Brunei Teachers’ Perspectives on Questioning: Investigating the Opportunities to “Talk” in Mathematics Lessons

Abstract

A teachers' practice cannot be characterised by a single lesson, hence comparison is best made with lesson sequences that better sample the diversity of a teacher's practice. In this study, we video recorded lesson sequences in four Year 8 mathematics classrooms, as well as interviewed each of the four teachers in Brunei Darussalam. Because of our methodology and based on the findings from the richness in the data that was collected, there were some features in the video and interview data that emerged. One of the features is the significant short utterances made by the students as well as their respective teachers, and the extent of the teachers' own and their students' questioning behaviours in the lessons as perceived by the teachers themselves during the video-stimulated recall interviews. In the four Brunei classrooms that we studied, most of the lessons were so rushed, the teachers did most of the talking and when teachers and students do interact, it almost always involved faster-paced exchanges between them. Thus, restricting students to single words ("yes" or "no") or short choral responses. Overall, the findings appear to indicate that short utterances implied that there were less (or even no) opportunities for fuller student participation in classroom discussions.

Examining Classroom Interactions in Secondary Mathematics Classrooms in Brunei Darussalam

“…10, No. 11; such as the Principals or Heads of Departments of the school (Clarke, 2004(Clarke, , 2006a(Clarke, , 2006bClarke, Emanuelsson et al, 2006;Clarke, Keitel & Shimizu, 2006;Clarke, Mesiti et al, 2006;, 2008Koizumi, 2013;Omar et al, 2014;Shahrill, 2009;Shahrill & Clarke, 2014;. Furthermore, Shahrill stated that for the Brunei data and Australia, "there was no detectable difference between the percentage of lesson time spent in public and private interaction" (p. 130).…”

“…Teachers may be suggested to prompt their students to respond to the teacher's questions in such a way that it engages the students to thinking for themselves. In addition, teachers should also allow a wait time of about 5 to 7 seconds after posing questions to students; this will enable the student to respond, reflect or even pose their own question (Ellis, 1993;Rose & Litcher, 1998;Rowe, 1978Rowe, , 1986Shahrill, 2013;Shahrill & Clarke, 2014;. We should also remind ourselves that the purpose of questioning is to generate interest, to engage and to challenge the students, and not to intimidate students with short responses.…”

“…In those two hours within a week, how much time do teachers spend interacting privately with their students on the content of their lessons or students interacting publicly on their mathematical ideas? For a long time, classroom interaction in Bruneian mathematics classrooms has always been dominated by public presentation by the teachers and students working individually on their mathematical tasks (Abd Salam, 2011;Clements, 2002;Lim, 2000Sakdiah, 2005;Shahrill, 2009;Shahrill & Clarke, 2014;Shahrill et al, 2013).…”

Oportunidades, Experiencias y Aprendizajes de las Matemáticas: México en PISA 2012 / Opportunities, Experiences and Learning of Mathematics: Mexico at PISA 2012

“…Las OTL se reducen significativamente cuando los profesores no propician oportunidades adecuadas para que los estudiantes participen en las discusiones en aula sobre temas de matemáticas (Shahrill y Clarke, 2014).…”

The Impact of Gagné, Vygotsky and Skinner Theories in Pedagogical Practices of Mathematics Teachers in Brunei Darussalam

“…In view of these challenges, it is vital for Mathematics teachers to be equipped with strong Mathematics subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, especially on the year levels that they are teaching in order to help raise students' learning outcomes and success in Mathematics (Kani et al, 2014;Shahrill, 2009;Shahrill & Clarke, 2014;Shahrill et al, 2014).…”