awareness of their thinking and also to provide immediate feedback so as to reinforce understandings or clarify misconceptions (Kemp and Scaife 2012). All four teachers provided the pupils with after posing questions. This “wait time” was characteristic of a learner-centred environment, where is prized “thoughtfulness and expected to take time and (Watson 2001, p. 145). Additionally effort” “wait time” affords pupils opportunities for in-depth thinking about issues and concepts and decreases the likelihood that pupils will be mere spectators (Brooks and Brooks 2001). It also conveys to the pupils that teachers believe they have important information to share, they want to hear it, but understand that it may take varied amounts of time for particular children to share their views. Such awareness can encourage pupils to develop more ideas and become more confident and eager to share. The participating teachers also sought understandings about concepts first, pupils’ before they shared their own ideas. This technique is beneficial in that it would encourage the pupils to explore ideas, think through concepts, reduce the urge for them to merely accept what the teachers say without doing any thinking, as well as help the teachers to discover the true understandings. pupils’ The teachers also encouraged the pupils to elaborate on their responses. This strategy allowed the pupils to revisit their initial responses, recognize any errors (Brooks and Brooks, 2001) and make necessary adjustments. It also afforded them opportunities to engage in deep thinking and which can levels of “classroom talk” “extend pupils’ 2001, p. 144). understandings” (Watson In terms of assessment, all four teachers used a form which is highly compatible with LCI, namely diagnostic assessment. This was evidenced by the assessment activities being in the (Brooks and Brooks 2001, p.17) rather than being “interwoven lessons” and (Brooks and Brooks 2001, p. x) from daily classroom “separate distinct” activities, by pupils having to apply their own knowledge and skills (Kemp and Scaife, 2012) rather than merely recall facts and the activities not being based on competitive (Oldfather et al. 1999, p. 74). This type of “exclusively norms” assessment allows the teachers to discover prior learning, decide what else pupils need to learn and identify appropriate strategies for upcoming lessons (Kemp and
awareness of their thinking and also to provide immediate feedback so as to reinforce understandings or clarify misconceptions (Kemp and Scaife 2012). All four teachers provided the pupils with “wait time” after posing questions. This was characteristic of a learner-centred environment, where “thoughtfulness is prized and expected to take time and effort” (Watson 2001, p. 145). Additionally “wait time” affords pupils opportunities for in-depth thinking about issues and concepts and decreases the likelihood that pupils will be mere spectators (Brooks and Brooks 2001). It also conveys to the pupils that teachers believe they have important information to share, they want to hear it, but understand that it may take varied amounts of time for particular children to share their views. Such awareness can encourage pupils to develop more ideas and become more confident and eager to share. The participating teachers also sought pupils’ understandings about concepts first, before they shared their own ideas. This technique is beneficial in that it would encourage the pupils to explore ideas, think through concepts, reduce the urge for them to merely accept what the teachers say without doing any thinking, as well as help the teachers to discover the pupils’ true understandings. The teachers also encouraged the pupils to elaborate on their responses. This strategy allowed the pupils to revisit their initial responses, recognize any errors (Brooks and Brooks, 2001) and make necessary adjustments. It also afforded them opportunities to engage in deep thinking and “classroom talk” which can “extend pupils’ levels of understandings” (Watson 2001, p. 144). In terms of assessment, all four teachers used a form which is highly compatible with LCI, namely diagnostic assessment. This was evidenced by the assessment activities being “interwoven in the lessons” (Brooks and Brooks 2001, p.17) rather than being “separate and distinct” (Brooks and Brooks 2001, p. x) from daily classroom activities, by pupils having to apply their own knowledge and skills (Kemp and Scaife, 2012) rather than merely recall facts and the activities not being based “exclusively on competitive norms” (Oldfather et al. 1999, p. 74). This type of assessment allows the teachers to discover prior learning, decide what else pupils need to learn and identify appropriate strategies for upcoming lessons (Kemp and
FINAL%20DISSERTATION%20-%20MARCH%202017.docx