OSF3 Textbook

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OSF3 Textbook

3 In the Classroom

One Step Further ACTIVITIES

Here are some more responses from the Ibunka Survey on the topic of classroom behavior. Let’s examine them for underlying cultural trends. We can see that the language in many responses hints at four basic patterns.

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SURVEY

LOOKING FOR PATTERNS

CULTURAL PATTERN A: Classes are interactive In some cultures, much of the class takes place as “a dialogue between the teacher and individual students who raise their hands”, as noted by the American respondent on page 21.

CULTURAL PATTERN B: Classes are teacher-centered

In other cultures, most teachers “do a lot of the talking and students just listen and take notes”, as the French respondent indicated in his response on page 22.

Read through the Ibunka Survey responses below. Highlight in one color the words and phrases that hint at Cultural Pattern A: Classes are interactive, and in another color the parts that are suggestive of Cultural Pattern B: Classes are teacher-centered.

&Y ZSN[JWXNY^ NS /FUFS \J MFI GTYM QJHYZWJ XY^QJ FSI XJRNSFW XY^QJ HQFXXJX GZY most of them were TSJ \F^ lectures by the professor. After that, I attended graduate school in the UK, for only one year so my experience is limited, but I felt that there was much more interactivity than in Japan. -DSDQHVH IHPDOH FRUSRUDWH WUDLQHU KDV OLYHG LQ WKH 8. DQG )UDQFH 1 In Australia, students are encouraged to ask questions at all times. The teacher will also ask questions to the entire class and expect students to volunteer answers. I am led to believe that in Japan students are not encouraged to volunteer an answer unless they are directly addressed, and even then some don’t. $XVWUDOLDQ PDOH VSRUWV FRDFK OLYHV LQ -DSDQ 2 (FSFINFS HQFXXWTTRX YJSI YT GJ QJFWSJW HJSYJWJI and interactive. Students often work together to construct shared ideas concerning how to address a problem. Moreover, there are a lot of discussions and related activities that encourage learners to offer their opinions. &DQDGLDQ PDOH WHDFKHU OLYHV LQ &DQDGD 3 Yes, back in England classes were very interactive 9MJ^ \JWJ YJFHMJW HJSYJWJI FSI obviously it varied from teacher to teacher but in general we were encouraged to answer (and ask) questions, and often praised KTW ITNSL XT . \JSY YT F QTY TK INKKJWJSY XHMTTQX FGTZY and they were all like this. We also often worked in groups and were encouraged to present our work and ƳSINSLX to the rest of the class. %ULWLVK IHPDOH IUHHODQFH ZULWHU DQG WHDFKHU OLYHV LQ -DSDQ 4 In Hungary, the atmosphere in classes varies depending on the type of school. University classes are based on listening and taking notes in silence. It’s not really typical to ask questions, especially in lectures with many other students. +XQJDULDQ IHPDOH UHVHDUFK VWXGHQW OLYHV LQ -DSDQ 5 I grew up in Brittany, in the West of France. And I remember in high school, some language teachers would get really mad because no one was raising their hands to answer. A Spanish teacher once expressed how he felt puzzled, since he had taught in the South of France before, and he said that he was used to a majority of students raising their hands. &KYJW YMFY . \JSY YT ZSN[JWXNY^ NS (FSFIF (QFXXJX YMJWJ \JWJ VZNYJ NSYJWFHYN[J , and I participated along with my classmates. The atmosphere was clearly more relaxed than what I had experienced in France. )UHQFK IHPDOH ODQJXDJH WHDFKHU OLYHV LQ -DSDQ 6

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To my mind, not many classes are interactive in Japanese schools. I went to a Japanese OZSNTW MNLM XHMTTQ KTW TSJ ^JFW IZWNSL R^ ƳSFQ ^JFW YMJWJ . ITSY recall any subjects where we interacted with one another, except for English class. In Japanese schools I get the feeling that students simply listen to the teacher and it almost feels rude to interrupt them with questions. &DQDGLDQ -DSDQHVH PDOH VWXGHQW KDV OLYHG LQ -DSDQ 7

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LOOKING FOR PATTERNS

CULTURAL PATTERN C: Silence is OK In some cultures, if a student remains silent after being called upon by the teacher during class, it is usually tolerated. This is perhaps because it is perceived as "the student is looking for the answer" or “the student doesn’t know the answer”. In these cases the teacher will usually move on to another student.

CULTURAL PATTERN D: Silence should be avoided In other cultures, remaining completely silent after being asked a question by the teacher is considered rude, as seen in the French, Australian and Spanish responses to the Ibunka Survey on pages 23-25.

Read through the Ibunka Survey responses below. Highlight in one color the words and phrases that hint at Cultural Pattern C: Silence is OK , and in another color the parts that show Cultural Pattern D: Silence should be avoided. You can work and discuss this in pairs or small groups.

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During teacher training workshops, it is clear that the biggest, most common culture shock that foreign teachers experience when they begin teaching in Japan is the classic ‘stuck in silence’ situation, in which they call on a student to respond, but the student remains completely silent. To them, it feels as if they “threw a ball” to the student, but that student is “keeping the ball”, refusing to LN[J YMJ ƴTTW GFHP to the teacher. In trying to understand the students’ side, I think that what matters most to them is actually the way their classmates look at them. There is an invisible but very strong social pressure to adopt a hesitant way of speaking. )UHQFK PDOH WHDFKHU WUDLQHU OLYHV LQ -DSDQ If a teacher called on me XUJHNƳHFQQ^ during the class, I would try my best to answer the question. Remaining silent is not polite, at least in my opinion. If I didn’t know the answer, I would guess, or tell the teacher that I didn’t know. If this happened in a foreign language class, I guess I would at least use body language to show that I don’t have an answer, like shaking my head or shrugging my shoulders. &KLQHVH IHPDOH VRIWZDUH VDOHVSHUVRQ OLYHV LQ -DSDQ 9

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Write a paragraph on the topic of classroom behavior. Include your opinions and reactions to the cultural patterns you found in these survey responses.

EXPRESSION

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