Class action
The passive vs the participatory classroom
Leaving School in Ireland: A Longitudinal Study of Post-School Transitions pinpoints
some important problems experienced by Irish school leavers when they get to
University.
A large majority of [school] leavers reported
significant differences in teaching and learning
between their second-level education and their post-
school course. They indicated particular difficulties in
relation to the standard expected of them, the
difficulty of the course and managing their workload.
A key factor emerging from the in-depth interviews
was the need to engage in self-directed learning in
further/higher education, especially the challenges in
managing deadlines, which was contrasted with the
more directive approach adopted in school.
The passive role too often demanded of the second-level
student contrasts sharply with the active role expected of a third-
level student engaged in self-directed learning. Students whose days have been
organised according to a strict timetable have difficulty managing their own time.
When the only incentive to learn is an exam or essay due at the end of the term or
year, students have difficulty keeping up with reading or other work required but not
handed in for marking. Students who have learned by rote have difficulty using what
they have memorised to solve novel problems. Students who have never been asked
their opinion until the teacher told them what it was can have difficulty evaluating
new material.
In the passive classroom, the teacher, as walking textbook, does all the talking.
The student, as empty intellectual space waiting to be filled, does all the listening—
while simultaneously trying to memorise or to record it all in notes (both of which
interfere with listening). This is the pedagogical model beloved of Mr Gradgrind in
Dickens’ Hard Times.
In contrast, the active role asked of students in a participatory classroom
facilitates a process of dialogue and collaboration between teacher and student, and
between student and fellow student. Dialogue and collaboration allow teacher and