While conducting his lessons, Kanybek faced the challenge of his pupils’ lack
of motivation. He struggled to motivate the pupils. Initially he focused on
only those pupils who wanted to learn. He noted, ‘First, I thought ‘why should
I bother about those who don’t want to learn?’ He asked questions of those
pupils who prepared their lessons and he concentrated only on them. While
a few pupils studied hard, the rest merely idled. He adopted this strategy
on the basis of his university education, where most of his professors left it
up to the students to study rather than worrying about those who did not
want to study. Kanybek eventually changed his approach, however. He felt
uncomfortable that many of his pupils were not learning, and he also received
criticism from the school administrators and his mentor about neglecting
many of his pupils. Kanybek then began focusing on all the pupils, asking
everyone questions and motivating them to study, and explaining to them
that they needed to study well to succeed.
From the observations of the lessons of Ainura and Kanybek and others, it can
be concluded that teacher-centred approaches are common in Kyrgyzstan.
These teachers mostly conduct whole-class activities and rarely engage in
activities that use small groups and pair work. They spend most of their time
asking questions and explaining, and their questions are lower order rather
than thought provoking (higher order).
Next is a transcript of a lesson that was observed in 2007. This was an English
language lesson for Grade 7 students in Jalal-Abad oblast of Kyrgyzstan. The
desks in the classroom were arranged in a horseshoe shape, rather than all
facing the front of the room. Eleven out of 14 pupils (four boys and seven
girls) were present. The four boys were seated together on one side, with the
girls in the centre and on the other side of the horseshoe. This lesson featured
many elements of interactive and learner-centred teaching approaches. It
was conducted by a teacher named Aigul on 7 September 2007.
Observation notes of an English lesson
Teacher: Good morning (in English)
Pupils: Good morning, teacher (in English)
Teacher: I cannot hear well. Can you repeat? You should greet loudly and
enthusiastically. Good morning.