todos os cinco

níveis do modelo ecológico, este trabalho é de

grande utilidade para professores em formação

e em serviço, formuladores de políticas em

níveis institucional e nacional, bem como pais e

cuidadores.

Palavras-chave: Bronfenbrenner, Inglês,

Língua estrangeira, Gestão de sala de aula,

Teoria dos sistemas ecológicos.

Аннотация

Данное феноменологическое исследование

посвящено изучению управления классом с

точки зрения учителей английского языка

как иностранного в средних школах северо-

западных регионов Колумбии. Цель работы

заключалась в том, чтобы исследовать

трудности управления классом и изучить их

первопричины через призму модели

экологических систем Бронфенбреннера. В

общей сложности было проведено восемь

подробных онлайн-интервью с учителями из

семи различных департаментов страны,

которые затем подверглись тематическому

анализу. Результаты показали, что, несмотря

на различия между частным и

государственным секторами, сельской и

городской местностью, а также отдельными

регионами страны, учителя английского

языка сталкиваются в основном с похожими

проблемами в управлении классом. Кроме

того, был сделан вывод, что причины этих

проблем крайне сложны и распределены по

всем пяти уровням модели. При этом

макросистема, являющаяся самым широким

уровнем по Бронфенбреннеру, оказалась

наиболее влиятельной. В статье

подчеркивается, как важно специалистам в

области преподавания английского языка

понимать скрытые причины проблем с

управлением классом для принятия более

обоснованных решений по их устранению.

Поскольку в исследовании анализируются

все пять уровней экологической модели,

данная работа представляет большую

ценность для будущих и практикующих

учителей, авторов образовательной

политики на институциональном и

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национальном уровнях, а также для

родителей и опекунов.

Ключевые слова: Бронфенбреннер,

управление классом, теория

экологических систем, английский как

иностранный.

Introducción

The field of foreign language teaching has

always faced numerous challenges, and as the

demand for foreign language acquisition has

increased in the last few decades due to the new

globalized reality, those challenges require

careful examination. According to the report

from the Wing Institute at Morningside

Academy by Donley et al. (2019), a striking

44% of new teachers leave the profession, with

more than half of them making that decision due

to professional dissatisfaction. The latter is

explained by many factors, one of which is the

perceived lack of discipline in the school. In the

same paper, the authors reported that one of the

subjects that displayed high percentages of

“leavers” was English as a Foreign Language

(EFL). Likewise, Sanchez (2019) affirmed that

inadequate classroom management (CM) could

jeopardize EFL educators’ continued teaching

experience. Classroom management then

becomes worth analyzing in order to understand

why it has been causing such dramatic response

from EFL professionals.

Although the concept of classroom

management is common in the EFL field, there

are differences among how different authors

define it. For instance, Harmer (2015) and

Kounin (1970) refer mostly to behavioral and

disciplinary issues when talking about

classroom management. However (2010) turns

away from that definition, and focuses on the

relationships that are built between teachers and

students in the classroom. Additionally, Brown

(2015) not only includes discipline and

relationships, but also broadens the concept by

adding aspects like facilities, physical

resources, and planning. The topic of classroom

management has received considerable

attention in Colombia, as it is a fundamental

aspect that directly impacts EFL teaching

practices. For example, classroom interaction

(Rosado, 2012) and the application of different

observation techniques, such as "Classroom

Observation in Context," have been explored,

allowing preservice teachers to better

understand the dynamics of classroom

interaction (Parra y Hernandez, 2019). Recent

research also indicates that classroom

management represents a great challenge for

English teachers due to the limited preparation

they receive during their initial training.

According to Díaz et al. (2023), university

programs that train future English teachers do

not provide sufficient training in classroom

management, which directly impacts their

performance. This lack of training contributes

to classroom management being a recurring

problem, with manifestations ranging from

inadequate physical conditions to openly unruly

behavior (Macías y Sánchez, 2015).

Faced with this situation, some studies propose

the use of strategies such as active learning and

reflective journals, which allow future teachers

to prepare more effectively to face the

challenges of classroom management

(Velásquez et al., 2022). In addition, specific

strategies have been proposed to improve

classroom management, such as teamwork

(Cabrales y Cáceres, 2018), literary circles

(Castrillón, 2020), and programs to prevent

disruptive behaviors (Uni Trejos et al., 2017).

Innovative approaches such as gamification

(Gómez, 2023), the humanistic approach

(Giraldo, 2022), and Teaching Strategies for

CM (Mejía, 2018) have also been explored,

which demonstrates the importance and

relevance of investigating how classroom

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management impacts teaching practices in

different educational contexts. However, before

EFL teachers try implementing those strategies,

they need to understand the reasons underlying

the CM challenges in the first place. Dealing

with the roots of the problems rather than with

their “symptoms” might take more time, but in

the long-term it may lead to more satisfying

results. Shibli and Jalil Majid (2022) strongly

emphasize the importance of identifying causes

and sub-causes of any challenge before

implementing strategies aimed at improving

educational processes. Moreover, they affirm

that educators should adopt a wider perspective

which would focus not only on the issues inside

a classroom, but also on their external causes.

Likewise, O’Day & Smith (2016) affirm that

problems within the educational system are

rooted in “institutional structures and cultures”

(p.297), highlighting their systemic nature.

Therefore, the present study aimed to reveal the

reasons behind classroom management

challenges in EFL classes. The researchers

focused their attention on secondary schools of

north-western regions of Colombia. In order to

achieve the goal, it was first necessary to

identify the issues that Colombian teachers

perceived in their classrooms. Afterwards, the

objective was to examine their underlying

causes from the perspective of the educators.

Finally, the causes mentioned by the

participants had to be distributed across the five

levels of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems

Theory (EST), which served as the theoretical

framework for this research. The study adopted

a descriptive phenomenological approach as it

intended to describe the experience of the

participants (EFL teachers) with the central

phenomenon (classroom management).

Overall, the researchers interviewed a total of

eight EFL teachers who lived and worked in

seven different departments of Colombia:

Caldas, Valle del Cauca, Bolivar, Nariño (two

participants), Antioquia, Cesar, and Tolima.

The interviews were implemented online,

which allowed recording and transcribing them

with the help of technology, thus facilitating

data analysis. The interviews’ average duration

of 50-55 minutes ensured abundant data and,

therefore, a thorough in-depth analysis.

The findings revealed that although the

participants’ institutions were scattered around

the country, they all faced quite similar

problems related to classroom management in

the EFL context. The most frequent issues were

discipline, cell phone use, and lack of interest

towards the subject. Moreover, the teachers also

mentioned inclusion and differences among

learners as two relevant but less common

problems. Regarding the causes of those issues,

the results suggested that all the five layers from

the EST can be a source of either negative or

positive influence on classroom management in

English classes. Nevertheless, some of the

systems were referred to considerably more

often - mostly, the Macrosystem, followed by

the Microsystem and the Exosystem. The least

mentioned was the Mesosystem, which

highlights the fact that it does not have much

impact on CM dynamics in EFL contexts.

The present study used Bronfenbrenner’s

Ecological Systems Theory (1997) as the

theoretical framework that guided the data

analysis and gave a structure to its

interpretation. The theory was initially

formulated to describe a child’s development,

and how it is impacted by an interconnected

network of environments. However, it is often

applied to the educational context to study the

processes that influence a student’s academic

performance (Guy-Evans, 2024). The

ecological model consists of five systems that

go from an individual’s nearest surroundings to

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a wider and more global context. The first layer

is the Microsystem, which includes the closest

surroundings of a student, such as family,

friends, class mates, and teachers. Second, there

is the Mesosystem, which consists in the

interactions between the elements from the

Microsystem, for instance, the communication

between school and parents. Following that,

there is the Exosystem, which encompasses the

elements that a student does not interact with

directly, but is still influenced by. An example

can include parents’ work schedule: although a

child is not directly involved in their parents’

jobs, they can be affected by the lack of the time

spent with their mother or father. The next layer

of the model is the Macrosystem where the

bigger context, such as country economy or

culture, is considered. Finally, there is the

Chronosystem - the last level of the theory

which was added in Bronfenbrenner’s later

work. It includes changes that a child undergoes

throughout the time. For instance, a transition

between primary and secondary school or

puberty can both serve as examples of the

Chronosystem. Additionally, major historical

events, such as a war or a pandemic, also make

part of this last layer of the ecological model.

According to Guy-Evans (2024), students’

behavior in the classroom can be influenced by

a number of factors belonging to a combination

of different layers of the model.

The researchers chose Bronfenbrenner’s EST as

the theoretical lens due to a number of reasons.

As a phenomenological study implies a deep

qualitative analysis of the phenomenon, the

EST allows us to see beyond the CM problems

and to analyze the wide range of reasons behind

them. Furthermore, it offers a holistic view on

how an interconnected network of students’

contexts impacts the dynamics of the CM.

Additionally, the particular focus of this study

was on the EFL classroom, and according to

Chong et al. (2023), EST has been well-

established in the field of L2 research in the 21st

century, partially “because L2 teaching is

recognized to be shaped by the environments in

which it is situated” (p.333). At the same time,

Tong & An (2024) affirmed that the application

of the theory is relatively new in education

research, which encouraged the researchers to

contribute to the growing body of knowledge.

Previous EFL studies that use Bronfenbrenner’s

Ecological Systems Theory. Bronfenbrenner’s

theory has been actively used in the field of

teaching and learning English as a foreign

language. Several studies have used it to

research the impact of its different levels on

learners’ language skills. For instance, Rahimi

(2023) affirmed that the microsystem from the

EST has a strong impact on students’ speaking

competence in EFL classes. Similarly, Rajablou

and Shirvan (2017) found that learners’ beliefs

belonging to different EST levels affect their

preferences of English accents as well as the

attitude towards their own accent. Shifting away

from the oral skills, Saghafi et al. (2017) came

to the conclusion that EFL learners’ writing

anxiety is affected by multiple factors related to

their micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystems.

However, other studies have focused on distinct

aspects of language learning process. For

instance, in their research with international

EFL learners, Garton et al. (2021) stated that

Bronfenbrenner’s model provided a useful tool

for understanding their experience and catering

to their particular characteristics. Furthermore,

in a study related to the emotional component of

language learning, Wang et al. (2023) identified

a bidirectional connection between different

levels of the EST and the compassion of among

Iranian learners of English as a foreign

language. Finally, several authors have also

expressed ideas on how Bronfenbrenner’s

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theory might be used in the field of EFL in

future studies. Guo and Lee (2023) conducted a

systematic review of studies focused on

informal digital learning of English and

concluded that the most frequently mentioned

factors were related to the microsystem.

Therefore, they highlighted the need to have

research about the other four levels of the EST.

Walker and Pattison (2016) went even further

and suggested fourteen new systems, which

were based on Bronfenbrenner’s original

theory, in order for teachers and students’

families to have a better understanding of

learning processes inside and outside the school

and thus to be able to provide them with the

necessary support.

Materiales y Métodos

The research design was framed in a descriptive

phenomenological approach, as it aimed to

explore the phenomenon of classroom

management from different perspectives of the

teachers who experienced it on a daily basis.

Furthermore, the researchers’ epistemological

belief was to separate their own ideas and

experiences from those of the participants, so

that during data collection and analysis their

bias and subjectivity could be bracketed

(Neubauer et al., 2019), hence the descriptive

focus. Therefore, the qualitative nature of this

study led to selecting semi-structured in-depth

interviews (Eppich et al., 2019) as its data

collection instrument. The participants of the

study were eight Colombian teachers, five men

and three women, who were selected through

purposive sampling. As the study focused

particularly on EFL teachers in Colombian

secondary schools, this type of sampling

allowed the researchers to include the

participants who had the necessary expertise to

provide thoughtful ideas (Ahmed, 2024).

Moreover, by employing purposive sampling

the researchers ensured equal representation of

the educational sectors (half of the teachers

belonged to the private sector, while the other

half to the public one) as well as Colombian

geographical regions (the teachers lived and

worked in seven different departments of the

country). The departments can be seen in Figure

1, and included Nariño, Valle del Cauca,

Tolima, Caldas, Antioquia, Bolivar and Cesar.

Six of the participants held a Bachelor’s Degree

in Foreign Language Teaching, one had a

Master’s Degree, and one finished vocational

training to become a teacher. Their teaching

experience varied between four and seventeen

years.

Figure 1. Participants’ departments on

Colombian map.

Fuente: Elaboración propia.

The rationale of focusing specifically on EFL

classes owes to the fact that their classroom

dynamics differ greatly from other subjects,

which leads to serious challenges for the ELT

professionals (Khansir & Mirzaei, 2024). For

instance, Ahmad et al. (2020) mentioned three

particular features that only foreign language

teachers need to consider. First, language

instruction requires students to work

collaboratively, which is possible but not

essential in other disciplines. Second, an L2

classroom is the only environment where the

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medium of instruction is the same as the subject

matter. And third, as compared to other

disciplines, foreign language instruction

requires a diversity of teaching methodologies

and approaches. Additionally, Macias (2018)

affirmed that pre-service foreign language

teachers are instructed to use techniques that

might lead to CM issues.

Resultados y Discusión

The researchers used Google Meet as the main

tool for conducting the interviews, because it

allowed them to record and automatically

transcribe the conversations thus facilitating

data analysis. There was one participant who

was interviewed through a WhatsApp video

call, because he lived in a remote zone where

connectivity was extremely limited. The

interviews lasted from 45 to 65 minutes, and all

the interviewees had previously signed an

informed consent stating they understood the

purpose of the study and agreed for the use of

the information they provided in the present

research. Afterwards, the interview transcripts

underwent a thorough thematic analysis

(Castleberry & Nolen, 2018), in which several

coders took part to ensure a rigorous process.

The researchers used a hybrid of deductive and

inductive approaches to thematic analysis

(Naeem et al., 2023). The former was

implemented at the initial stage, when it was

necessary to analyze the interviews in regards to

the five ecological systems. Subsequently, the

latter was used to identify patterns within each

system. The results of that analysis are

presented in the section below. The first step of

the study was to examine classroom

management challenges that EFL teachers in

Colombia face on a daily basis. After analyzing

the interview transcripts, the researchers

identified a number of issues which are shown

in Figure 2. As it can be seen, the biggest

problem that EFL teachers have to face in their

classes are related to discipline. In some cases,

the participants affirmed that students had side

conversations all the time, which interrupted the

flow of a lesson a lot: “Some of them just cannot

stop talking” (Participant 1). Furthermore,

given the communicative nature of English as a

subject, some of the teachers stated that

ordering a class was a great challenge, because

students tend to forget simple things like taking

turns and active listening: “The biggest problem

for me is for the students to handle norms, for

example, keeping quiet while another person is

talking, giving a chance to other people to

speak, or simply respecting other people’s

opinions” (P6).

Figure 2. Classroom management problems

Following discipline issues, lack of interest

towards learning English and the use of cell

phones were both frequently mentioned by the

participants. While the latter was always

referred to as a big distractor, the former was

described in different ways. First, several

teachers affirmed that their students did not

consider that they would need English further in

their life. Second, according to some

participants, many students perceive English as

a difficult subject and are often discouraged by

that. Moreover, one of the participants

mentioned that lack of interest could sometimes

be “contagious”, when a negative perception of

the subject spread from one or few students to

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the whole group. Another challenge that the

interviewees faced was related to the

differences among students of the same group.

The most frequent one referred to students’

levels of English, when a teacher had to balance

a class in such a way that low-level students

would not feel discouraged by the difficulty,

while high-level students would find the class

engaging enough not to feel bored. Moreover,

the difference among students’ learning styles

was also highlighted by Participant 3, who

reported that conducting an appropriate class

for everyone was extremely difficult. Another

difference that was brought up in the interviews

was the socio-economic status of students: for

example, Participant 5 pointed out that his

students come from different social strata, and

that turned into a problem, because students do

not get along well, and, consequently, have

arguments in class: “In the school where I work,

you can see students from all social strata. There

is a student who is out in the streets all the time,

and there is also a student whose parents work

in the mayor’s office. So these differences have

been my biggest challenge so far.”

Last but not least, several teachers mentioned

inclusion as an issue that often went beyond the

cognitive domain and affected classroom

management, because when their attention was

directed towards students with special

educational needs, the rest of their group were

neglected. Having identified the most common

challenges in classroom management, the

researchers moved on to revealing the causes of

those challenges. After a careful analysis of the

participants’ answers, the researchers

distributed the causes along the five layers of

the Ecological Systems Theory, and this

distribution can be seen in Figure 3. The

findings that follow are presented in a structured

manner, using the order suggested by

Bronfenbrenner, which goes from the

Microsystem to the Chronosystem.

Microsystem is the first of the five systems

according to Bronfenbrenner's model, and it

refers to one’s closest surroundings. Although a

student’s microsystem includes a number of

participants, such as family members, peers,

teachers, and neighbors, the only element that

all the participants mentioned as the one

influencing students’ behavior in the classroom

was the family. First of all, several interviewees

affirmed that the home atmosphere could have

an effect on students, including both positive

and negative situations. The former was

exemplified by Participant 5 who affirmed that

families’ engagement had a crucial impact on

teenagers, ensuring good performance and

behavior:

Figure 3. Percentage of causes of CM issues

across Bronfenbrenner’s systems

Source: Own elaboration.

“There are students whose families are always

attentive; they are surrounded by care. So this

family commitment is really important, because

you can tell who those students are - they are the

best students, you don’t have any problems with

them, they do well academically, and their

behavior is within the norm. Additionally, when

Participant 1 was talking about her experience

in rural zones, she highlighted that the respect

and discipline her students showed in class

came from home, stating, “At home, they say -

you have to listen to and respect your teacher,

and do what they tell you. So the students are

respectful, and the classroom management is

easier.”. However, the same teacher affirmed

that, unfortunately, a negative atmosphere at

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home also tends to have consequences in the

classroom. She exemplified that with the

situations in which teenagers face an aggressive

home environment which is consequently

reflected on their interactions at school. “When

a teenager witnesses aggressiveness and

conflict at home, they are most likely to

replicate similar attitudes with their

classmates”. An interesting comment, which is

also related to an unfavorable effect of the home

atmosphere, referred to the idea of a fixed

mindset (Dweck, 2015), when a person doesn’t

think they can succeed at something and, as a

result, they do not. It was expressed by

Participant 3, who stated that secondary school

students often adopt such mentality from their

parents: “When parents say that they are bad at

English and cannot learn it, their children

imitate the same attitude. They start believing

that as well, and it is hard to break that barrier,

so they become apathetic in English classes.

That is another possible cause”.

Second, complex family situations were also

found to have a reflection in students’ behavior.

For instance, prolonged difficulties, such as

parents’ divorce, might result in unsatisfied

emotional needs, which in turn leads to

inappropriate behavior in the classroom.

Another example included cases when a student

does not have parents and has to live with

grandparents or other relatives, such as aunts or

uncles, who cannot provide them with the

necessary care. Apart from long-term issues,

Participant 1 also mentioned occasional family

arguments as another factor influencing

students’ behavior on a daily basis: “If they had

an argument with their mother or sibling the day

before, obviously, they will be distracted in

class”. Third, the use of cell phones, which was

found to be one of the main classroom

management difficulties, was also partially

connected to students’ microsystems. A few

teachers said that habits related to cell phone

use are shaped at home. For instance,

Participant 1 noted that while in urban zones

parents feel the need to be in touch with their

children and thus insist on them taking cell

phones to school, in rural areas there is often

only one device per family, which means that

students do not have phones in class. As a result,

students in the latter context tend to be less

distracted, and a teacher can give classes in a

smooth and more organized way. Finally,

upbringing styles were mentioned by several

teachers. For example, Participant 1 stated that

when parents facilitated every aspect of life for

their offspring, children failed to learn that

things can only be achieved when one works

hard for them. Consequently, they do not see the

need to study, or they might not understand the

importance of the effort one must invest in their

studies. “When a child is given everything, they

won’t feel the need to make an effort for

anything, and that also affects a lot. Imagine, I

have never had an iPhone, and most of them

already have iPhone15”. (P3).

Another factor of upbringing, which was

mentioned by Participant 6, is the generational

change - particularly, the shift in parental

authority. He highlighted that modern parents,

who tend to be younger nowadays, failed to

establish authority with their children and found

themselves without any tools to control them.

This, in turn, translates into classroom

relationships between students and teachers,

when the former do not understand the concept

of authority, or are not used to showing respect

to any authority. As a result, when EFL teachers

try to establish rules and limits, those students

are reluctant to accept them: “Parents

sometimes lose control. [...] Some of the parents

come up to me and say that they do not know

how to control their kids, because they haven’t

set any limits. There are still parents who do

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have the authority, but recently many young

parents are too permissive and they are more

like peers to their own children”. Mesosystem.

The second layer of Bronfenbrenner's model is

the Mesosytem, which includes the interactions

between the elements of a student’s

microsystem. This level was the least

mentioned by the participants of the study, who

only highlighted the interaction between

families and the school. One teacher only

commented that the communication between

teachers and parents was a tool for dealing with

issues related to students’ misbehavior at

school: “So in these cases, we let parents know

about the situation with the student.” (P8)

However, several participants did identify it as

a factor that affected classroom management

rather than just a tool for control. For instance,

Participant 6 stated that when families

communicated with the school and responded to

his messages, he noticed that their children’s

behavior was better in class: “So the students

whose families were receptive towards my calls

were more aware of their process, they were

somewhat more dedicated, attentive and

grateful.” Additionally, the difference between

urban and rural sectors was also highlighted at

this level of the ecological model, once again

favoring the latter. When Participant 5 was

comparing his experience working in secondary

school in both types of zones, he affirmed that

the conditions in the rural one facilitated

teachers’ work quite a lot. According to him,

schools have an important status there, which

makes families collaborate a lot. As a result,

students tend to be more respectful and behave

appropriately: “Let’s say that socially-wise,

everything moves around the school there [in

the rural zone]. So as a teacher, you can work a

lot with that, you can engage the community in

the academic processes. Mothers want to go to

school to help, fathers also want to collaborate.

So the students’ academic process reflects that,

they are more respectful in class, because they

feel this unity.” (P5).

Exosystem. The next level of the ecological

model is the Exosystem, which includes a

variety of components that students do not

interact with directly but are still affected by

them. As one of the biggest issues in classroom

management mentioned by the participants was

the use of cell phones, it came by no surprise

that the topic of institutional policies regarding

its use was commonly brought up in the

interviews. A number of participants admitted

that lack of such policies affected their English

classes negatively, as students were allowed to

bring and use their devices in class, leaving

teachers with no tools to restrict that: “In the

school where I work, unfortunately, there are no

policies or regulations about the use of cell

phones.” (P1)

However, some participants shared that in their

institutions, there has been a growing awareness

of the fact that cell phones have become a major

distractor in the EFL classes. Participant 3, for

example, stated that the teachers were

“fighting” for the zero-cell-phones rule in the

classroom, and had recently started to require

students to either keep their devices in

backpacks throughout the class, or put them in

a box at the beginning of each class. While this

example referred rather to the collective effort

of the team of EFL teachers, another case shared

by Participant 8 described a change at an

institutional level, aiming to minimize

classroom management problems: “We were

having so many difficulties in the classroom,

students were so distracted, that they [school

administration] made the decision to adopt the

policy of putting cell phones away before

entering the classroom. And there has been such

a positive change in their behavior. It has been

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done with all grades, but you mostly feel it in

higher grades - ninth, tenth, and eleventh.”

Additionally, some participants mentioned

institutional policies regarding class size as

another factor that affected their classroom

management. They affirmed that the more

students there are in an EFL class, the more

difficult it is for a teacher to keep everything

under control. For example, Participant 6 stated

that in her school there are usually 35 to 40

students in the same class, which meant that a

teacher could not possibly give enough

attention to everybody. The same issue was also

stressed out by Participant 1, who affirmed that

managing the behavior of so many children was

hard; in fact, she brought up the subject when

comparing rural and urban contexts, and stating

that smaller number of students in the former

often lead to easier classroom management

processes for EFL teachers:“The groups are

smaller in the rural zone, so it facilitates

classroom management a lot. But in the urban

zone, groups tend to be bigger, so it is another

difficulty, managing the behavior of so many

students”.

Another important factor that several teachers

pointed out was the institutional investment in

school facilities and resources. They agreed that

lack of funding had a direct effect on students’

behavior in their EFL classes. For instance,

Participant 4, who taught in the rural zone,

shared that despite the hot climate, there were

no fans in the classrooms. Moreover, several

classrooms had no windows, or some of the

windows had broken glass. He affirmed that all

those reasons lead to an unpleasant atmosphere

in class and, as a result, had a negative impact

on classroom management. On the other hand,

both Participant 4 and 8 agreed that when a

school had enough budget to provide the

necessary resources, it led to a more positive

environment in their classrooms. Among such

resources, they mentioned TVs, video beams,

sound systems, computer rooms, and so on.

Finally, a number of the teachers interviewed

stated that parents’ job conditions often

negatively affected their children’s behavior in

EFL classes. Participants 1 and 2 mentioned

parents’ work schedule as a crucial factor in

students’ daily routine. They explained that

parents had night shifts and were thus absent

from home in the evening and at night;

consequently, their children would often go to

bed very late, and then feel tired and sleepy

during the day. For the English teachers, this

resulted in little attention students would pay in

class, or little motivation to take part in

activities, or in general, to learn. Apart from

that, it is worth to note Participant 3’s comment,

as she worked in a very particular context - a

semi-private school, whose students were

children of police and army officers. What she

said was also related to parents’ jobs, but

instead of talking about schedule, she shared

that her students’ behavior was negatively

affected by the fact that their parents were

frequently transferred to different

cities:“Transfers are very frequent. That

happens really a lot - they study at the same

school for a year, or sometimes for six months.

That depends on the rank - high-rank officers

are transferred more often, but low-rank officers

might last longer in the same place. [...] So, of

course, you can see that reflected in their

[students’] behavior.”

Macrosystem. Next in Bronfenbrenner's model

comes the Macrosystem, which includes all the

big-scale factors, such as the country context,

socio-economical aspects, and cultural factors,

among others. The Macrosystem resulted to be

the most frequently mentioned by the

participants of the present study, which

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highlights its important impact on classroom

management in EFL classes. In fact, Participant

7 affirmed that it was “the most influential

domain” in terms of student behavior. The

aspect that was most frequently identified

across all the interviews was students’ socio-

economic context. The teachers have mentioned

both its positive and negative effects on

students’ behavior. Among the positive aspects,

Participants 3 and 8 pointed out the fact that

students’ families had enough financial

resources to meet their needs facilitated

classroom management, as they did not have

face any serious social issues that normally lead

to problems: “Well, you see, we do have some

challenges, but in our institution the students are

very manageable. There are no gangs, thank

God, there are no drugs, so there is no disorder,

and the students behave well. I think this is

thanks to their families' social context. Our

students never go to sleep hungry, and they have

a good quality of life. So it is not a vulnerable

population, and it is easy to handle.” (P3)

“Something that helps a lot is that they can

afford trips abroad. So they come up to me and

say, “Teacher, I went to Canada, or Australia,

and now I know that English is important. I was

at the airport, and I had to explain something.

You are always right, teacher, when you say

English is important.” So they get out of the

bubble and face reality, and they see how

important it is to pay attention in their English

classes, because they see that what they learn is

truly relevant.” (P8). Participant 1 stressed out

the positive impact of the sociocultural context

of the rural zone, where teenagers tend to be

somewhat more innocent in terms of their

hobbies. This leads to the fact that they pay

more attention in class and get less distracted by

other interests: “In the rural zone, classroom

management is also easier, because students are

… I am not sure about the word … let’s say,

innocent. They still don’t care about TikTok, or

about getting a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Girls

don’t think about make-up. Also, there are not

so many problems with drugs there. They are

simply not interested in those things, so they do

not become a distraction in English classes, and

students behave better.” Unfortunately, the

negative effect of students’ socio-economic

context was mentioned far more often.

According to many participants, a vulnerable

background often led to disruptive behavior and

discipline issues. As Participant 5 stated,

“social dynamics and inequality around the

country” caused classroom management

problems most of all.

As Colombia is still being affected by the armed

conflict and drug issues (LEE; 2025), three

participants mentioned them as the main reason

for behavior challenges in the English

classroom. They suggested both drug

consumption and drug production as major

concerns: “The majority of our students come

from under-resourced families, so they are very

exposed to drug consumption. Because of that,

they have behavior disorders. So, obviously,

their behavior is seriously affected. If a guy was

consuming the day before my class, of course,

they will act in an altered way, and they will not

pay any attention.” (P1). “In my school, many

students don’t want to study English, they see it

as an obligation, as something that won’t be

useful in the future. [...] Here there is a lot of

cocaine trafficking, many families are involved

in that. So our students’ ambition is to work in

that sort of business, rather than study - because

it gives them money. So they don’t have any

motivation, and it makes things more difficult

for me” (P 4Related to the same topic of drugs,

a similar comment was made by Participant 6,

who referred to the Colombian armed conflict

in general. He also pointed out that many

students did not feel any motivation to study

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English, because they see joining armed groups

as something much more attractive: “The armed

conflict still goes on. Some of our students

belong to different gangs. Just last year, three of

our students dropped out from school and were

killed by rival groups. So they are more

interested in being part of those groups, rather

than learning English.” (P6). In addition to the

above-mentioned socio-economic factors,

which might be more obvious, some

participants mentioned other aspects that were

less expected. For instance, Participant 7 shared

that students’ favorable economic background

might also have a negative impact on their

attitude in class, because they had gotten used

to the fact that everything was done for them.

Consequently, they expected their teacher to

simply “facilitate” things for them, and did not

try to make any effort to study. Moreover,

although they were adolescents, the participant

had to spend class time explaining how they had

to organize their desks: “Fortunately, my

students have lots of privileges. Most of their

families have a high social status that allows

them to have many things. This means that my

students are used to getting everything easily.

So they also sometimes expect that from me,

just to facilitate as much as possible, so that they

can have an easy and calm life. They don’t even

know that they should throw garbage away. So

I can see that they are used to someone else

doing that. Imagine the time I have to spend on

that in class” . The same teacher also

emphasized that Caribbean culture was another

factor influencing students’ behavior in class.

She explained that people from that zone tend

to be very jolly and energetic, and they are

mostly concerned about having a good time. As

a result, their idea of a 50-minute English class

would sometimes include 30 minutes of

studying and 20 minutes of doing nothing or

having fun. Because of that attitude, classroom

management often became a challenge.

Furthermore, as one of the most common

classroom management issues identified in this

study was the excessive use of cell phones, its

roots were also linked to students’

Macrosystem. A number of the teachers

interviewed linked it to global tendencies of

technological advancement and the growing

influence of social media. Participant 1, for

instance, called cell phones “a necessary tool

worldwide”. She also stated that her students

belong to the generation that was deeply

affected by screens and, therefore, struggle with

attention issues: “Well, the fact that they don’t

listen or pay attention, and constantly speak is

also related to this lack of attention

development among teenagers these days. It’s a

generation that has been bombarded by screens

and technology, so they haven’t correctly

developed the ability to pay attention to

something slow, or something that is a bit more

boring than what screens show. Participant 4

also noted that his students had a need to be

constantly connected and updated, and even

affirmed that it could be considered addiction.

He added that it was quite common for him to

see students using applications like WhatsApp,

Snapchat and Instagram even during class time.

Additionally, several participants stressed out

the fact that inclusion has recently become a

significant factor that impacts classroom

management dynamics in the English

classroom. Although the teachers understood

the importance of including students with

special educational needs in the school system,

they expressed concern regarding the lack of the

right conditions or strategies on how to handle

those students in the classroom. The

participants also added that it was necessary to

always pay attention to them, which meant less

attention for the rest of the group. “The

inclusion … well … that’s something we cannot

control, right? Those are the things that the

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government has established. So we have

neurotypical and neurodivergent students in the

same classroom, and it means we have to be

constantly watching them. But what about the

other students, you know?” (P3).

“There are also some students with special

needs who interrupt classes a lot, and you don’t

know what to do with them. For example,

attention deficit, or hyperactivity.” (P6).

Finally, two of the teachers interviewed also

mentioned geographical aspects that cannot be

changed, but affect classroom management

dynamics. Due to the fact that Colombia is

situated close to the equator, there are no

seasons, which means that many cities and

towns experience hot weather throughout the

whole year. Therefore, several participants

pointed out the heat as a serious problem when

managing an-English class. According to them,

students' attitude changes with hot weather,

making them distracted, lazy, and apathetic.

This, in turn, has a direct negative effect on

classroom dynamics. “You know, sometimes

it’s also the weather. Here it is always very hot,

and there are no fans in the classrooms. So the

only thing we can do is to drink water, and so

students constantly go to the bathroom to refill

their water bottles. This disrupts classes a lot.”

(P4). “There are always students who say

“Teacher, it’s too hot, let’s just rest”. In our city,

the climate is very hot, so they are often lazy,

and that’s because of the weather.” (P8).

Chronosystem. Finally, the last level of the

ecological model is the Chronosystem, which

refers to the changes that happen in time,

throughout students’ lives. It is worth pointing

out that although the range of factors related to

the chronosystem and affecting classroom

management in the English classes was not very

wide, almost all the participants did, in fact,

mention temporal changes as a cause affecting

students’ behavior. The majority of the

comments referred to the issues related to

adolescence - biological and emotional changes

that teenagers undergo: “I think it is the clash

between childhood and adolescence. They feel

older, so they seek other kinds of relationships -

like a boyfriend or a girlfriend, you know. Also,

their friendships start affecting their behavior

much more.” (P8)

“They start focusing on things beyond the

academic aspects. They go through biological

changes due to their age, and it shows in their

behavior. I would say that’s the main one

[cause].” (P7). “They are young, so they simply

want to talk to each other all the time.” (P2).

However, one participant spoke about another

possible reason which is also related to the

Chronosystem, as it refers to a major historical

event that has affected students' lives - the

COVID-19 pandemic. He mentioned it in

regards to the use of cell phone, stating that the

lockdown pushed people around the world to

become more dependent on technology: “I

don’t know if, maybe, it is the result of what we

lived during the pandemic, when we were

forced to communicate this way [through

screens].” (P4)

The findings of this study support the ecological

logic of Urie Bronfenbrenner and show that

factors shaping students’ behavior are scattered

along the five levels of his model. However, this

idea goes somewhat against the mainstream

perspectives on classroom management. In a

review of relevant literature on classroom

management in different countries, Wubbels

(2011) identified six main approaches that

focused on behavior control, peer relationships,

classroom environment, teacher’s discourse and

curricular factors. As it can be seen, the above

mentioned approaches refer to the Micro- and

Exosystem, but exclude the other three levels of

the EST. Although external factors are often

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outside EFL teachers´ control zone, a clear and

integral understanding of the complexity of CM

can explain why traditional strategies might not

always work.

Student disengagement from English cannot be

reduced only to low intrinsic motivation or lack

of teachers’ strategies; rather, it reflects a

mismatch between school discourse and the

socio-economic realities available to students.

This view of student motivation has already

been expressed in the EFL field literature. For

instance, in her study on challenges in English

language acquisition, Syafriwana (2023)

concluded that one of the factors that reduced

students’ motivation considerably was the fact

that they did not consider English relevant for

their professional future. When students’

surroundings do not show any value of English

for their professional future, when they go

through harsh life situations outside their

school, or when their vision is overshadowed by

social media as a generational phenomenon,

then the tools that teachers of English as a

foreign language have at hand to shape learners’

behavior and attitude might simply not be

enough.

This idea also resonates with the Cultural-

Historical Activity Theory which states that

people’s development results from the

“interaction with the cultural-historically

determined tools through which subjects

mediate their actions on the world” (Grimalt-

Álvaro & Ametller, 2021, p.2). Nowadays,

social media can be considered such cultural-

historical tool that has a profound impact on

people’s life all around the world. Therefore, its

impact on the development and behavior of

secondary school students fits within the theor.

Classroom management appears to be

facilitated for EFL teachers in the rural setting.

On the one hand, this contradicts the common

viewpoint that students in rural zones might be

more prone to do worse academically that those

in urban areas (Ramos et al., 2021), thus leading

to a conclusion that rural schools do not provide

the most favorable conditions for learning. On

the other hand, the findings of the present study

show that, in fact, they can offer a number of

advantages: low exposure to technology and

social media, lack of access to illicit substances

and small class size – all of these factors

facilitate classroom management for EFL

teachers.

This finding reframes classroom management

from a teacher skill to a community-supported

structure, confirming the idea of Ninni

Wahlström (2026) that “place is not an

independent entity but is instead constructed

through particular social relations at a given

time depending on both physical and social

factors” (p.1). Therefore, the importance of the

community in the rural setting becomes relevant

for shaping classroom dynamics. Additionally,

this could be explained by the fact that

secondary school students in Colombia tend to

have more developed social skills that their

peers in urban areas, skills such as empathy and

self-regulation (Muñoz Rondón, 2024), which

might have a significant effect on their behavior

in class. One cannot ignore the fact that

Colombia is still going through the post-conflict

period, although according to some sources the

conflict has been reactivated in the recent years

(JEP, 2022). However, regardless the current

status of the armed conflict in the country, the

reality of many communities is marked by

violence and illicit drug trafficking. Therefore,

when analyzing the causes of classroom

management issues one cannot ignore such

reality as it has a direct impact on students’ lives

and, consequently, permeates all the levels of

the EST thus changing the traditional classroom

management patterns proposed by the EFL

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literature. First of all, there appears to be a string

need to review policies regarding the use of

devices in schools. According to a recent report

on school bans of cell phones by UNESCO

(2026), more than 50% of countries in Latin

America and the Caribbean regions have

introduced official policies on smartphone use

in educational institutions. However, the

absence of consistent national-level guidance

regarding digital device use in Colombia may

contribute to uneven classroom management

conditions across institutions. This is especially

relevant for public schools, as private

institutions have certain freedom to establish

their own policies.

Second, training on inclusive education remains

a vital necessity for EFL teachers. The

importance of directing educational system

towards inclusion cannot be underestimated,

and Colombian Ministry of Education has

officially stated that Colombian EFL educators

need to learn the strategies necessary for

teaching students with diverse needs (MEN,

2022). However, when inclusive policies are

not accompanied by sufficient teacher

preparation (Ali, 2018), classroom support, or

reduced class size, their implementation

appears to generate pedagogical strain

regarding classroom management. Therefore,

there is a strong need to equip EFL

professionals with the strategies and techniques

that will enable them to manage their diverse

classrooms efficiently. Finally, the class size

remains a serious issue as it significantly

constrains teachers’ capacity to indivi dualize

instruction and manage behavior effectively. In

fact, Avendaño et al. (2024) highlighted it as

one of the major obstacles towards national

bilingualism goals. Consequently, policy

makers at national and regional level might

consider this aspect in regards to EFL

classrooms. Based on the findings of the present

study, we can state that classroom management

is a complex phenomenon which is socially

embedded rather than individually generated.

While traditional CM literature (Brown & Lee,

2015; Harmer, 2015; Richards & Renandya,

2002) that focuses on the immediate details,

such as physical environment, planning and

discipline control, is very important for both

pre-service and in-service EFL teachers, it is

also crucial for them to understand the

underlying causes that drive learners towards

positive or negative patterns in their behavior

and attitude towards classroom procedures and

dynamics.

This partially coincides with the idea expressed

by Farmer et al. (2017), who spoke about the

social dynamics in the CM processes. They

highlighted the important role of the teacher in

constructing such dynamics and how it often

remains unnoticed. Nevertheless, their main

focus was on the social environment within the

classroom, which refers only to the first layer of

the EST, the Microsystem. The findings of the

present study support the importance of

considering classroom ecology as it was

mentioned that peer influence can be one of the

factors that define classroom atmosphere.

However, the results also show that the

influence of social factors on CM must be

considered in a much wider context.

Conclusion

This research revealed a number of relevant

findings regarding CM in secondary school

EFL classes through teachers’ perspective. In

terms of CM problems, the researchers

concluded that EFL teachers face similar

challenges across different educational

contexts. They did not find significant

differences between private and public sectors.

All the participants consistently reported facing

problems related to discipline, use of cell

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phones, lack of interest towards English as a

subject, and less frequently - differences among

students and inclusion. When directly asked if

they have observed different CM issues in the

sectors or zones where they have worked, they

answered negatively.

In regards to the participants’ perspective on the

causes of the above-mentioned problems, there

were also several important conclusions. First

of all, the study revealed that CM is an

extremely complex phenomenon which is

influenced by a myriad of factors. Additionally,

only a few of those factors depend directly on

the teacher, as the vast majority of them stem

from reasons external to the classroom

environment itself. This means that despite the

great responsibility that is placed onto EFL

teachers, they cannot always handle classroom

issues effectively, as the reasons lie beyond

their control.

Second, there was a consistent idea repeated

across all the Ecological Systems - rural zones

seem to provide conditions that facilitate CM

for EFL teachers. This conclusion is particularly

interesting given the fact that Colombian

teachers seldom consider rural zones as a

desirable work environment. The advantage of

the rural zones is explained by several factors.

Lack of access to technology, traditional

upbringing and respect for authority, families’

collaboration, small class size, and little access

to illicit substances – all these characteristics

reduce the number of CM issues. Third, the

study showed that technology permeates most

of the ecological systems in students’ life, and

this leads to negative consequences for CM.

Devices are a major distractor in EFL classes,

as students feel a constant need to stay

connected and get updated on social networks.

Sadly, this so-called addiction is fed by modern

tendencies that can be observed at the level of

families, institutions, and the society as a whole.

Finally, there were also relevant conclusions at

each level of Bronfenbrenner’s EST. Regarding

the Microsystem, families should understand

their vital role in students’ academic life, as

cases of family conflicts or gaps in upbringing

are directly reflected in their behavior and

attitude in class. Additionally, they should

understand that good communication with their

children’s school can improve those aspects - a

characteristic of the Mesosystem. As for the

next level of the model, the Exosystem, school

administrations should provide favorable

conditions for effective classroom management

to take place, because even basic issues like lack

of fans in a hot climate or an extremely high

number of students in a class may negatively

affect CM dynamics. Furthermore, policy

makers need to carefully analyze all the intricate

details of different socioeconomic and

sociocultural contexts (Macrosystem) in order

to tackle the resulting CM problems and thus

improve students’ learning process. Finally,

although there are not always solutions to the

issues that were mentioned in regards to the

Chronosystem, teachers should be aware of

them in order to adjust their CM appropriately.

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Declaraciones éticas y editoriales del artículo

Contribución de los autores (Taxonomía CRediT)

Alexandra Novozhenina: conceptualización de la investigación, diseño metodológico, desarrollo del proceso investigativo, análisis formal de los

datos, redacción del borrador original del manuscrito, revisión crítica del contenido científico y supervisión general del estudio.

Valeria Ríos Olarte: curación y organización de los datos, participación en la recolección de información, validación de los resultados obtenidos y

elaboración de representaciones gráficas y visualización de los datos.

Luna Martínez Orozco: provisión de recursos académicos y materiales para el desarrollo del estudio, apoyo en la administración del proyecto

investigativo y revisión editorial del manuscrito antes de su publicación.

Declaración de conflicto de intereses

Los autores declaran que no existe conflicto de intereses en relación con la investigación presentada, la autoría del manuscrito ni la publicación del

presente artículo.

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La presente investigación no recibió financiamiento específico de agencias públicas, comerciales o de organizaciones sin fines de lucro. En caso

de existir financiamiento institucional o externo, este deberá ser declarado explícitamente por los autores en esta sección.

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El editor responsable certifica que el proceso editorial del presente artículo se desarrolló conforme a los principios de integridad científica,

transparencia y buenas prácticas editoriales. El manuscrito fue sometido a un proceso de evaluación mediante revisión por pares doble ciego,

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declara que el artículo cumple con los criterios científicos, metodológicos y éticos establecidos por la revista.

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que sus observaciones y recomendaciones se fundamentan exclusivamente en criterios científicos, metodológicos y académicos.

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