Figure 2: Factors influencing pedagogies used in class
0.83%23.97%38.02%47.93%47.93%54.55%57.02%61.98%75.21%82.64%90.08%0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100You are allowed to teach one type of padagogyTiming allotted during the lessonYou think the padagogies should be used for the classClass-size impacts your pedagogiesRegular tests and examination of studentsStudents's learning needsCurriculum required you selected the types of pedagogiesPeer-evaluation after lesson observationStudents's learning outcomesContents of lessonsObjectives of lessonsThe focus-group discussions with trainee-teachers and the in-depth
interviews with the senior experts and researchers revealed that the prevailing
pedagogical approach remains one-way lecturing, with an emphasis on
teaching theory rather than practice, and teachers follow the text-books
closely. As a consequence, students passively receive the introduced
concepts, which the teachers do not link to the students’ lives (to show how,
or if, they are relevant to the students).
One of the senior experts in secondary education interviewed noted that,
Teacher-student interaction takes precedence over student-student
interaction in the classroom. In many classrooms, teachers pose questions
and students give answers, with students trying to provide the expected
answer to the questions. Students rarely express an idea that is different
to their teacher’s. In some cases, even when students know that their
teacher has made a mistake, they will not mention it, unless their teacher
encourages them to do so.In short, although the majority of teachers use practice, experiment and
discussion approaches, they give limited opportunities for students to reflect
their knowledge in practice. As teachers rarely conduct field-trips, this may be
limiting students’ opportunites to link the concepts taught in classrooms with
reality. Furthermore, pedagogy is mainly curriculum- and textbook-oriented,
rather than being student-centred (Nguyen, 2005; Vu and Tran, 1996).