The Roles in the Classroom From the Pupils' Perspective Matti Lattu University of Helsinki, Finland Department of Teacher Education

Outline of the Project The main aim was to find out encourage the teachers to use open learning environment (define!) in their classrooms what kind of challenges it involves what changes can be observed in the classroom 11 voluntary primary teachers participated researcher meets each teacher twice a month academic year

Outline of the Project Data diaries (observations, discussions) pupils’ questionnaire interviews (all teachers, 11 pupils) Pupils’ questionnaire could be administered during one lecture quantitative (vs. a huge qualitative data) the questions are related to everyday situations

The Structure of the Questionnaire Primary and secondary control (Rothbaum, Weisz & Snyder 1982) primary control: “bringing the environment into line with their wishes” secondary control: “bringing themselves into line with environmental forces” “The pupils are working in small groups. One of the groups is not working very eagerly. One of the pupils considers whether he/she could make the situation better. The spirit of the group would be better, if the pupil would decide to be more enthusiastic.”

The Structure of the Questionnaire The roles of the teacher in the open learning environment (Lattu 1999) disseminator of knowledge technical advisor encourager evaluator monitor “During the lecture the teacher asks a question which is answered by the pupil. The teacher must tell whether the answer is right or wrong.”

The Structure of the Questionnaire The comparative study of teachers’ recipes (Meri 1998) some role-related recipes were included “One of the teachers of a school is well-known that she/he says hello to all pupils, not only the ones of her/his classroom. The teacher also gives thanks to pupils of they do her/him a favor, for example open a door. The teacher should not be too polite.” “An surprising event takes place in the classroom. The pupils monitor the teacher’s reactions. The teacher is unsure what to do. The teacher should not reveal that she/he is unsure.”

First Impression Numerus experimentalcontrol pre post The distributions were typically skew resulting low correlations Not normally distributed: unable to use parametric statistics (MannWhitney was used instead)

Experimental vs. Control Some variables had changed statistically significant (1%) Differences were very small ExpCon ExpCon The changes in the experimental and the control groups were very alike ExpCon ExpCon

Changes in the Whole Data As the group-related changes were small, it was reasonable to study the data as a whole 13 variables (out of 41) were significantly different in the pre and post data Pupils were more pessimistic in their sense of control Some changes towards more open-learning-orientated teacher The changes were evenly distributed between the three themes of statements (control, roles, recipes)

Teacher... chooses the subjects of the pupils’ project work... must master the subject-matter related to the curriculum... should point out even the smallest mistakes that he/she notices... evaluates pupils’ work and controls the homework, pupils’ own evaluation / control is not adequate... should stick out for his authority in every situation... must call pupil as lazy instead of giving positive encouragement Classroom discussion means that the teacher asks to know if the pupils have learned the matter... must tell whether the answer given by a pupil is right or wrong... must not react to an unexpected answer, but to repeat the question

Teacher … should appear exited if he/she feels that way … must not look confident if he/she feels uncertain … should be polite towards the pupils Pupil … must adapt to even the unjust orders and regulations … should try to answer no matter if he/she is sure about the correctness of the answer … is not capable to select, evaluate or control his/her own work

Differences Between the Classes MannWhitney matrices (all combinations of classes over all variables) Results are hard to interpret no single variable in a class is able to explain differences

Two Cases Class A: The Monday Examination Class B: Planning the Timetable for the Week IT Significant differences in only two variables (total 41) IT

Discussion The pupils’ views of the teacher’s and pupil’s roles were very traditional Classroom routines does not seem to have a great effect on the pupils’ views The questionnaire needs validation Is it sensitive enough? -> Try in extreme conditions The consultation with the experimental group teachers did not result any changes in pupils’ views The changes in the teacher behavior were minor