are ones that keep coming up in my classes with teachers. Ironically,
the issue is usually raised after viewing a videotape, or looking at a
transcript, of a lively school classroom discussion. Somebody remarks:
"Yes, but what about those who didn't participate?", where this refers to
those who did not speak during the discussion. I usually point out that,
in our discussions, there is a sizeable proportion who do not speak, and
I ask these silent people whether they feel they are participating. The
answer is almost invariably that they believe it is possible to
participate without speaking, and some add that they prefer to write
rather than speak, or that they are just as much involved, through inner
dialogue, as those who speak aloud.
Of course, this does not mean that we can assume that those who do not
speak in large group discussions are nevertheless fully involved. Some
may be bored or unable to relate to what is going on; some may feel
excluded. But neither should we assume that not-speaking means
non-involvement.
In my classes, I try to make sure that there is opportunity for small
group (3-5 people) as well as whole class discussion, and in the former I
circulate between the groups and listen in, and occasionally join in.
But the main reason for listening is to be able to pick up on the small
groups' discussions when we meet as a whole class.
This issue of participation links up, I think, with the issue of
"individual differences". I find that the later is often interpreted as
a way of classifying individuals: visual learner as opposed to oral
learner, right-brain rather than left-brain, and so on. When I talked
about differenes between individuals in my previous message it was not
this sort of "categorical" difference I had in mind, but the uniqueness
of each individual's experiential trajectory and, as a result, their
varying orientations to, and modes of partiipating in, activities.
I don't think it is useful to think of a class as consisting of varying
numbers of categories of students, whether these categories are based on
ethnic origin or supposed learning styles. Every class is made up of
unique individuals, whose "potential" has multiple antecedents in the
different communities, in and out of school, in which they have
participated; and the nature of the classroom community that develops
depends on the opportunities for these individuals' participation that the
range of activities affords and on the values that come to be shared or
contested. And out of these experiences, each student (and the teacher)
will further develop their own individual orientations and modes of
participation, in ways that I believe we are still far from understanding.
Gordon Wells, gwells who-is-at oise.on.ca
OISE, Toronto.