Edmond and others,
Talking is teaching. It seems to me that’s the premise upon which  
school administrators (and probably the general public) base their  
opinion that class size is not a requirement for effective teaching.  
High quality talking, to be sure, equated as Edmond mentions, with  
professional ability. The more charismatic the teacher, the better the  
motivator, the better the results. So increase class size and give  
them a microphone. No personal intervention between teacher and  
students is necessary in this model. On the other hand, if mere  
talking is not teaching, then interaction with students both on their  
essays and in classes becomes a matter of time, and time is reduced as  
numbers grow. Actually and unfortunately, in my opinion, some teachers  
see talking as teaching too.


Richard Betting, Prof Emeritus
Valley City State University
Valley City, ND


On May 30, 2009, at 6:03 AM, Edmond Wright wrote:

>> It is often put about by administrators, school inspectors, and  
>> politicians in
> discussions concerning teacher numbers in the state schools in  
> Britain is that
> one can teach a large class as effectively as a small one.  It comes  
> with the
> unspoken implication that the effectiveness depends on the  
> individual teacher's
> professional ability, and that therefore one has no cause for  
> complaint if faced
> with 30 plus students.  It has, of course, the added advantage of  
> keeping the
> overall cost of teachers' salaries within bounds, with a lower  
> demand on the
> taxpayer's pocket.
>
> However, for secondary schools particularly, where homework is  
> insisted
> upon, a key factor is absent from the discussion, namely the number of
> assignments that one has to mark in 'one's own time'.  If one is
> conscientious in one's marking (for example, to quote one criterion,  
> the
> endeavouring to match the marking and comment specifically to the  
> student),
> the time taken is clearly greater for the large classes.  The  
> temptation for
> the less conscientious teacher to rush through the marking -- or to  
> set work
> that can be quickly marked -- is always present.
>
> There is also no reference made to the fact that with a smaller  
> class one
> can spend more time with individual students.
>
> Incidentally, it is also never mentioned in these discussions that  
> those
> parents who send their children to private schools consider small  
> classes
> high on their list of requirements, or that those private schools  
> that do
> have small classes score well on the government's 'league tables' of
> examination results.
>
> Do American high school English teachers have to load their car  
> boots at the
> end of the afternoon with three or four piles of 30+ homework  
> books?  (It is
> normal for two sets of homework to be set for each class in one  
> week, and
> one is likely to be teaching seven or eight classes).
>
> Edmond
>
>
> Dr. Edmond Wright
> 3 Boathouse Court
> Trafalgar Road
> Cambridge
> CB4 1DU
> England
>
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Website: http://people.pwf.cam.ac.uk/elw33/
> Phone [00 44] (0)1223 350256
>
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