TRANSFERRING KNOWLEDGE OR TEACHING OBEDIENCE: DO OBEDIENT STUDENTS LEARN BETTER?

Abstract

This paper aims to identify 1) strategies adopted by teachers to retain students’ attention on the lesson and 2) counter strategies adopted by students in responding to teacher behaviour. The paper is based on data gathered in a leading girls’ school in Colombo. A convenient sample of three Grade Nine classrooms was studied through nonparticipant observations for a period of 20 hours in each classroom. Majority of teachers depended on the ‘authority’ that is traditionally attributed to teachers in Sri Lanka while some others used more ‘democratic’ techniques to retain students’ attention on the lesson. Students were not entirely hostile to the idea of ‘teacher authority’ during a lesson. However, they resisted certain teacher strategies; particularly demands to which adherence was not essential for learning to take place. Students seemed to prefer a democratic style of teaching with the ‘right’ blend of authority as and when necessary.