This week I mentioned to members of my cohort that I saw what I considered to be a loss of direction in one of my classrooms. This occured after watching one of my CT's try and engage her classroom in the lesson for 40 minutes and never really having any buy in from them. Finally she stopped and asked them,in what was desperate tone,"Why are you here? Why are you coming to school?" Now, in some situations this would be an excellent lead in question,perhaps during thhe first week of school to establish norms. But in this particular context it was in response to my CT's inability to interest here class in any type of learning. She did get their attention. When she asked the question there was an immeadiate silence. This was followed by a few responses,given very tentively, about having to attend due to legal and partental constraints. But nothing about wanting to learn. From this I take away two points.
The first is what I percieved happening when my CT asked her question. The students went quiet. They had been engaged in quite a bit of personal conversation and non-engaged activity. But this got their attention. So, why was this question so much more interesting than what she was trying to teach? I don't think it was. I think it was confusing for the students as they were being asked not to define why they were in school,but why my CT was there. She was asking them why she was there if they were not interested in learning. As a construct of classroom management I believe that it is fundamental to "know why you are there". Students are aware of why they are there;they have to be or there are some very definite consquences provided by adults.When a teacher does not know why they are in the classroom and has to ask for external confirmation this will only create confuison with the students. Students should not be asked to determine what the fundimental role of their teacher is. They are in the classroom to learn. If they have to explain why the adult is there,to teach, then the adult is putting a great burden on the students.Why should they be responsible for telling the teacher her resposibilites to them. In effect the structure of the classroom has been disrupted.
This leads to my second point; why didn't the students answer that they were in the classroom to learn? I feel that this is central theme behind the situation that occured. If students do not see themselves as learners in classrooms then they will create the kind of turmoil that presented my CT with this very frustrating situation. We,as teachers, are in the classroom to develop a sense of wonder and interest about our subject and about the concept of learning. Teachers need be aware that when they are losing the interest of their students it is time to reflect about what they can do to bring them back into the classroom. It also directs my attention to the the old saw that if you want to kill learning,send a kid to school. I am more interested now in what my students feel is "education". I want to discuss with them what caused them to arrive at this point. I want to know if there is anything that they might find interesting school. I am aware that they have to be there. I want them to want to be there and I want to always know why I am there.
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Frank, not having been there, it is difficult to "defend" the CT's question to the students about why there were there, but certainly there are possible reasons for it to be appropriate. I don't see why it would be more a question of "Why the teacher was there."
I was a little confused about the second point about the purpose of education.
I suggest that a more concrete discussion about your learning or asking questions about what to do in a specific scenario will be more useful to development as a teacher at this time.
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