Wolf and Supon (1994) argue that when used properly, lesson closure may help students summarize the main ideas learned during the day, evaluate class activities, reinforce learning and provide continuity between what occurred and what will occur in the future lessons. In this case study, the four teachers conclude their lessons in different ways.
To start with, Miss Tina, in closing the lesson, did not give something new for her students but reiterated what students needed to do for the homework. Towards the end of the lesson, she went through a Cathay Pacific job advertisement with her students in which some lines about the job requirements were missing. She instructed her students to make use of the vocabulary list on pp. 13-15 of the workbook to fill in the missing information. Thus, before the end of the lesson, she basically told students what they needed to do for homework and reminded them of the dictation in the next lesson. Although she did not summarize the main ideas in the lessons, she assigned appropriate assignments for students to consolidate their learning in the lesson.
In Miss Joey’s lesson, the teacher found out towards the end of the lesson that her students had difficulty in completing the “dream job” survey during the lesson, she therefore disrupted the activity and told the students, who were doing the interviewing, to go back to their seats. Then, she announced that they would do the same task again next lesson because some students did not understand the words in the survey form. Thus, in closing, Miss Joey previewed what students had to do in the next lesson. She also asked if students had any questions before calling an end to the lesson. Thus, although she did not summarize the main ideas in the lessons, she evaluated the class activity before ending the lesson.
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As for Miss Sussie’s class, she found out that some of her students were not doing the interview seriously and were chatting with each other in Cantonese, so she scolded the students for their poor attitude at the end of the lesson. Thus, she ended her lesson by disciplining the students and asking them to reflect on their poor attitude. She told her students off, saying, “If you think that this task is childish, try to get a pass in HKDSE (the public examination); you don’t care about speaking any English in the classroom!” She also had a lesson preview that she would do the same task again next lesson. Therefore, similar to the other CS teachers (Miss Joey and Miss Tina), she did not really go through the main ideas in the lesson but instead attempted to correct the students’ attitude towards the end.
Miss Mitchell, the only AS teacher, in this case study however, ended the lesson abruptly. She did not go through the main ideas. Nor did she preview what the next lesson was about. She simply asked the students to write their names on the front cover of the workbook and to hand in the workbook very quickly. She collected her students’ workbooks without saying a word and said goodbye to the students very quickly after the school bell rang.
To quote Wolf and Supon (1994) again, an effective closure should help students summarize the main ideas learned, evaluate class activities, reinforced learning and provide continuity between lessons. In this case study, teachers, especially those whose mind style is CS, made great efforts to close their lessons in a meaningful way such as assigning relevant homework, reassessing the task and correcting students’ attitude in learning. Some of them even gave a preview of the following lesson to provide continuity between today lessons and following lessons. The closing by the CS teachers also exemplified teachers’ reflection in real practice. Teachers are not technicians who follow linear steps to get the job done, but are reflective practitioners who are able to evaluate their own work and take immediate actions to amend failures.
Chapter Summary
This chapter highlighted the eight most frequently occurring features from the lesson running logs for discussion. It showcases the commonalities and differences among the four teachers as to how they delivered the school-based materials to Form 5 students. The findings show that all teachers in this case study, regardless of their mind styles, open the lessons by settling classroom housekeeping such as collecting homework and checking students’ workbook. Further research is needed to
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examine to what extent housekeeping in the classroom may influence the school-based curriculum.
According to the case study, teachers with the same mind style share some common features of lesson activities. Teachers whose mind style is CS prefer to start the lesson with revision and setting targets for lessons. During the development of the lessons, they constantly require the students to apply the target language by asking them to read aloud their answers, giving short presentations and probing follow-up questions to prompt students. When closing the lesson, CS teachers would reinforce students’ learning by assigning relevant homework, evaluating the learning task and correcting students’ attitudes towards learning. Meanwhile, the research also shows that teachers whose second dominant style is AR tend to offer more help and guidelines to students. On the contrary, the AS teacher adopts a trial and error discovery approach throughout the lesson by giving only minimal help to students. While she stresses challenges and probes questions at times, she does not require actual answers from students on the spot and insists that students think on their own.
In addition, the findings of this case study mostly go with the categorizations by Kbathgat, Mostert and Sandland (2013). I use “mostly” here because there are some instances in this case study that go against the categorisations in Table 3. For example, Miss Tina did show a video about the work life of a flight attendant to the students as a lead-in to the classwork. While the use of media is more aligned with the mind style of CR, more research needs to be done to examine why such exemption occurs.
After reviewing the findings of this case study, I will reflect on the research procedures and findings, and then shift the focus to the implications of the research for the implementation of SBCD at the classroom level. In particular, I will stress how the findings may contribute to the literature relating to mind styles and the current practice of SBCD in secondary schools.
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Chapter 6