WUYIUNIVERSITY,WUYISHAN354300
Abstract:ThesizeofprimaryschoolclasshasbeentheincreasinglyhotissueinChinaformanyyears.Inthispaper,theproblemswithlargeclasssizeinChineseprimaryschoolsislaidoutfromtheperspectiveofteachers,studentsandstaffsoradministratorsofschools.Thepaperanalyzesthatthelargesizeofclasscaninfluencetheattitudeofteachers,teachers’controlofclass,theinteractionwithstudentsandtheassessmentonstudents.Andforthestudentsandadministratorsofschools,thelargesizeofclasswillbringtheproblemsofoff-taskinlearningprocess,feelingaboutnoengagementinclass,poorrelationshipswithpeers,andincreasinglylackofresourcesforteachingandlearning.Themainpurposeofthispaperistopresentsomesuggestionstoeducationalauthoritiesandprimaryschools,suchaspidingstudentsintogroups,makinguseofteachingassistants,improvingteachers’quality,andsoon.
KeyWord:largeclasssize,primaryschools,teachingandlearningeffect,groupwork,teachingassistants,teachers’quality
Introduction
Thediscussionaboutclasssize,especiallyitseducationaleffects,hasbeencontinuinginmanycountries'educationalsystemsforalongtime.Afterhavingreadvastliterature,Ifoundthatitisaquitehotissuerelatedtotheproblemsoflargeclasssize.However,howlargeaclasscanbeconsideredaslargeone?Hayes(1997)saysthereisnoquantitativedefinitionofwhatconstitutesalargeclass,aspeople’sperceptionofthisvariesfromcontexttocontext.Theliterature,forexample,showslargeclassesasrangingbetween25-30learnersintheUnitedKingdom(Smith&Warburton1997),morethan35learnersintheUS(O’Sullivan2006),morethan40learnersinJapan,and60ormorelearnersindevelopingcountries(Valérien1991;Michaelowa2001).InLancasterUniversityprojectanaveragenumberofthelargeclassisaround50(Coleman1989),whileinChina,takingitsmostlargepopulationovertheworldintoaccount,largeclassgenerallyreferstothatofholding50-100studentsormore.
Purposes
OnepurposeofthispaperistofindoutandanalyzetheproblemswithlargeclasssizewithinthesystemofChineseprimaryschools.ByreferencingthefiguresandfindingsofChineseandforeignresearches,Iwanttoclarifytheproblemsoflargeclasssizefromtheperspectivesofteachers,studentsandstaffsoradministratorsofschools.However,itisamoreimportantpurposetopresentsomesuggestionstoeducationalauthoritiesandprimaryschools,whichcanmaketheirteachingandlearningbetter.
Problemsforteachers
Itseemslikelycommon-sensethatwiththeincreasingofstudents'number,itwillbeobviouslynumerousobstaclesforateachertocarryoneducating.Theseobstaclesofteachinginlargeclassescanbeclassifiedintofivecategories:1)Discomfortcausedbythephysicalconstraints;2)Controlproblems(disciplineaspects);3)Lackofinpidualattentions;4)Difficultyonevaluation;5)Problemsofcharginglearningeffectiveness(Hayes,1997).AccordingtothestudyofBennett(1996),teachersin325primaryschoolsinEnglandandWalesbelievedthatclasssizehadaninfluenceonqualityofteaching,specifically,inhowmuchandhowlongtheinpidualattentionthatteacherscouldpayonstudents,howtocontrolstudents'behaviour,andthetypesofassessment.Feng.
Problemsforstaffsoradministratorsofschools
Althoughthestaffsoradministratorsofschoolsarenotthemainbodyofeducation,theyplayanintegralroleintheprocessofteachingandlearning."Oneofthebiggestproblemsfacedbylargeclassrooms,indevelopingcountriesisthequalityandquantityoflearningresourcesavailabletoeachstudent,suchasdesks,textbooks,andotherteachingandlearningsupplies(Hanushek,1995)."Additionally,whenadministratorsofschoolsarrangethecoursescheduleorestablishmentofcampus,itisdifficulttomeetalltheneedsofstudents.
Conclusions
Ithasbeendemonstratedabovethatinlargeclassesteacherswillencountertheproblems,suchasnegativeattitudesforteaching,uncontrollableclassroom,difficultiesofgettinginteractionswithstudentsandlimitedassessmentmethodstogetinformationaboutstudentsfromvariousaspects,andsoon.Ontheotherhand,forstudentsandadministratorsofschools,thelargesizeofclasswillbringtheproblemslikeoff-taskinlearningprocess,feelingaboutnoengagementinclass,poorrelationshipswithpeers,andincreasinglylackofresourcesforteachingandlearning.
References:
Achilles,C.A.(1999)Let’sPutKidsFirst,Finally:GettingClassSizeRight.ThousandOaks,California:CorwinPress.
Bennett,N.(1996).Classsizeinprimaryschools:perceptionsofheadteachers,chairsofgovernors,teachersandparents.BritishEducationalResearchJournal,22,33-35.
Blatchford,P.,Moriarty,V.,Edmonds,S.,&Martin,C.(2002).Relationships
标签：Theliterature论文; forexample论文; amp论文;