Volume 6, Issue 3, July 2014, Pages 352–361
My Essaid Chafi1 and Elmostapha Elkhouzai2
1 Laboratory IDDS, University Hassan I, FSTS, 26000 Settat, Morocco
2 Laboratory IDDS, University Hassan I, FSTS, 26000 Settat, Morocco
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This study investigates to what extent Moroccan primary school teachers utilize questions as a powerful pedagogical implement to stimulate thinking and construct knowledge. The intent is to highlight the forms and functions of questions posed and how effective they are in consolidating understanding and scaffolding thinking. The theoretical framework underpinning this study is embedded within the sociocultural perspective that conceptualizes the classroom as a cultural location of meaning in which relationships, functions, regulations, values, and norms are socially constructed. The study draws on observation data in large-class settings. Twenty teachers from five different schools took part in the study. Fifty lessons covering a range of subjects and topics were observed. Some of the lessons were audiotaped following teachers' consent. Verbal manuscripts of classroom questions were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The focus was on questioning exchanges and how they aided or obstructed knowledge construction and cognitive engagement of learners. The findings of this study illustrate how whole-class questioning is dominated by factual questions requiring prescripted responses. Few questions were of speculative nature, which invites opinions, hypotheses and imaginings. Teachers employ questioning to retain control and to support their teaching, rather than pupil learning. . From the results it can then be recommended that in-service workshops should be supplied for teachers, and courses on how to use effective classroom questions to advance attainment/ learning outcomes of students. The concern for good use of teachers' classroom questions for effectual learning outcomes should also be integrated in the training programs at different teacher training centers in Morocco.
Author Keywords: Teacher Questioning, Classroom 0bservation, Higher Order Thinking, Transmission Teaching, Cognitive Engagement.
My Essaid Chafi1 and Elmostapha Elkhouzai2
1 Laboratory IDDS, University Hassan I, FSTS, 26000 Settat, Morocco
2 Laboratory IDDS, University Hassan I, FSTS, 26000 Settat, Morocco
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
This study investigates to what extent Moroccan primary school teachers utilize questions as a powerful pedagogical implement to stimulate thinking and construct knowledge. The intent is to highlight the forms and functions of questions posed and how effective they are in consolidating understanding and scaffolding thinking. The theoretical framework underpinning this study is embedded within the sociocultural perspective that conceptualizes the classroom as a cultural location of meaning in which relationships, functions, regulations, values, and norms are socially constructed. The study draws on observation data in large-class settings. Twenty teachers from five different schools took part in the study. Fifty lessons covering a range of subjects and topics were observed. Some of the lessons were audiotaped following teachers' consent. Verbal manuscripts of classroom questions were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The focus was on questioning exchanges and how they aided or obstructed knowledge construction and cognitive engagement of learners. The findings of this study illustrate how whole-class questioning is dominated by factual questions requiring prescripted responses. Few questions were of speculative nature, which invites opinions, hypotheses and imaginings. Teachers employ questioning to retain control and to support their teaching, rather than pupil learning. . From the results it can then be recommended that in-service workshops should be supplied for teachers, and courses on how to use effective classroom questions to advance attainment/ learning outcomes of students. The concern for good use of teachers' classroom questions for effectual learning outcomes should also be integrated in the training programs at different teacher training centers in Morocco.
Author Keywords: Teacher Questioning, Classroom 0bservation, Higher Order Thinking, Transmission Teaching, Cognitive Engagement.
How to Cite this Article
My Essaid Chafi and Elmostapha Elkhouzai, “Classroom Interaction: Investigating the Forms and Functions of Teacher Questions in Moroccan Primary School,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 352–361, July 2014.
