WHY CLASS PARTICIPATION IN NOT ENCOURAGING
We carried out a survey in the form of a questionnaire recently with a few objectives in mind.
I) To find out how much a class participates during lessons.
II) How good the rapport between the teacher and students are.
III) What are the ways to improve class participation.
We distributed the questionnaires to students ranging from Form 4 to Upper 6. From their answers, we found that class participation is definitely not to a satisfactory level. We subsequently analysed the answers and we tried to find out the reason (s) as to why teachers are so inclined to tear their hair out in frustration (by the way, didn't you realise that teachers seem to be balding faster these days ? !) when attempting to get answers from our literally locked mouths.
There are actually many reasons cited by pupils as to why they themselves lack the spirit to participate in class and would rather clam up. Believe me, this situation would be the reverse if we are talking about students in the West. However, Malaysia is an Asian country and the concept of conservatism is rampant. We were not trained to speak our minds freely. We are restricted and refrain from doing so in case it would be deemed as an act of impertinence. This practise has been implanted since young and as the saying goes, "Old habits die hard". This is also true to the old saying that children are meant to be seen and not heard. Also, students are afraid to be accused of showing off and trying to curry favour, if he should actively give opinions. This is, no doubt, negative and pessimistic thinking but we simply cannot blame them for we were all brought up in this manner. Adjacent to that, many students tend to follow the crowd, that is, their classmates or friends. Nobody takes the initiative to lead and consequently, become passive in class.
The occasional answer given also blames the education system the students were led to follow, mainly the system of taking and receiving but never giving, that is, the teachers just teach and never bother to ask the students' opinions. It is clearly a one-way traffic that does neither party much good. Therefore, students who are used to the hand-fed method find it hard to change to the latest way of participation which is required. When teachers encourage class participation, he would not get it as the students have been initially and basically passive all along.
Language improficiency is also cited as one of the main reasons why most students do not participate in class activities. They feel that they simply cannot express their thoughts and opinions freely in a required language and this therefore hinders them from expressing their ideas.
Most students are afraid of embarassment and of being sneered at should he make a blunder or a wrong statement. This is a psychological fear within them and also the scar from previous experience is still vivid. Without doubt, these students are even more reluctant to open up. However, this does not apply to certain situations. We found out that even though students keep quiet during lessons, it is not that they accept everything the teachers teach blindly. They are sensitive to what is going on. They will still point out whatever mistakes a teacher makes and sometimes do question when when not certain of a particular subject.
When forming a group for discussion, only a minority of students will pick anyone at random, preferring to have at least a few of their own group of friends. This shows that when expressing their opinions and ideas, they prefer to do so with people they are familiar with. Again, the Asian concept of conservatism arise and most Asian students are still not used to discussing with strangers. We can roughly conclude that this would also be the case in the classroom.
When we asked whether students would agree to do public speaking, a large number agreed to go along with it. Although they are basically shy, they feel that through public speaking, they are given an opportunity to polish up their oratorial skills and boost their self-confidence.
Overall, we found out and conclude that students have an urge to participate in class but are hesitant to do so because of the various reasons stated above. Maybe, with some help from teachers and peers, they will eventually change and make classroom learning more intensifying and enjoyable.
JC, OKY & AK L6A5
I) To find out how much a class participates during lessons.
II) How good the rapport between the teacher and students are.
III) What are the ways to improve class participation.
We distributed the questionnaires to students ranging from Form 4 to Upper 6. From their answers, we found that class participation is definitely not to a satisfactory level. We subsequently analysed the answers and we tried to find out the reason (s) as to why teachers are so inclined to tear their hair out in frustration (by the way, didn't you realise that teachers seem to be balding faster these days ? !) when attempting to get answers from our literally locked mouths.
There are actually many reasons cited by pupils as to why they themselves lack the spirit to participate in class and would rather clam up. Believe me, this situation would be the reverse if we are talking about students in the West. However, Malaysia is an Asian country and the concept of conservatism is rampant. We were not trained to speak our minds freely. We are restricted and refrain from doing so in case it would be deemed as an act of impertinence. This practise has been implanted since young and as the saying goes, "Old habits die hard". This is also true to the old saying that children are meant to be seen and not heard. Also, students are afraid to be accused of showing off and trying to curry favour, if he should actively give opinions. This is, no doubt, negative and pessimistic thinking but we simply cannot blame them for we were all brought up in this manner. Adjacent to that, many students tend to follow the crowd, that is, their classmates or friends. Nobody takes the initiative to lead and consequently, become passive in class.
The occasional answer given also blames the education system the students were led to follow, mainly the system of taking and receiving but never giving, that is, the teachers just teach and never bother to ask the students' opinions. It is clearly a one-way traffic that does neither party much good. Therefore, students who are used to the hand-fed method find it hard to change to the latest way of participation which is required. When teachers encourage class participation, he would not get it as the students have been initially and basically passive all along.
Language improficiency is also cited as one of the main reasons why most students do not participate in class activities. They feel that they simply cannot express their thoughts and opinions freely in a required language and this therefore hinders them from expressing their ideas.
Most students are afraid of embarassment and of being sneered at should he make a blunder or a wrong statement. This is a psychological fear within them and also the scar from previous experience is still vivid. Without doubt, these students are even more reluctant to open up. However, this does not apply to certain situations. We found out that even though students keep quiet during lessons, it is not that they accept everything the teachers teach blindly. They are sensitive to what is going on. They will still point out whatever mistakes a teacher makes and sometimes do question when when not certain of a particular subject.
When forming a group for discussion, only a minority of students will pick anyone at random, preferring to have at least a few of their own group of friends. This shows that when expressing their opinions and ideas, they prefer to do so with people they are familiar with. Again, the Asian concept of conservatism arise and most Asian students are still not used to discussing with strangers. We can roughly conclude that this would also be the case in the classroom.
When we asked whether students would agree to do public speaking, a large number agreed to go along with it. Although they are basically shy, they feel that through public speaking, they are given an opportunity to polish up their oratorial skills and boost their self-confidence.
Overall, we found out and conclude that students have an urge to participate in class but are hesitant to do so because of the various reasons stated above. Maybe, with some help from teachers and peers, they will eventually change and make classroom learning more intensifying and enjoyable.
JC, OKY & AK L6A5
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