(The teacher turned to class and made sure that everyone copied the
theme and plan from the board).
Teacher: Now, look here. We will discuss these three concepts today. Before
Darwin there were many people...
(The bell rang at this moment. The pupils got up and began putting their
books and notebooks in their bags and some of them grabbed their coats
from the hooks. They did not wait for the teacher to announce that the
lesson was over and they went outside).
Teacher: For the next lesson, read Chapter 11 on pages 49–52. Come
prepared.This transcript of the lesson provides insights into this teacher’s teaching
practices. It illustrates how she interacts with pupils, checks homework,
assigns tasks to do at home, assesses, marks and deals with classroom
management issues. Ainura started the lesson by asking questions to review
the previous lesson’s materials and make connections with the new lesson.
She asked questions quickly, one after another, because, as she later observed,
‘I wanted to cover materials that I planned for the lesson and keep the pupils’
interest and attention on the class’. Ainura used questioning for classroom
management purposes as well; she asked questions to draw the attention
of some pupils who were off task. She explained this by saying, ‘When I ask
them questions, they realise that I may ask them any time and they have to
be ready to respond’. The lesson indicates that Ainura has a didactic approach
to teaching and she uses the transmission mode of content delivery. This
lesson demonstrates a typical teacher-centered approach. In brief, her main
method was to give her pupils the content and then ask questions to check
their understanding. Ainura underestimates her students’ abilities to analyse
and think critically. She does not give students opportunities to ask questions
themselves and she doesn’t allow students time to answer her questions,
and learn from their mistakes if they make them, instead she answers the
questions herself.
The box below describes the teaching approach taken by Kanybek, a history
teacher in a rural school.