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Preventing Pupils Difficulties

By Artur Vitoria for CLIP - Colegio Luso Internacional do Porto 

 

In order to feel motivated for their work, pupils must have the opportunity of seeing it produce concrete results. They must have immediate and clearly defined interim objectives to work for. For this reason, lessons must not lapse into a succession of exercises or collections of material; instead there must be clear objectives which teacher and pupils have tried to agree on for a series of lessons.  

The demand for working methods which will activate the pupils precludes 'chalk and talk', i.e. the type of teaching where the teacher present subject matter which the pupils memorize with the teaching materials aid of notes and a textbook and are then tested on, orally or in writing. It also precludes a working method where the pupils' contribution is limited to the passive collection of material from a book by copying various data according to previously produced questions. In a situation of this kind, school work is liable to entail the mere collection of facts without any analysis or application.  

Within the framework of various activating work procedures, teachers and pupils have considerable latitude for trying out different working methods together. Schools must respect the individuality of different teachers and pupils on this point.  

Work must be individualized as far as is practically possible. This involves adapting the subject matter to the individual interest of different pupils. It also means giving different pupils different lengths of time in which to learn something. No single working method will suit every pupils A working method also has to be individualized within the framework afforded by the demand for all round training. There is no single study technique which can be termed the best way for all pupils.  

The individualization of working methods and assignments can teach the pupils the value of co-operation. During an in-depth study or project, each member of the group makes a particular contribution towards the common achievement. In this way the pupils can also learn to understand the equal value of different duties. Everybody needs to pull together in order for the group or class to do well.  

Home work is part of the working methods used at school. Teaching pupils to assume responsibility for an assignment tailored to their individual capacities is an essential part of the character training which it is the business of schools to provide.  

If for some particular reason pupils are unable to complete their assignments at home, it should be a natural ingredient of school planning to help them in various ways to do so at school.  

School working methods must also be reflected by the nature of home work. In many cases, home work can take the form of investigations in the local community and the natural environment, or else entail interviews of parents and other persons concerning their working conditions. Home work should also be employed as a means of giving pupils the practice and revision which are necessary for the consolidation of knowledge and skills.  

Teaching materials are the materials which teachers and pupils agree to employ in pursuit of predefined goals.  

The social and natural environment near the school should be employed for purposes of observation and investigation. Practical vocational orientation, field trips, excursions, camp schools and home work all provide opportunities of examining and collecting material. Society also has an abundance of information to offer via broadcasting media, books, periodicals, brochures and newspapers.  

 

 
In order to feel motivated for their work, pupils must have the opportunity of seeing it produce concrete results. They must have immediate and clearly defined interim objectives to work for. For this reason, lessons must not lapse into a succession of exercises or collections of material; instead there must be clear objectives which teacher and pupils have tried to agree on for a series of lessons.  

The demand for working methods which will activate the pupils precludes 'chalk and talk', i.e. the type of teaching where the teacher present subject matter which the pupils memorize with the teaching materials aid of notes and a textbook and are then tested on, orally or in writing. It also precludes a working method where the pupils' contribution is limited to the passive collection of material from a book by copying various data according to previously produced questions. In a situation of this kind, school work is liable to entail the mere collection of facts without any analysis or application.  

Within the framework of various activating work procedures, teachers and pupils have considerable latitude for trying out different working methods together. Schools must respect the individuality of different teachers and pupils on this point.  

Work must be individualized as far as is practically possible. This involves adapting the subject matter to the individual interest of different pupils. It also means giving different pupils different lengths of time in which to learn something. No single working method will suit every pupils A working method also has to be individualized within the framework afforded by the demand for all round training. There is no single study technique which can be termed the best way for all pupils.  

The individualization of working methods and assignments can teach the pupils the value of co-operation. During an in-depth study or project, each member of the group makes a particular contribution towards the common achievement. In this way the pupils can also learn to understand the equal value of different duties. Everybody needs to pull together in order for the group or class to do well.  

Home work is part of the working methods used at school. Teaching pupils to assume responsibility for an assignment tailored to their individual capacities is an essential part of the character training which it is the business of schools to provide.  

If for some particular reason pupils are unable to complete their assignments at home, it should be a natural ingredient of school planning to help them in various ways to do so at school.  

School working methods must also be reflected by the nature of home work. In many cases, home work can take the form of investigations in the local community and the natural environment, or else entail interviews of parents and other persons concerning their working conditions. Home work should also be employed as a means of giving pupils the practice and revision which are necessary for the consolidation of knowledge and skills.  

Teaching materials are the materials which teachers and pupils agree to employ in pursuit of predefined goals.  

The social and natural environment near the school should be employed for purposes of observation and investigation. Practical vocational orientation, field trips, excursions, camp schools and home work all provide opportunities of examining and collecting material. Society also has an abundance of information to offer via broadcasting media, books, periodicals, brochures and newspapers.  

Schools must try to prevent pupils from running into difficulties in the course of their school work. Content, working methods and organization must therefore be designed so as to be readily adjustable to the individuality of different pupils. Local decision-making powers, vested in the individual school, the work unit and the class, concerning subject matter, working methods and work procedures, are therefore essential in order for a school to discharge its duties successfully. 

If a pupil encounters difficulties in the course of his (or her) school work, consideration must be given to the possibility of altering school working methods. Teaching must be planned so as to permit a variable working method. The liberty which a school enjoys in the deployment of resources and regarding methods and the selection of subject matter provides good opportunities of this type of preventive work. 

Pupils with differing dispositions and interests must be able to experience school work as something capable of furthering their own development. Schools must offer variegated contents. Pupils must be allowed to participate in planning. And they must be able to choose different fields of study which are relevant to goals and main teaching items. Free options account for roughly one third of all school time at senior level. While at junior and intermediate levels time can be reserved for project studies. In certain cases assignments of this kind can be made to last longer for some pupils than for others. 

At the same time one must be alive to the conflict which often exists between the current.   Schools must prepare pupils adequately for future working life and for future studies, for example in the form of recurrent education. Total adjustment to the pupils' spontaneous interests can result in their encountering great difficulties when they come to enter working life or continue their studies, in which case their school difficulties are converted into impediments later on in life. 

It therefore remains the task -and a difficult task -of teachers to try to steer the pupils' spontaneous desire for knowledge into important fields. and to utilize their practical vocational orientation together with conversations and interviews as a means of getting them to realize the value of different types of knowledge and skill. Schools must not isolate school work from the life of the community by making all activities freely chosen work, otherwise the pupils will suffer a shock when they come up against the demands which life involves. Gaps in elementary knowledge can result in lifelong social or psychological helplessness. Lack of previous knowledge tends to make pupils regard themselves as 'untalented', in which case schools help to accentuate social inequalities. 

It is above all necessary for basic training in the skills of speech, reading, writing and arithmetic to be conducted consistently and with determination. Shortcomings with regard to these skills aggravate school difficulties at higher levels. Boundaries between school levels must not be allowed to constitute boundaries regarding the practice of skills. Continuous reading instruction, for example, must be available to pupils at any level. 

As stated earlier, working methods must also be adapted to suit different pupils. Methods with an excessively verbal emphasis are particularly prejudicial to many pupils. Work based entirely on written material and written instructions gives an advantage to pupils whose ambition and educational motivation makes them less dependent on personal and emotional contact with a teacher for the maintenance of their endeavor. On the other hand it can very easily cause difficulties for pupils without these qualifications. Extensive scope must instead be allotted to investigatory elements in the natural and social environment and also to practical tasks. Methods of this kind are greatly facilitated by different teachers co-operating in teaching teams.