Australian schools set to ban students from raising hands in class in favour of greater engagement

[compl3x]

Australian schools are looking at banning students from raising their hands in class, in favour of models that engage all children.

 

The policy is the brainchild of British education expert Dr Dylan William whose model is used in some schools in Europe.

 

Mr William has recently been in Australia speaking to schools, including Frankston High School.

 

John Albiston, principal of Frankston High School in Melbourne's south-east, said some teachers are asking students to put their hands down.

 

"The same students are putting their hands up: the outgoing ones," Mr Albiston said.

 

"There could be half the class without their hand up, so these are the students that lack the confidence to contribute to the discussion."

 

Teachers will instead randomly select students to answer a question, he said.

 

"This new strategy is all about the teacher firstly asking a question, and then pausing," Mr Albiston said.

 

"Students then learn to sit up and listen because they don't know which student is going to need to respond to the question."

 

 

Hand raising shows those trying to contribute to discussion

 

But an Australian education researcher is not so sure that a ban on hands in the air is a brilliant idea.

 

Dr John Quay, a senior education lecturer at the University of Melbourne, said the practice of students raising their hair had its merits.

 

"Hands-up is still an important way for students to acknowledge that they're trying to contribute to a discussion," Mr Quay said.

 

He said experienced teachers should be able to spot the students slipping behind.

 

"It's really more applicable to inexperienced teachers, experienced teachers would realise that they can't keep going to the one student," he said.

 

However, Mr Albiston does not believe the new policy would discourage the best and brightest students from speaking up, because students are still encouraged to ask questions.

 

"Students are allowed to put their hands up, of course, to ask questions when they're unsure," he said.

 

Mr Albiston said his school was considering a range of ways to improve student participation.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-05/schools-consider-stopping-students-from-raising-their-hands/6524794

 

It's sort of an interesting idea. You do usually only have a handful of kids who raise their hand while the rest of the class sits there hoping they won't be called upon to participate.

[Ian S.]

In English I used to do things called Socratic Seminars and Take a stand Discussions where students each brought a little of their own research to a debated topic. They would discuss the books being read and tie it into a real-world discussion. If everyone talked at least once the class would get extra credit. They would be graded on the number of times they spoke, the quality of their discussions, clear and on-point, and how well it contributed to the current discussion at the time.

[FMH]

How about doing both! I've had several teachers who did both, asking randomly and waiting for hand raise.

[astropheed Veteran]

We used to raise our hand in Class and sometimes the Teacher would select a random Student and sometimes they'd select a "hand-up" Student. I think that's a better balance than choosing only one of either.

[Praetor]

isn't the title slight misleading, like the ban in on the students who raise their hands, instead of a ban on "raising hands"?

[Osiris]

I don't see the need to ban anything, just different tools in the teachers tool kit really. 

 

It's not a hard and fast rule that only kids with confidence will raise their hand, students might often wait till you are discussing or learning about topics they have an interest in.  By using one and excluding one you may be doing more harm, like anything needs to be balanced and none of these tools is a substitute for understanding the students in your class.

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

How about doing both! I've had several teachers who did both, asking randomly and waiting for hand raise.

 

damn right, why do they make it sound like they have to choose.

[123456789A]

Since kids all have smartphones these days, how about they use an app instead of raising their hands?

[zhangm Supervisor]

Hand raising should be a fallback when there is too much engagement in a discussion and students want to talk over one another. If that's not happening, then there is something wrong, and it's usually at the front of the classroom...

[LaP]

Never been a fan of hand raising to be honest.

 

It doesn't encourage kid to talk and take away the spontaneity. Can be used if it becomes too much chaotic but it's rarely the case.

 

Anyway hand raising is very rarely used in real life so not using it at school can actually teach kids how to properly interact with people in a meeting or a team and how they can find their way and express themselves without being intimidated by others but at the same time while letting others have their time too and respecting them.