Three Disadvantages of Traditional Classroom Learning

In a traditional classroom setting, students sit passively while the teacher delivers a lecture. There are reasons why many teachers seem dissatisfied with this practice. For now, I shall limit myself to only three:

a. Students' focus is set in the wrong direction; in taking notes rather than understanding and absorbing new concepts.

Result:

• Students' inability to grasp key ideas and concepts,

• Failed lesson objective.

b. Too much focus on presentation, little time left for practice: Since a teacher has to deliver a fixed number of concepts within a limited time, most classroom activities comprise the presentation stage. Students practice at home.

Result:

• This strategy does not allow students to experiment with new concepts, and it causes little learning. Students usually end up cramming ideas and cannot produce anything fruitful except generic answers to exam questions.

• Furthermore, many students might get stuck while doing problem sets at home. This, too, thwarts their performance. If they are unable to master one concept and have been unable to practice it effectively, we cannot expect them to grasp a newer concept based on the previous one,

c. A teacher's lecture is generally one-size-fits-all. Some students have different paces of learning. While some students can follow the teacher's class conveniently, others require time to chow on the information they are getting. Also, each student has a different learning style. You can't expect a kinesthetic learner to master a concept by listening to a lecture without hands-on experience. If a visual learner gets worse grades than an auditory learner, it doesn't mean that the former is slow or dull; it may mean that the classroom strategies accounted for the auditory learner.

Result:

• This results in the student's inability to keep pace with the teachers'. The world stereotypes them as 'slow learners.'

• Poor grades and lagging in classroom performance significantly contribute to a poor self-image and lack of confidence. It is a major contributing factor to the failure of many students to achieve what they are capable of.

• This not only mars potential talent, but it also causes distress to a lot many dedicated and hardworking teachers.

The traditional public school system and classroom practices could be better. The responsibility befalls the shoulders of us, educationists. We must review the factors which make the present school system ineffective, and only then can we rectify these problem areas to create classrooms that deliver.