Recently, teachers at the Oak Grove School were asked to conduct ‘action research’
as part of the annual teacher evaluation cycle. In this article, High School ESL
teacher Kristy Lee describes and thoughtfully reflects on an intervention she made
in her classes, raising questions of order and freedom, and questioning conditioning
on both sides.
Knowing how young children find stability and benefit from order
and structure, how will increased structure and predictability of
work in class affect the quality of the attention and engagement of older
students? This question came about from my interactions with my
young son. I observed over time what looked to me as his need for
structure and routine. For example, evening preparation for bed had
developed a set rhythm and order. I began to notice that my son really
preferred knowing what would happen and sticking to a pattern. He
would even take the initiative to remind me if I went off course or forgot
something. It seemed that the predictability gave him a sense of ease and
control. If we went off schedule too often he would become agitated and
grumpy. On the other hand he thrived when he was able to rely on his
routines. I have heard other parents sharing similar observations of their
children and there are numerous studies and research papers that discuss
the positive effects of order and structure on very young children.
In the classroom I try to teach in a style that I feel would be the most
beneficial to the students. However, I also realize how my teaching is
influenced by how I would like to be taught and how I learn best.
Therefore, though I have a plan for my classes, I am happy to change or
redirect the focus if something interesting comes up. I wondered though
if I was taking up too many of these teaching opportunities, and if this was having a disruptive effect on the overall rhythm, expectations and
materials covered in the class.
Laying down a structure
In preparing for my action research, I wrote a general plan of all the
things I wanted to cover with the grades 9, 10 and 11 for the whole time
period of this project. Additionally, I created a very detailed weekly
schedule that included all the things we would cover, the length of time
each activity would take and homework assignments. The following
table, for example, was the plan for one Monday during the project.
My objective was to stay true to everything I had written down and in the
order it was written down. Another objective was to repeat activities on
set days, week after week. For example, journal writing and homework
correction were everyday activities. Idioms and grammar sheets were
covered three times a week on Monday, Thursday and Friday.
Settling into the structure
Initially I could see the students struggling with the enforced order,
especially when I insisted on keeping them on topic much more than
I used to. They did not all respond with enthusiasm to this change, as it
was quickly implemented without any warning. Each class reacted differently to this. The ninth graders really did not like the reduction in
the freedom of their vocal expression. The tenth graders pretty much
went along with it. It has two new students, which I believe was part of
the reason. The eleventh graders were my hardest bunch. This class was
hard to read at times. They were easy-going and talkative as individuals,
but as a class they tended to be more reserved and uncommunicative.
They went along with it but with a definite unvoiced reserve.
In the beginning I was doing much more monitoring and
reminding to make sure they stayed on topic and focused. Interestingly
enough, the number of times I would intervene in any given class began
to decrease. In the ninth grade class it was quite a noticeable decrease.
Near the end of this project my students would remind me or bring up
things they had gotten used to covering during class, for example,
idioms, if I had forgotten. Of course idioms were something they had
fun with, so this was a popular activity. The students also began to know
what we would be covering and as a result were more prepared and
focused. One thing I found useful with the repetition was that they
became faster with certain classroom tasks. For instance, grammar sheet
corrections went quickly as they all had the format down and knew what
to do without me prompting them. This was the same with ‘in-class’
editing. The ninth graders especially were getting faster and better at
spotting mistakes. There was a heavy focus on editing during this time so
improvements with timed ‘in-class’ writing and rewriting were noticeable.
Observing my own responses
What I found really interesting, more than these small behavioural
changes in the students, was what came up for me. I noticed right away
that I had over planned and had misjudged timings of some activities.
Thus, I found myself getting frustrated at not being able to cover
everything planned for the day. I also noticed that I felt more mechanical
and less spontaneous when I kept referring back to the plan during class
to make sure I was covering everything I needed. My feeling is that this
might get better with time, but I also recognize that too rigid an
attention to the plan blocks spontaneity. On days I did not look at the
plan and worry about finishing everything, I felt freer and more engaged
with the students.
One of the things I did before the experiment was to organize my
binder with copies of all the material I wanted to cover for each class.
This way I always had everything with me and could find things easily.
As I had to move from one room to another, this actually was needed as
I did sometimes forget a book in another class. This turned out to be a
good model for the students. I also insisted on the students having their
binder in order early on in the experiment and this helped them to stay
more organized as well. I also noticed that I became more organized in
getting work handed back early and having printouts ready and easily
added to their folder. I found it was better if I hole-punched everything,
though a part of me thinks these students, especially the older ones,
should be able to organize their work and not lose it just because I forgot
to hole punch a handout. But I have to admit that it made for less
shuffling of papers and searching on the part of the students.
I realized that with the ninth grade class I had been going off topic
more than I realized was helpful for them. In one sense it was good for
their speaking practice and on the spot thinking, but on the other hand
we ended up not covering as much new material, which they do
need, especially with their grammar and writing. This showed me that
I actually needed to focus on that class more. My objective was to
empower them to self-directthemselves rather than wait for me. So
I continually and strongly asked them to focus their energy during the
first couple of weeks of this project. I figured once they got used to this
expectation, they would do it more naturally unprompted.
Finding the balance between structure and spontaneity
My biggest struggle was with knowing what the right balance was
between asking for order and focus and their freedom to influence the
speed and movement of the class. I know that for many of them the ‘ESL
class’ is where they feel most comfortable to engage and speak out.
I wanted them to retain this and yet stay focused on the topic at hand.
Another aspect I came to realize more strongly was that Oak Grove, and
this class in particular, allows most of them to engage with teachers and
their education in a radically different way from a style of learning where
they are just asked to listen and obey. They had earlier been well initiated
into this style of learning, so I wondered if there is much value to layering in more control, since this is a system they already know well and
perform well in. I also wondered if there would be the danger of them
slipping into a mechanical way of doing things, without even realizing it,
if the class structure was similar to what they had been used to.
It was just getting interesting when the project came to an end just
before Spring break. I did not arrive at anything conclusive. My feeling
though is that these changes are helpful and will benefit the students; but
it needs to be tempered with spontaneity and freedom for both the
students and myself. It shouldn’t really be strongly one way or the other.
But what is the best ratio? I realize that many factors play into this and it
changes with each new class every year. These factors include the
dynamics between the individuals, their comfort and familiarity with
the place and the teachers, their social and cultural background; whether
they had enough sleep the previous night, whether they are struggling
with relationship issues. I really needed more time, a whole year ideally,
to gather more information. I think this would be quite an interesting
experiment to begin the next school year with.