On Being Quiet and Raising Hands

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thoughts? opinions? feelings?

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  1. Natalie KussFebruary 6, 2020 at 1:20 PM

    Mika,

    I'm so glad you shared this post! I have A LOT of feelings about hand raising in the classroom. Although I am all for an active, healthy discussion, I feel like hand raising is almost necessary in the classroom environment. We have students who are shy and will not talk if they know they run the risk of being talked over or not heard. If we want to give every single person a chance to talk, it's important that we implement a system that allows for this. By requiring students to raise their hands when in a large lecture or classroom, it allows them to know that they will be heard, increasing their confidence and likelihood of participation. When we only have 50 minutes to hear the thoughts of 25 students, it helps to have something to streamline the process.

    I think that eliminating hand raising can work within a small, discussion-based class (much like our ENG605!). When there's less people, there's less likelihood of people talking over each other and ideas not being heard. I think it still only works as long as the professor acts as a mediator in the discussion. There always tends to be someone who doesn't understand that this is a discussion, not a solo presentation. This person tends to dominate the discussion, and even leads it instead of the instructor. They tend to be intimidating and won't let others speak. These types of students ruin the discussion for everyone else, which is why it's necessary to have a mediator.

    I feel like no matter what discussion format you use, you need to be consistent with it in the classroom for the most success. If you usually have open discussions and then one day require hand raising, your students are going to be confused and most likely slip into an open discussion regardless of your instructions. If you usually make them raise their hands and then all of a sudden tell them to have an open discussion, they won't be used to that and may struggle. I think by having a healthy, regulated combination of both in the classroom is the best way to keep your options open and remain in control.

    Thank you for your post!

    -Natalie

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  2. AnonymousFebruary 6, 2020 at 5:31 PM

    Mika,

    I think raising hands is so important in a classroom, in meetings, or anywhere where there is a risk of someone else's voice being overpowered due to another presence in the space. There can be a time and place where it is not necessary and not raising hands can lead to a more open and casual environment; however, as your post shows, our students have long since been trained to behave a certain way in a classroom, just to be told that is no longer the correct code of conduct.

    I think my biggest annoyance with people commenting on the way others choose to conduct themselves in what has been taught to be a polite manner is the sheer level of pretension that can accompany it. I still remember sitting in on meetings with my previous WPA and having members of the department questions my authority because I refused to interrupt others in the room as they were speaking and would politely raise my hand and "wait my turn." When did it no longer become acceptable to be respectful?

    Abbie

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  3. CristianFebruary 7, 2020 at 5:09 PM

    Hi Mika!
    I think it is a very interesting post since this is something we may be dealing with now that we are teaching. I don't know so much about the primary and high school education system here in the States, but in Colombia, raising your hands in a class was not considered appropriate at those educational levels. When I am in class, I would like my students to raise their hands all the time to participate in class. However, that doesn't happen all the time. I wonder if it is because in lower grades they had this sort of dictatorial educational system that punished that kind of behavior or whether their personality doesn't allow them to feel free to do it.

    From my own experience as a student, I have realized that since I came here, I am not the same student who used to participate so much in class to the point that this annoyed some of my peers. Perhaps, if you read this, you wouldn't believe it since I sometimes just keep quiet in class for a long period or even the whole class. While reading your post, I started looking at myself as a student and to wonder why in some classes, I don't raise my hand to participate. I think that what has caused me to be(come) like that is that I get so much information from the readings we have that I just don't know how to apply it in my own classes. Even if we are learning so much and apparently good theory, I feel frustrated when I find that there are not answers that may apply to all of us. So I consider that since I have to solve my own situations in my class (without finding something from the readings that helps in a particular case) I feel like whatever I might say would sound ridiculous or irrelevant. I know it may not be the reality, sometimes I feel that. Then, I understand my students a little bit more, but I want to keep working on both, my students and me to get better results out of it.

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    Replies
    1. Nilima MowFebruary 8, 2020 at 11:42 PM

      The same thing happens to me nowadays like Cristian. I keep silent for the whole period sometimes though I have a lot to say and share. The reason is my own constraints, I'm having in me after coming here. Whenever I wanna take part in class, my inner me stops me since I feel my opinion is not going to make any sense and sound weird because I have no clue about the education system (I'm learning now) here and I am very unaware about the application process of these most discussed pedagogy here in this system. On the other hand, I want my students raise their hands and take part in class. Because as an instructor I prefer that and to me participation in class helps enhancing their learning process and application knowledge. Back in my country, I used to be a student who frequently raised her hand to share her thought. However, that really helped. Probably now my cultural barriers are forcing me not raise my hands in my own class. Notwithstanding, I strongly believe that raising your hands in class and share your own thought to your cohort helps. However, I want this practice to be continued in classrooms, specially when you are in a student centered classroom.
      Thanks Mika for your post. It helped to share some inner feelings that I may probably
      have never shared.

      Delete
  4. Kristen P.February 12, 2020 at 11:38 PM

    Mika,
    This is really interesting. I know we talked extensively in class, but I'll give my 2 cents here. I think that absolutely students are taught behavioral patterns in middle/high school that have to be "unlearned" in the college atmosphere. As English teachers, I think we have an interesting role in this process for our students, especially considering that most of them are freshman. Many of them, as the post indicates, have been taught to "sit down and shut up" for 12 years. Though my personal opinions differ, most grade level schools believe this is effective teaching. We, as their English teachers, need to facilitate an environment in which this kind of enforcement fades away. Our class may be the only non-lecture class they have. It could be the only class with less than 50 people in it. We get to know our students one on one. Because of this, we have the freedom to open our class to discussion, hand-raising, and even unregulated conversation. I think our goal should be to create environments in which our students (1) feel comfortable speaking, (2) are encouraged to speak (3) and won't be told "yes that's right" or "no that's wrong." This way, students feel freedom in our classes, and they are able to "unlearn" many of the restrictive practices from early schooling. This will prepare them for further college classes, and help them grow comfortable in their own voices.
    Kristen

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