Class Size Reduction Key Insights from Secondary School Classrooms
This book provides a timely examination of the effects of class size reduction (CSR) on teaching and learning processes. It represents a departure in that the research covered focuses solely on the relationship between CSR and effective teaching in real s
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Class Size Reduction
Key Insights from Secondary School Classrooms
Class Size Reduction
Gary James Harfitt
Class Size Reduction Key Insights from Secondary School Classrooms
Gary James Harfitt Faculty of Education The University of Hong Kong Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
ISBN 978-981-287-563-1 ISBN 978-981-287-564-8 DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-564-8
(eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015945962 Springer Singapore Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2015 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper Springer Science+Business Media Singapore Pte Ltd. is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface and Research Problem
My personal motivation for writing this book stems from my work with pre-service and in-service teachers working in Hong Kong secondary schools. My interest in how class size reduction (CSR) influences teaching and learning in the English language classroom can be traced back to one of the first teaching practicum visits I conducted as a new teacher educator at the University of Hong Kong. Visiting an in-service teacher who was halfway through her Postgraduate Diploma of Education (PGDE) course in English language teaching, I was pleasantly surprised to walk into a relatively small class of just 18 students (‘small’ when compared to the norm of 40+ students at that time in Hong Kong). The 40-min English lesson was timetabled as a speaking class, but it was the teacher who appeared to be getting the most speaking practice as she proceeded to dominate the lesson with more than 30 min of largely one-way, instructional teacher-talk on how best to present a summary in an oral examination. There was virtually no attempt to elicit students’ responses or to employ pair or group work in the lesson, and the teacher rarely moved away from whole-class instruction. In my observation notes I penned the following comment to share with the teacher after the class: ‘With so
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