There Are Four Main Forms of Work a Teacher Can Plan

There Are Four Main Forms of Work a Teacher Can Plan

Renata Zdanowska

II FAN

Siedlce 2011

WHOLE-CLASS TEACHING

A lesson plan includes:

subject,

level,

aims,

methods,

forms of work,

materials.

There are four main forms of work a teacher can plan:

whole-class teaching,

individual work,

pairs,

groups.

Whole-class teaching is for example what I am doing now. I am standing in front of you – my students and doing some presentation. This kind of grouping is most popular in many cultures (Harmer J., 2008).

In my theses (master degree diploma – R. Kozak, 1994) I described and analyzed 30 lessons and in 28 of them teachers used – as a main form of work – the whole-class teaching.

In happened:

while a short talk at the begging of a lesson,

when a description of a story or a poem was presented to the pupils,

as a result of work: making a note, a description, a story,

while giving answers and searching for the best one.

There are five stages in a lesson where whole-class teaching was regularly used (Kozak R., thesis1994):

  1. Opening: greeting, checking a register list.
  2. Checking homework.
  3. Presentation of a new topic.
  4. Middle lesson break – physical activity.
  5. Summing-up, giving homework.

It seems that this form of work is time and cost efficient.

What are advantages of whole-class grouping?

Making things together.

Nowadays people tend to develop individualism but this underrate feeling of belonging to

a class, school, society. Schools should not be the place where only “THE ONE” is an aim of our education. “The Golden Mean” - is the answer to the problem.

Making presentations: showing pictures, videotapes, DVD s, listening to audiotapes, Cd s.

Practice – singing songs, rhymes, telling stories, memorizing poems.

Whole-class grouping is perfect when explanation and instruction are given to the students.

Checking understanding of students' progress (tests).

What are disadvantages of whole-class grouping?

It favors the group rather than the individual.

Individual students are not given a chance to say almost anything.

The researches found that a teacher asks mostly factual questions and dominates whole-class teaching (Myhill D.,2006). So, the problem could be not a group – in most of cases, but

a teacher. The dominant pattern is: teacher-student, teacher – student. Students rarely initiate interaction and their responses to teacher's questions are restricted (Tanner H.,2006). They remain very short with average length of five seconds and involving three of fewer words in 70% cases).

Many students are put in situation where the risk of public failure is high.

There are pupils who do not speak loudly in front of a whole class. They are extremely shy and are able to say for example a poem only after the lesson or at least standing close to the teacher and whispering to his/her ear.

Whole-class teaching may not encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning.

Whole-class grouping unable communication development. It is hard to speak in another language with a teacher or other student while the whole class is involved. It is much easier and comfortable to communicate in small groups or pairs.

One of the tool supporting whole-class teaching is IWB – Interactive White Board. The first part of the name is "interactive", however does not mean pupils interaction. It is rather used to support teachers. So, IWBs support direct teaching with the teacher at the center of the action. Access to the technology is controlled and mediated by the teacher. The full potential of interactive whole class teaching and the IWB is possible when teachers make the transition from traditional to more interactive methods of work (Tanner H., 2006).

References

  1. Harmer Jeremy (2008), The Practice of English Language Teaching. Pearson Longman.
  2. Kozak Renata (1994), Styl nauczania w klasach I – III szkoły podstawowej. Praca magisterska - Wyższa Szkoła Rolniczo Pedagogiczna w Siedlcach.
  3. Tanner Howard (2006), Interactive Whole Class Teaching and Interactive White Boards. University of Wales Swansea.
  4. Myhill Debra (2006), Talk, talk, talk: Teaching and learning in whole class discourse. University of Exeter.
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