Normal classroom practice is seen as teacher asks a question, children raise hand to answer. What could be simpler than that? Except that not all children offer a contribution. How often do the brighter children take advantage and dominate by default, as the rest essentially leave them to it? Why do we retain practices that should be refined to support learning? One local inspector called this the “tyranny of the hands up”. The principle has been around for some time and its introduction usually draws gasps of disbelief from more traditionally minded people. However, there is a growing body of evidence, from practitioners, that the use of the no hands up method impacts on learning.
On 7th September 2010, the BBC online news offered insights from classroom research by Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education, who found that those who raise their hands listen in class, engage with the topic and so achieve more highly. The others, often, let their attention drift. So he banned hands-up when he took over a Year 8 class of 12 and 13-year-olds at Hertswood School, a Hertfordshire comprehensive, for the summer term. The pupils were guinea pigs, testing methods for grabbing – and holding – the attention of the whole class, not just the usual suspects.
“When teachers ask questions, it’s always the same few pupils who put up their hands. The others can slip below the teacher’s radar, and therefore tune out,” says Professor Wiliam. So instead of a show of hands, the teacher would ask pupils at random to answer any questions. There was resistance at first.
“Those who didn’t usually raise their hands were shocked that they had to pay attention. Those used to volunteering an answer were nonplussed by their removal from the spotlight,” he says. Teachers found they had to plan their lessons in more detail, formulating questions to draw out pupils who’d fallen out of the habit of responding in class. A compromise was for the teacher to randomly pick two pupils to answer and then ask if anyone had anything to add, giving habitual answerers a chance to pitch in.
The OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) offered a commentary on hands up in class as part of a study into formative assessment; Thinking time instead of hands up OECD (2005), Formative Assessment: Improving Learning in Secondary Classrooms, Paris, ISBN: 92-64-00739-3 They used international comparison to establish that this practice is widespread and having an impact. In several of the schools, teachers frequently enforce a policy of “no hands up”. The teacher poses a question, takes a pause ranging from three seconds to several minutes, and then calls upon a student. They found that the quality of responses improves a great deal when students have time to think.
Leicestershire County Council suggested the benefits of the policy as:-
All children think, articulate and extend their learning, leading to increased confidence in maths, as children have more time to process their calculations.It trains children to listen and it is easier to see who is on task – all children are engaged. The quality of verbal responses is higher, behaviour improves. The verbal contribution of shy or less confident pupils increases. More confident children learn to listen to others. A respectful and co-operative culture is created.
Alternatives to hands up include having children’s names on lollipop sticks, put in a jar and selected at random. The same can be effected with a pack of cards. Thumbs up is less physical than hands up. Alternatively, the teacher can just ask individuals for a response. This latter does demand very good knowledge of the children to be able to ask questions in a way that elicits a positive response.
Good and outstanding teaching is highly engaged, with the subject and the children’s learning. Quality Q&A time supports the scaffolding of ideas, creates visual images, allows children to engage and question for themselves, encouraging them into the process of their own learning.
There are positive advantages, eat more ice cream and limit the waving arms.
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