Autor: prof. Bogdan Georgiana
Sursa imagine: https://theinspiredclassroom.com/2013/11/how-to-encourage-your-pupils-to-ask-more-questions/
There is no real limit to the way in which teachers can group students in a classroom, though certain factors, such as over-crowding, fixed furniture and entranched student attitudes, may make things problematic. Nevertheless, teaching a class as a whole, getting students to work on their own or having them perform tasks in pairs or groups all have their own advantages and disadvantages; each is more or less appropriate for different activities.
When people think of teaching and learning, they frequently conjure up a picture of students sitting in rows listening to a teacher who stands in front of them. For many, this is what teaching means and it is still the most common teacher-student interaction in many cultures. Though it has many limitations, whole-class grouping like this has both practical advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages of whole-class grouping
- It reinforces a sense of belonging among the group members, something which we as teachers need to foster ( Williams and Burden 1997:79). If everyone is involved in the same activity, then we are all ‘ in it together’, and such experiences give us points of common reference to talk about and use as reasons to bond with each other. It is much easier for students to share an emotion such as happiness or amusement in a whole-class setting. Twenty people laughing is often more enjoyable than just two; 40 people holding their breath in anticipation create a much more engaging atmosphere than just the person sitting next to you. In other words, if language learning is a collective endeavour, then „learning takes place most effectively when language classes pull together as unified groups” ( Senior 2002:402).
- It is suitable for activities where the teacher acts as a controller. It is especially good for giving explanations and instructions, where smaller groups would mean having to do these things more than once. It is ideal for presenting material in pictures, texts, audio or video. It is also more cost-efficient, both in terms of material production and organisation than other groupings can be.
- It allows teachers to ‘ gauge the mood’ of the class in general (rather than on an individual basis); it is a good way for us to get a general understanding of students progress.
- It is the preferred class style in many educational settings where students and teachers feel secure when the whole class is working in lockstep and under the direct authority of the teacher.
Disadvantages of whole class-grouping:
- It favours the group rather than the individual. Everyone is forced to do the same thing at the same time and at the same pace.
- Individual students do not have much of a chance to say anything on their own.
- Many students are disinclined to participate in front of the whole class since to do so brings with it the risk of public failure.
- It may not encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning. Whole-class learning favours the transmission of knowledge from teacher to student rather than having students discover things or research things for themselves.
- It is not the best way to organise communicative language teaching or specifically task-based sequences. Communication between individuals is more difficult in a group of 20 or 30 than it is in groups of four or five. In smaller groups it is easier to share material, speak quietly and less formally and make good eye contact. All of these contribute to successful task resolution.
All in all, the classroom offers more inspiration, debates and education than other teaching methods. Students feel a sense of motivation and need to learn more when they are with others. In the whole-class teaching, each lesson holds to an unbiased educational standard and brings transparency to learning and teaching. Whole class teaching also brings cohesion to a learning experience and makes the best use of time. Through this type of teaching, students gain independence of thoughts and rational thinking and therefore, learning takes place.
Bibliography:
Senior, R M 2002 A class-centered approach to language teaching, ELT Journal 56/4
Williams, M and Burden, R 1997 Psychology for Language Teachers Cambridge University Press.
