rather than controlling the lessons, they engage in questioning and probing the pupils so as to guide them towards constructing their own understanding and learning. In respect of the element of learning some noteworthy responses were would expect ‘I (Jean). that there would be much learning taking would be interested place’ ‘Children in learning because there is an interest in learning which is encouraged. In a lot of (Polly) ways the teacher can learn from the students would be eager to ‘Children (Rose). come to school, eager to do projects . . . eager to get their parents involved’ These views are in congruence with those of Rallis (1995) who confirms that in learner centred schools of the school are (p.128). “all inhabitants students” Furthermore, differences in pupils and their attainments are appreciated and each child is offered many opportunities to learn (Rallis 1995, p. 226) Four of the respondents were in agreement that the children would be observed participating in their learning and this involvement would occur mainly in One comment which summed up the views of the respondents was ‘I would expect to see the children playing with sand and water, playing with manipulatives . . (Rose). This opinion is . They would be able to move freely from Centre to Centre’ also in congruence with that of Gordon (2009) and Rallis (1995) who maintain that learning is not a passive activity. Kostelnik et al. (2011) also support the views of the respondents. They submit that one way of providing pupils with experiences to encourage participation in learning is through the provision of Learning Centres. These areas are designed to provide pupils with opportunities to participate in hands-on learning through interaction with a wide range of materials. Another respondent specifically stated that she would expect to see the pupils discovering, investigating, finding out things for themselves and using that ‘exploring, (Jean). This view closely knowledge to help themselves and to help their peers’ echoes that of Perkins (1999) who opines that pupils should be discussing, debating, hypothesizing, investigating and collecting different points of views and not merely listening, reading, and completing routine exercises. He further maintains that such engagement in learning may lead to better retention, understanding, and active “active
rather than controlling the lessons, they engage in questioning and probing the pupils so as to guide them towards constructing their own understanding and learning. In respect of the element of learning some noteworthy responses were ‘I would expect that there would be much learning taking place’ (Jean). ‘Children would be interested in learning because there is an interest in learning which is encouraged. In a lot of ways the teacher can learn from the students (Polly) ‘Children would be eager to come to school, eager to do projects . . . eager to get their parents involved’ (Rose). These views are in congruence with those of Rallis (1995) who confirms that in learner centred schools “all inhabitants of the school are students” (p.128). Furthermore, differences in pupils and their attainments are appreciated and each child is offered many opportunities to learn (Rallis 1995, p. 226) Four of the respondents were in agreement that the children would be observed participating in their learning and this involvement would occur mainly in One comment which summed up the views of the respondents was ‘I would expect to see the children playing with sand and water, playing with manipulatives . . . They would be able to move freely from Centre to Centre’ (Rose). This opinion is also in congruence with that of Gordon (2009) and Rallis (1995) who maintain that learning is not a passive activity. Kostelnik et al. (2011) also support the views of the respondents. They submit that one way of providing pupils with experiences to encourage participation in learning is through the provision of Learning Centres. These areas are designed to provide pupils with opportunities to participate in hands-on learning through interaction with a wide range of materials. Another respondent specifically stated that she would expect to see the pupils ‘exploring, discovering, investigating, finding out things for themselves and using that knowledge to help themselves and to help their peers’ (Jean). This view closely echoes that of Perkins (1999) who opines that pupils should be discussing, debating, hypothesizing, investigating and collecting different points of views and not merely listening, reading, and completing routine exercises. He further maintains that such “active engagement in learning may lead to better retention, understanding, and active