Social Norms are unwritten rules about how to behave. They provide us with an expected idea of how to behave in a particular social group or culture. In talking with a former student they brought up the fact that the social norm in school is for students not to really raise their hands.
So I started to think when does this social norm occur. You can go into a kindergarten class, and you will often see kids raising their hands enthusiastically, hoping that the teacher calls on them. There are times in kindergarten where you might see ten or twelve hands up at the same time. However, when you go to most high school classes, you get a couple of hands up at a time. Often if a student asks a lot of questions you might hear other students muttering under their breath. What changed?
Now I realize that teachers are responsible for some of the changes. We often in a rush to cover all the curriculum and are not receptive to encouraging or taking questions in class. However, I think that the problem goes beyond the teacher and again just spills into the unwritten social norm that seems to pervade most high school classes.
If we change this social norm more students will leave the class room with an understanding of the topic. Instead of just sitting in the class confused they will ask questions that will help them understand. Students will also take risks when answering questions which will help them learn from their mistakes. I have no doubt that the learning will truly increase in the class room if we could just break down this social norm.
So the purpose of the blog is not to provide an answer to this problem but rather seek from you the reader solutions to the problem. I would like to break this social norm in my class next year. I want when I ask are their any questions for hands to fly up, when I ask a question that twenty students know the answer that they raise their hands, that the social norm becomes you need to raise your hand in this class.
If I think of most of the things that I do in class that work they were suggested to me by students. So please take the time to answer the question and provide me with feedback to change the class room environment and break down this social norm.
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ReplyDeleteI had to edit this to make sure my last name appeared! Sorry!
DeleteAs someone who never wants to halt class and slow down other students, I would have appreciated a daily time for questions about the last lesson or the unit in general, maybe right before or after the warm-up. (Asking "now are there any questions" between slides never did this for me, because that put me on the spot to understand the material enough to reshape the information into a specific question). Making a point of taking 10, regularly scheduled, minutes to do student-driven review would make it more of a norm to accept questions. Also, working this into the daily schedule would minimize the perception that questions "slow down" class.
ReplyDeleteThis could include raised-hand questions or questions from a "question box," for students who needed more time to word their question. Writing down questions could also have the benefit of optional anonymity, which would alleviate the pressure to have a "good question."
Taking the time, every day, to answer questions from this box and real-time questions from students would hopefully make it more normal for questions to be addressed during class, and make students more comfortable asking questions in general by seeing that the teacher expects there to be confusion and that it's OK to express that. Eventually, I would hope that more raised hands would appear both during this allotted time, and during lecture as well!
Honestly, I'm not sure how to help students feel more comfortable answering questions - I'm still struggling with answering questions myself!
(P.S. I love when you post these questions! It really pushes me to reflect on my own classroom behavior and I find this extremely helpful as a college student and future teacher.)
I like the idea of having a standardized time for asking questions. I realize that sometimes when I ask is there any questions that some students need time to process the concept before asking questions. This way students have time to ask questions.
DeleteI tried a board where you can ask questions without your name but it did not work out that well. Also want to change the norm and have students feel comfortable asking questions.
I truly appreciate the thoughtful comments and the time it takes for you to respond
I remember that board! I often forgot about it while I was in class though...
DeleteMaybe making a point of talking about it daily during that allotted question time would increase its popularity?
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ReplyDeleteKindergarten was a time of bliss. Excited students. Excited parents. Learning reinforced by parental participation. Discovery (show and tell) and language application.
ReplyDeleteIt starts in the first grade. Students are split based upon intelligence. Students in the lower level classes don't raise their hands because they don't feel intelligent. Students in the upper level classes don't raise their hands because they don't want to appear less intelligent. Poor performance engenders a "class downgrade." This trend continues throughout elementary school as those who answer questions correctly are rewarded and those who answer incorrectly receive innaproriate feedback. Upon entrance into middle school, students are given the option of higher level classes. Those who have been in lower level classes don't pursue the challenge. Those who have been in higher level classes purse the challenge with an inappropriate mindset. Students grow this mindset throughout middle school, and upon entrance into high school, only a select few raise their hands. Students have grown an intellectual weed.
The solution? A mass standardization revolution. A downfall of educational discrimination.
Singapore: Ranked #1 in Math and Science
http://theconversation.com/why-is-singapores-school-system-so-successful-and-is-it-a-model-for-the-west-22917
Alex do you think that Singapore system works due to the culture and would you like to go to a school with that type of environment. I do not think there is a lot of asking questions but I could be wrong. You should read Smartest Kids in the World by Amanda Ripley.
DeletePosted by Jake Ebright
ReplyDeleteAs you mentioned above, some students may be unwilling to ask questions in class is because of the social stigmas associated with doing so. One of which is that a student might be afraid that other kids will get annoyed or mutter under their breath if he/she asks too many questions, and another might be that the student is afraid that others will think he/she isn’t as smart as the rest of the class.
One of the biggest problems with college classes, in my opinion, is that they are far too large, which makes it hard to achieve the nice environment that can be achieved in smaller high school classes where everyone knows each other and is comfortable participating in class. In large college classes, it seems like there are two groups of people, one a majority and one a minority. The majority is the mass of students who come to class, sit down, take notes, and leave without saying much or participating in lecture. The other group, the minority, is made up of a handful of students, who, by asking questions in class, distance themselves from the group. Now, I don’t think that this distancing is always a bad thing, but there definitely can be a unique identification assigned to the people who normally ask questions.
One interesting thing is that, many times, other students are indeed confused, and earnestly appreciate when another student asks a question, despite not asking any questions themselves. The adage that if you have a question, someone else probably has the same one too has some merit for sure, in my experience.
So, to solve this, I think we should try to create class environments where kids know each other and feel comfortable with each other. This type of environment might be hard to form; however, I think that it would have numerous positive benefits for the students and the teacher. For one, it might make class time an enjoyable time that students will look forward to coming to and might result in them being more engaged in the course material. On the subject of getting students to ask more questions, I believe that an environment of this sort would create something of a family environment between the students in which everyone is familiar with each other and are friends. If that can be accomplished, then students would feel more comfortable asking questions because the fear of seeming stupid or being judged by their peers would be eliminated.
The teacher could help facilitate the formation of this type of classroom community by increasing the amount of class discussions. For different course topics, ask different students their thoughts on it so that everyone gets comfortable sharing their ideas in front of the class. Having the class think through challenging material together might help strengthen a sense of community. Also, more structured group work in class might help in bringing the students closer together.
In summary, creating an environment free of judgement, where students are familiar with each other might do a few things: make students happier because they would be friendly with more people, make school more fun, and make them more comfortable with asking questions in class.
How do you create this environment.
ReplyDeleteOne tactic I've found that has been effective in some of the classes I've taken is when we're split into groups and basically forced to discuss a certain topic. Students might be a bit reluctant at first, but through sharing ideas with a 3 or 4 other people, it's encouraging to find that others agree with you or have insight that you may not have thought of otherwise. It also creates a sense of humanity in the classroom. Like Jake mentioned, many classes are large so more times than not you're not going to build many relationships. You'll simply show up, take notes and leave. But through group discussions people not only learn ideas from others, they learn names, other people's majors and interests, etc. It's also been interesting to have each group share what they discussed because it brings everyone back together and combines ideas from each group so that everyone feels involved.
ReplyDeleteWas this new refocusing successful during this school year? Did you see any change as a result of anything new you did?
ReplyDeleteI tried something late in the year that worked that I will try again next year. I just put a slip of paper on the desk and asked them to write questions on it. That seemed to increase questions. In talking about velnerability I think there were more people participating and people seemed more likely to take risks.
ReplyDeleteNeed to keep working on it and get students to focus on learning the material instead of wondering what others are thinking about you which is easier said than done