dead silence. Miss Dove would look at him — that was all — following his departure and greeting his return with her per fectly
expressionless gaze and the whole class would sit idle and motionless, until he was back in the fold again. It was easier — even if
one had eaten salt fish for breakfast — to remain and suffer.
13. Discuss the text of Ex. 13 and the problem of punishment in pairs. One of the pair will insist that punishment should be abolished and
never used in class, the other will defend the opposite point of view. Be sure to provide sound arguments for whatever you say. Consider the
following and expand on the items where possible.
For:
A g a i n s t :
1. Punishment helps to do away with animal instincts such as
1..It is no good to discipline children through fear.
greed, anger, idleness and discourtesy which lie in the depth of
2.Any punishment (corporal punishment in particular)
human nature.
humiliates a human being.
2.It is impossible to bring up self-confident,strong-willed
3.Teachers who punish their pupils do not care for children,
citizens without any punishment, as it keeps them under
they care only that children conform to the rules.
control.
4.When one uses any kind of punishment he brings up
3.The thing that distinguishes a man from a brute is not
(produces) cruel and heartless people.
instinct but performance, and certain kinds of punishment help
5.Punishment leads to lies, as children would tell any lie to
here a lot.
prevent the unpleasant act.
4.Not all kinds of punishment are acceptable, but it is
6. Punishment destroys a child's personality.
inevitable as a phenomenon to control discipline.
5.The means of punishment is important, it should never be
humiliating, never contemptuous. Children are not monsters,
some of them simply go a little further than they intend.
6.It is not punishment itself that is important, but the threat
that it represents (it keeps children from breaking the rutes).
15. The extracts given below present controversial subjects. Team up with another student, work out arguments "for" and "against" and
discuss the extracts in pairs. Use conversational formulas of agreement, disagreement, giving opinion (see Appendix).
A. Should a teacher take home his pupils' work to check it?
"Don't fall into the habit of bringing work home, Rick. It indicates a lack of planning, and you would eventually find yourself
stuck indoors every night. Teaching is like having a bank account. You can happily draw on it while it is well supplied with new
funds; otherwise you're in difficulties. Every teacher should have a fund of ready information on which to draw; he should keep that
fund supplied regularly by new experiences, new thoughts and discoveries, by reading and moving around among people from whom
he can acquire such things."
B. Should a teacher plan all the procedure of a lesson?
"The rest of that summer Miss Dove mapped her strategies in her bed-chamber. To represent a classroom she laid her father's
chessboard on a table by the north window. The squares were desks. The ivory men were children. For hours on end, moving them
about the board, speaking to them in unequivocal terms, she did what might be called "practice teaching". To the last detail she
planned her procedure. The greeting to each class, as it entered the room, the ceremony of its dismissal, the rules and penalties and
forms were all settled upon. The presentation of her subject matter was carefully considered."
C. Should compulsory school attendance be abolished?
"We should abolish compulsory school attendance. Our compulsory school attendance laws once served a humane and useful
purpose. They protected children's rights to some schooling, against those adults who would otherwise have denied it to them in order
to exploit their labour, in farm, shop, store, mine, or factory. Today, the laws help nobody, not the schools, not the teachers, not the
children. To keep kids in school who would rather not be there costs the the schools an enormous amount of time and trouble, to say
nothing of what it costs to repair the damage that these angry and resentful prisoners do whenever they get the chance. Every teacher
knows that any kid in class who, for whatever reason, would rather not be there, not only doesn't learn anything himself but makes
learning harder for anyone else. For many kids, not going to college, school is just a useless time-wasting obstacle preventing them
from needed money or doing some useful work."
D.Should fixed curriculum be used in schools?
"Some harder reforms are required. Abolish the fixed, required curriculum. People remember only what is interesting and useful
to them, what helps make sense of the world or helps them enjoy or get along in it. All else they quickly forget, if they ever learn it at
all. The idea of the "body of knowledge", to be picked up at school and used for the rest of one's life, is nonsense in a world as
complicated and rapidly changing as ours. Anyway, the most important questions and problems of our time are not in the curriculum,
not even in the hot-shot universities, let alone the schools. Check any university catalogue and see how many courses you can find on
such questions-as Peace, Poverty, Race, Environmental Pollution and so on."
16. Role -Playing.
Formal Versus Informal Teaching
The group of students is divided into two teams, each of which performs the same role play. While discussing formal and informal
styles of teaching be sure to show their advantages and disadvantages. Expand on the ideas of your character. Disagree with some
participants and share the others' points of view. At the end of the conference you should come to a conclusion about the desirable
style of teaching in school. (May be done by a vote.) Comments from the class on each team's performance and the value of the dif -
ferent arguments are invited.
S i t u a t i o n : After studying the county reports on the work of formal/informal classes in secondary schools of the county the
chief education officer who is at the head of the local education authority) holds a conference to discuss the most controversial issue
in the area of "teaching style" that is to say: are "informal" styles of teaching more effective than "formal" ones?
C h a r a c t e r s :
1. Mr. Bernard Hudson, aged 33, an education officer, has no definite view of his own, he is in two minds after his inspection. Pu-
pils seem to do better in terms of the basic skills in formal classes, the superiority of formal teaching for basic subjects is evident.
CMdren taught in informal classes achieve lower academic outcomes but are more independent, cooperative, ask more questions
seeking information, are better at non-verbal problem solving, are less frequently absent from classrooms. Much individualised in-
struction is used here.
2. Miss Susan Curry, aged 54, a Geography teacher in Stewart Comprehensive School. Stands for firmness, principle and authori-
ty. Never reduces learning to the level of entertainment. Organises her lessons well. Laughter is not her style. Ignores fashion.
Responsibility is the air she breathes. She likes utilizing her strength to its utmost limits. Always shows her power. Likes making and
keeping rules. Insists upon her pupils' even margins and correct posture, punctuality and industriousness.
3. Mrs. Hilary Bell, aged 42, a grammar school teacher. Likes her work and her school. Approves of its formality, its regard for
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