First, face up to the problem and build confidence in solving it.
Teachers in the experimental area generally believe that the concept of the new curriculum is advanced and good. However, in the specific teaching practice, especially in the context of large class teaching, the concept of the new curriculum seems to be difficult to implement. The teachers raised some questions, such as: how to take care of all students in the context of large classes; How to cater to all and take care of students' individual differences, especially those with temporary learning difficulties; How to carry out research-based learning; How to carry out group cooperative learning; How to avoid polarization and so on. These questions are very valuable.
In fact, these problems do not appear with the implementation of the new curriculum, but with the class teaching system. In other words, when the class teaching system came into being, these problems appeared correspondingly and puzzled everyone for a long time. These problems exist as long as they are taught in the classroom. Because the premise of class teaching system is that all students have the same learning ability, can learn the same content at the same time and at the same speed, and meet the same requirements. In this case, it is extremely difficult to take care of students' individual differences, because class teaching is a way of organizing teaching, which determines that it is difficult to realize the multi-function of teaching.
Is there no solution? Do we just let it exist and turn a blind eye? Many experts in teaching theory have made efforts in history, such as the design teaching method proposed by Dewey, an American educator we are very familiar with? Activity teaching, such as Skinner's program teaching aimed at realizing students' individualized learning, and so on. However, although these ideas are reasonable in theory, they encounter other difficulties in teaching practice. As far as the actual situation in our country is concerned, it is especially undesirable. Therefore, it is very necessary to face up to the problem of class teaching system and solve it. Since the new period, many schools are making efforts in this field, and some theoretical researchers are also doing research in this field, and some achievements have been made.
The new curriculum provides a good support for solving these problems from the concept and operation level. Formulating new curriculum standards, promoting the change of students' learning style, advocating cooperative learning and inquiry learning are all beneficial ideas to solve the problem. Some teachers may say, with such a large class size, how can we cooperate to explore? Perhaps, for small classes, the problem is easier to solve. But fundamentally speaking, there is no essential difference between large class and small class in the generation and solution of problems. Moreover, according to the actual situation in China, it may not be easy to realize small class teaching in many places for a long time. But we can't just sit back and wait because the class size can't be reduced. If we don't change our teaching concept and face it seriously, even if the class size is as small as 20 students, the problem will still be difficult to solve. Therefore, first of all, we should change our ideas, build up confidence and explore reasonable ways and methods to solve problems.
Second, change the space-time structure of the classroom so that every student can participate in the teaching activities.
In classroom teaching, in order to take care of students' individual differences and realize effective teaching, we must first let every student participate in teaching activities.
The situation of classroom teaching is that all students sit in the classroom and listen to the teacher. For many years, teachers have done this, so this teaching form seems to be taken for granted. Of course, this "assumption" is unreasonable and must be broken. It is necessary to get rid of the situation that teachers monopolize classroom teaching for 40 minutes and let students act independently in the classroom like teachers; Get rid of the situation that students are excluded from teaching and let every student participate in teaching activities. Some people will say that all the students are sitting in the classroom, but aren't all the students studying? A student doesn't study well because he doesn't work hard. The same teacher said, why can others learn well and he can't learn well? In fact, all the students are studying, which is only the superficial phenomenon of classroom teaching. The real situation is that in class, there are always some students who are not listening or thinking. They just sat in the classroom for forty minutes. For these students, attending classes is almost a waste of time. They have neither engaged in learning activities nor developed accordingly. In order to let every student really participate in teaching activities, it is necessary to reform the time structure and space structure of the classroom.
The best way to change the classroom space-time structure is to realize group cooperative learning.
In the form of group cooperative learning, the composition of space needs to be changed. That is to say, the arrangement form of the previous "paddy field" tables and chairs is changed to "T" shape or horseshoe shape, or even other forms. Compared with "paddy field", this spatial structure has the following advantages: first, students are arranged in the form of "face to face", which provides a spatial form for mutual communication; Second, it is less difficult for students to get out of their seats, and it is easier for students to communicate with teachers, as can be seen intuitively from the following figure; Third, students have more room for activities, which is conducive to carrying out various forms of classroom activities.
At the same time, group cooperative learning also needs to change the time structure of classroom teaching. Marx thought: "Time is actually the active existence of human beings, which is not only the measure of human life, but also the space for human development." If students spend all their time listening to the teacher's explanation, they may be reduced to the status of the audience, making them subordinate to the teacher's activities and unable to achieve autonomous learning and development. In terms of time composition, group cooperative learning has changed the situation that teachers occupy most of the time in classroom teaching, thus leaving more time for students' independent activities and providing time guarantee for students' all-round development.
Of course, in order to leave more free time for students, group cooperative learning requires corresponding changes in the arrangement of teaching content. It requires teachers to concentrate on large-scale teaching content as much as possible, and only do intensive lectures, and leave the problems that students can figure out through independent thinking or cooperation with their classmates to student groups to strengthen cooperation among students. Since it is cooperation, everyone should have the basis of cooperation, that is, division of labor. Since there is a division of labor, everyone can give full play to their own specialties and cooperate with others through their own independent thinking and activities. In this way, objectively, every student must carry out independent activities and communicate and cooperate with others on the basis of independent activities. In this way, students must participate in teaching and cannot be divorced from teaching.
To implement group cooperative learning well, we need to pay attention to many problems. One of them is related to the large class size. Some teachers have suggested that it is difficult to change the existing arrangement of tables and chairs in a large class of 60 to 70 people, that is, the spatial structure is difficult to change. Of course, this is a problem, but with a class size of 40 to 50 students, this problem does not exist. If the class size is 60 to 70 students, it can be fine-tuned in the existing form. For example, students at the front and back tables can form cooperation groups at any time. In this case, the change of spatial structure is the second, and the main thing is to adjust the time structure. Judging from what we have seen in the experimental area at present, the most serious problem is the formalization of group cooperative learning. This is reflected in several aspects. First, teachers' teaching design is still based on teachers' teaching, without considering whether the content of students' cooperation really has the value of division of labor and cooperation, so students' cooperative learning becomes the ornament of teachers' teaching, but has no substantive significance; This also leads to the second problem, that is, students' cooperative learning time is too short, and students can't think independently and cooperate with each other.
To solve these problems, teachers should first change the original teaching design ideas, jump out of the fixed thinking of teachers monopolizing the classroom, fully trust students, and let students learn independently and cooperatively. In fact, the new curriculum standard is a good support for students' cooperative learning. It is hoped that teachers can well understand and make use of the benefits brought by the flexible arrangement of curriculum standards in teaching time.
Third, the diversification of classroom activities allows students to develop in independent inquiry.
If the main form of classroom teaching is teacher's teaching, then the activities that students can engage in can only be listening. Although we can say that listening is not necessarily passive and students have positive thinking activities, after all, students' activities are monotonous and not rich, which is not conducive to the development of students' various qualities, such as hands-on operation, critical questioning, effective communication and active participation. Therefore, one of the ways to promote students' development in many aspects is to liberate themselves from simple lectures and realize the diversification of classroom activities. In fact, if we can change the time structure of the classroom and truly realize group cooperative learning, then the activities in the classroom will be more abundant. One of the rich manifestations of students' activities is the inquiry activities carried out by students in classroom teaching. Why? Inquiry activities should not only have internal thinking operation, but also explicit hands-on operation, and also need effective communication and cooperation between teachers, students and classmates. Of course, inquiry activities should also deal with the relationship with large class size and other factors? Like time.
The teacher in the experimental area put forward such a question: Let the students explore, does the teacher want to teach or not? Let the students explore how teachers can control the situation when the class size is large. These two problems are actually a problem, that is, how to deal with the relationship between teaching and inquiry. To solve this problem, we must first find out what the nature of inquiry in classroom teaching should be and what value it has for students' development.
Students' in-class inquiry is different from extracurricular inquiry and also different from scientists' inquiry. There are several meanings here: first, the inquiry in class is carried out with the guidance and help of teachers; Second, what students explore is unknown to students and known to the whole human knowledge; Thirdly, the inquiry in the classroom serves for students to understand the teaching process; Form a scientific way of thinking, positive emotional attitude and values, in short, to serve the all-round development of students. With these three premises, it provides a train of thought for understanding the relationship between teaching and inquiry.
First of all, teachers should of course teach, but teaching does not mean "speaking", but arousing students' independent thinking; Secondly, in the process of students' inquiry, teachers need to "touch" and deepen; Third, students' inquiry needs to rise to a height that students can't reach by their own ability through teachers' teaching. Therefore, students' inquiry is not that the teacher has done nothing, but has put forward higher requirements for the teacher and even for their own teaching.
So, how to carry out effective inquiry in classroom teaching?
First of all, in teaching design, teachers should strive to transform the content originally used for teaching into questions with inquiry value suitable for students to explore? Some content that is completely unsuitable for exploration is another matter. This requires teachers to change their ideas, not to underestimate students' understanding and inquiry ability, and not to think that "as long as teachers tell students, students will understand." Instead, we should put ourselves in the position of students, look at the "known" teaching content with "suspicion" everywhere, and put ourselves in the position of designing and causing problems.
Secondly, we should provide an intermediary tool for students to explore independently and cooperate with each other. Thinking operation tools include not only valuable questions, but also teachers' language tools and practical tools that students can operate. In the middle and lower classes of classroom teaching, especially in the case of large classes, teachers' language should be structured, and the operational tools of entities should be carefully designed to combine them to serve the exploration and cooperation of students and the further development of the teaching process.
In order to arouse students' exploration and cooperation, the math teacher provides three circles with different sizes made of different materials for students' thinking and hands-on operation, as well as rulers and ribbons needed by students for measurement. These thinking operation tools and measuring operation tools provide an intermediary for students to think independently and cooperate with each other. They externalize students' individual thinking and lead to deepening, and also provide a premise for students to exchange the results of their independent thinking, thus further triggering effective teaching exchanges among students.
Several circles provided by the teacher laid a foundation for students to explore diversified measurement methods in cooperation, and at the same time made appropriate typical specifications. For example, how to measure the circumference of a circle with a very hard material and a small area? The measurement method of students' inquiry is:? 1 The length of a circle with a ribbon is the circumference of the circle. Measure the length of the ribbon with a ruler and you can get the circumference of the circle. ? Mark a point on the circle, aim at the zero scale of the ruler, and then rotate? Roll this circle, spin? After rolling for one week, when this point reaches the scale of the ruler again, the scale indicates the circumference of the circle. Through these operations, students get not only one or two measurement methods, but more importantly, through measurement, students also form an intuitive image about the circumference: the curve around the circumference is actually a straight line.
A circle with a large area made of soft cloth. The measurement method formed by students through operation is:? 1 The circle made of soft cloth cannot be wrapped with adhesive tape, so we fold the circle in half to form a half circle; Wrap a ribbon around it again, and multiply this ribbon by 2, which is the circumference of the circle. ? We can fold it again. We can measure a quarter of the circle and multiply it by 4 to get the circumference of the circle. The basis for students to adopt this measurement method may come from intuition, life experience, or from students' specific use of existing knowledge. This operation is a concrete application of "A circle is an axisymmetric figure with numerous symmetry axes".
In addition, the teacher also provides students with a circle drawn on paper. Students put forward that "the circle drawn on paper and the circle drawn on the blackboard can't be used just now." Although some students came up with this idea: "We can make another circle, which is as big as the circle drawn on the paper. Then what?"? Use the method we just used to measure. " But the teacher further guided according to the students' ideas: "But what if the circle is big?" So as to further guide students to verify their assumptions through personal operation and cooperation between students.
The teacher said: The teacher wants you to find the answer through your own research. Next, work in groups. Make a request: group cooperation, you can use the circle provided by the teacher or your own circle. Two people can measure and one person can record. The teacher gives you a form. Measure the circumference first, then the diameter, and fill in the data. Capable groups can measure more circles.
Students measure in groups, and measure the diameters and perimeters of several circles with different sizes by the methods discussed above. The measurement results are reported to the class and displayed on the blackboard. (blackboard writing)
What can students find in front of these figures? Teachers do not "tell" each student directly, but encourage students to rely on their own independent thinking and cooperation to discover:
Teacher: group and quickly calculate the quotient of perimeter divided by diameter; Group cooperation, can you find any rules in their business?
Through a series of explorations by students, the first knowledge point emerged, that is, the quotient of the circumference and diameter of a circle is a little more than three times. This knowledge point is not directly "spoken" by teachers, but "learned" by students through a series of activities. Although the whole teaching process is still teacher's guidance, which permeates all aspects of teaching and leads to various activities in the classroom, this guidance falls on the initiation of students' independent inquiry activities and exchanges and cooperation between students. In this way, the activities in the classroom will be diversified and students can really participate in the teaching activities.
Fourth, let every student develop and avoid students' stratification.
Teachers in the experimental area pointed out that polarization is inevitable in the case of large class teaching, and even in the process of implementing the new curriculum, polarization is more serious.
How to treat this problem? I think, first of all, we should analyze the angle of questioning. Although it is theoretically believed that the evaluation of students depends on their all-round development, for a long time, our understanding of students is mainly based on academic performance. So the so-called polarization mainly refers to the differentiation of students' academic performance. In the process of teaching, students' development is mainly focused on their acquisition and development of knowledge, while students' development in other aspects is relatively neglected. The polarization mentioned by the teachers in the experimental area now mainly refers to the polarization in knowledge development.
Secondly, the polarization of students is mainly "created" by standardized teaching. There is no big difference between students, but because of the unified teaching progress and unified teaching requirements, those students who are not suitable for this teaching method are separated from "normal" students and become "poor students", thus dividing the student group into different parts such as "good", "medium" and "poor". Teachers pay different attention to different students, such as giving "top students" more challenging homework, letting "poor students" do simpler problems and leaving them to individual tutors, which invisibly labels students as categories. This kind of category label not only increases the psychological burden of "poor students", but also makes it impossible for lower-level students to change their "identity".
In the implementation of the new curriculum, if we still only pay attention to the development of students' knowledge, the polarization of students will be inevitable. And if we can change our views on students and realize students' cooperative learning and inquiry learning in classroom teaching, then every student can prove his value in activities and get corresponding development. Of course, the result of this can't completely eliminate the differences among students, but the differences among students are no longer manifested in the vertical hierarchy with the only standard, but in the rich personality differences achieved through active learning and development.