Vocal Teachers, Silent Pupils? Life in Botswana Classrooms

Vocal Teachers, Silent Pupils? Life in Botswana ClassroomsAuthor(s): Bruce Fuller and Conrad W. Snyder, Jr.Source: Comparative Education Review, Vol. 35, No. 2 (May, 1991), pp. 274-294Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Comparative and InternationalEducation SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1188164 .

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Vocal Teachers, Silent Pupils? Life in Botswana Classrooms

BRUCE FULLER AND CONRAD W. SNYDER, JR.

Considerable evidence is now available on the human and material inputs that more likely boost pupil achievement in the Third World. Not surprisingly, those factors central to the instructional process-textbooks, exercise books, and teacher literacy levels-are consistently related to children's achievement. Peripheral symbols of quality, including variation in teacher salaries and the character of school facilities, are related less to achievement.'

The past 2 decades of research, however, are limited in three ways. First, the production-function metaphor, largely abandoned by U.S. researchers, continues to dominate how we envision learning in Third World classrooms. A variety of "inputs" apparently are tossed into the classroom, activated in some mysterious way, and out pops pupil achievement (the "output"). Variable processes through which the teacher mobilizes and applies instructional tools are rarely examined.

Second, only gross proxies of teacher quality have been utilized. Several studies have employed, as antecedent predictors of achievement, the teacher's length of schooling or preservice training, social class background, length of tenure, and exposure to in-service workshops. Here teacher qualities are seen simply as additional inputs, operating parallel to textbooks, pupil desks, and other classroom materials. We rarely construct more complex achievement models in which teacher behavior is viewed as in-

This paper stems from the "Botswana Teachers, Classrooms, and Achievement Study," funded by the government of Botswana and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Junior Secondary Education Improvement project. Thanks are especially due to our 11 research assistants who did much of the hard, dusty work in the schools in between their studies at the University of Botswana. The overall project is now coordinated in Gaborone by Philemon Ramatsui, Shirley Burchfield, and David Chapman. Data collection was directed by David Cownie and Elizabeth Blake. Howard Williams at Florida State University provided stateside support. Several individuals at USAID and Florida State University continue to offer generous support and feedback on how our research can better inform projects and government policy: Mike Basile, Barbara Belding, Stephanie Funk, Bob Morgan, Chloe O'Gara, Richard Pelczar, and Richard Shortlidge. Thank you all.

1 For recent reviews of empirical work, see B. Fuller, "What School Factors Raise Achievement in the Third World?" Review of Educational Research 57 (1987): 255-92; M. Lockheed and E. Hanushek, "Improving Educational Efficiency in Developing Countries: What Do We Know?" Compare (1988), pp. 21-38; B. Fuller and S. Heyneman, "Third World School Quality: Current Collapse, Future Potential," Educational Researcher 18, no. 2 (1989): 12-19; M. Lockheed and A. Verspoor, Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1991).

Comparative Education Review, vol. 35, no. 2. ? 1991 by the Comparative and International Education Society. All rights reserved. 0010-4086/91/3502-0004$01.00

274 May 1991



LIFE IN BOTSWANA CLASSROOMS

teracting with instructional materials. Third World educators and donors intuitively feel that pedagogical practices vary across different teachers. But surprisingly little evidence exists on the frequency and variation with which teachers utilize basic materials such as textbooks, ask pupils open- ended questions (demanding higher-level cognition), or require children to practice writing skills.2

Third, school-effects research from developing countries fails to rec- ognize fully children's own characteristics, cultural rules, and cognitive structures that they bring to the formal classroom. Too often we assume that pupils are invariant, textureless creatures, and we ignore how they enact and interpret the social relations of the classroom. Ideally, we should model the acquisition of literacy and levels of achievement as a function of the interaction between teachers' and children's behavior, beliefs, and cognitions. The meaning and effects of given teacher behaviors may depend on the social rules that surround the pupil outside the school. Classroom research-in First and Third World settings-rarely looks at the relational social norms experienced by the child in and out of school.3

Third World educators and international donors, complaining of routine pedagogical practices, often refer to the "chalk-and-talk" method, in which teachers stand before children and lecture at them. But little empirical work has been done that details typical ways African teachers organize their work, beyond suggestive qualitative studies in classrooms. Nor is much known about variation among teachers whereby some depart from presumably narrow pedagogical scripts. In contrast, research on variation in teacher behavior and classroom organization (and associated achievement

2 Two Third World studies have measured teachers' own language proficiency as one dimension of teacher quality. Heyneman and Jamison, e.g., found that English exam scores of Ugandan teachers were related to the achievement of their pupils, controlling on family background and other school qualities. See Heyneman and Jamison, "Student Learning in Uganda: Textbook Availability and Other Factors," Comparative Education Review 24 (1980): 206-20. In addition, Ryan reports the same relationship (also employing multivariate regressions) for a sample of teachers and students in Iran. See J. Ryan, Educational Resources and Scholastic Outcomes: A Study of Rural Primary Schooling in Iran (Ph.D. diss., Stanford University, 1973). The aggregate length of schools' instructional programs has significantly predicted pupil performance in 12 of 14 multivariate analyses conducted with Third World data. See Fuller, "What School Factors Raise Achievement in the Third World?" This is not the same as looking inside classrooms to see how the teacher organizes class time. But it does get us closer to looking at the influence of school/classroom structure on pupil performance.

3 Earlier qualitative research in Africa emphasizes two related points. First, many children come to the formal school with social norms that encourage silence and deference to the teacher's authority. African children also may enter the classroom with language, knowledge, and cognitive maps that are quite inconsistent with social forms found within this foreign school setting. Second, the school (and its teachers) may interpret pupil silence and cognitive inconsistencies as manifestations of passivity or slowness, leading to more intense teacher dominance and routinization of lessons within the classroom. Children then have few opportunities to act on the classroom's social process, express indigenous forms of knowledge, or work from intrinsically held curiosities. See J. Gay and M. Cole, The New Mathematics and an Old Culture (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1967); R. Clignet, "The Double Natural History of Educational Interactions: Implications for Educational Reform," Comparative Education Review 25 (1981): 330-52.

Comparative Education Review 275



FULLER AND SNYDER, JR.

effects) within North American and European schools is voluminous and growing.4

This article provides an initial description of what teachers and pupils actually do within southern African classrooms. Working in Botswana, we observed 154 junior secondary and 127 primary school teachers 3 times. These observation "snapshots" focused on (a) how the teacher used class time, (b) the frequency with which instructional materials were employed, and (c) the amount and form of social interaction observed between teacher and student. After reporting simple descriptive data, we examine how background characteristics of teachers and schools may help to explain variation in teacher and pupil behavior.

Prior Research

Botswana. -Our study in Botswana was preceded by ethnographic work conducted by Robert Prophet and Patricia Rowell. Their initial study focused on how teachers present science curriculum in junior secondary schools. Their findings illuminate the structure of interaction, information, and cognitive demands that typically flow between teacher and pupils.5

Prophet highlights four consistent features of Botswana classrooms. First, teachers ask for factual information through sentence-completion exercises, with pupils (individually or in chorus) simply adding the missing word. Students rarely are asked to explain a process (say, the reproduction of plants) or the interrelation between two or more events. Second, teachers often ignore the answer elicited from a student. If the "right answer" is provided, the teacher moves on. If not, the teacher rarely probes to identify which elements of the lesson the pupil does understand. This interrogatory style is an evaluative exercise, not one that seeks to increase pupils' understanding of the material. Third, when pupils do not know the factual item, they often put forward random responses. No reward is given to pupils who verbally try to reason toward a solution. Fourth, Prophet reports on how teachers place a premium on "elite language." In the case of science, the teacher emphasizes, for example, the correct technical terms (in English) of a plant's various parts. Emphasis placed on their interrelationship or applied importance (say, to crop yields) is rare.

"4 For recent thorough reviews, see M. Dunkin, ed., International Encyclopedia of Teaching and Teacher Education (Oxford: Pergamon, 1987); L. Anderson and R. Burns, Research in Classrooms: The Study of Teachers, Teaching and Instruction (Oxford: Pergamon, 1989), chaps. 1, 11.

5 This brief review draws on two chapters in R. Prophet and P. Rowell, eds., "Curriculum in Action: Classroom Observations in Botswana Junior Secondary Schools" (U.S. Agency for International Development, Gaborone, 1988, mimeographed). For an organizational analysis that attempts to explains teachers' routinized behavior, see L. Davies, "Contradictions of Control: Lessons from Exploring Teachers' Work in Botswana," International Journal of Educational Development 8, no. 4 (1988): 293-303. See also J. Yoder, ed., "School Effectiveness Research," Occasional Education Paper no. 1 (University of Botswana, Gaborone, 1989, mimeographed).

276 May 1991




Rowell's related ethnographic work focuses on how teachers organize written exercises in Botswana classrooms. The teacher typically opens the class period by presenting new material. The class is then assigned an exercise that is performed silently by each pupil. This process involves a good deal of off-task time, as the teacher writes lengthy material on the chalkboard (especially when textbooks are not available). Pupils then finish the exercise at varying points; many wait as the teacher walks around the class to check each pupil's exercise book. Rowell also emphasizes how much time teachers spend in preparing pupils for the national exam, including constant drilling of students on factual bits of science knowledge. Indeed, this method is useful since it reflects the basic structure of the national exam.6

Our study builds from these general images of classrooms painted by Prophet and Rowell. However, we were curious about whether these representations of teacher-pupil interaction would hold up empirically when a larger number of teachers and classrooms were observed. Second, how much variation across teachers is evident? Third, if variation in pedagogical practices and classroom organization is observed, what antecedent factors explain this variability?

First World. -Several impressive classroom studies have been conducted in the United States over the past 15 years. This work reveals that many teachers focus on academic tasks during a surprisingly small proportion of total class time. For instance, J. Stallings and D. Kaskowitz found that pupils spent just 38 percent of class time actually engaged in academic tasks. Teachers often are busy organizing lessons, grading homework, or disciplining students.7

This U.S. work also describes the form of social interaction that occurs between teacher and pupil. H. Stevenson and J. Stigler found that North American students spent about 19 hours per week engaged in academic tasks; 47 percent of this time was spent on seatwork and worksheets with almost no social interaction occurring. In contrast, Japanese pupils worked on academic tasks 40 hours per week on average; teachers led the class lesson all but 30 percent of the time.8 Other research reveals that, in the United States, lower-status pupils receive fewer questions from the teacher,

6 This classroom pattern has also been observed in Malawi. Of particular interest is the trade- off between teacher evaluation of individual pupil exercises versus the loss of time spent on academic tasks while the teacher circulates among all 35-65 children. See B. Fuller, Growing-up Modern: The Western State Builds Third World Schools (New York: Routledge, 1991).

7'. Stallings and D. Kaskowitz, "Follow-through Classroom Observation Evaluation, 1972- 1973" (Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park, Calif., 1974, mimeographed).

8 H. Stevenson, J. Stigler, et al., "Curriculum and Achievement in Mathematics: A Study of Elementary School Children in Japan, Taiwan, and the United States," Advances in Instructional Psychology 3 (1986): 153-91.





and these rare queries are more often closed-ended, relative to higher status children.9

Third World.-Much less is known about life inside Third World classrooms. The recent cross-national study of classroom life, organized by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), did yield interesting descriptive findings. In Nigeria and Thailand, researchers found that, in over two-thirds of the observation segments, teachers were simply lecturing at the class. In much of the remaining time, students sat alone (on the floor or at desks) working on assigned exercises. When teachers posed a question, these utterances usually were directed at the entire class, not spoken to an individual student. The teacher's queries most often requested a single piece of factual information rarely requiring complex cognition."'

Botswana Country Context

Botswana, inhabited by 1.3 million people, runs along the northern border of South Africa. After its unstable neighbor to the south, the nation of Botswana has the highest per capita gross national product (GNP) (U.S.$1,050 in 1987) in sub-Saharan Africa. Botswana's wealth is founded on diamond mines. The mining sector represents 45 percent of total gross domestic product (GDP), yet two-thirds of the labor force still work outside the modern wage sector, engaged in agriculture, livestock herding, or working in the informal cash economy. Income inequities are enormous between urban wage-earning and rural households. Given that Botswana's riches affect only urban elites, social behaviors outside this small circle remain close to African norms. Fertility rates among Botswana women, for instance, remain very high, with population growth exceeding 3.4 percent annually."

Botswana's ruling party, holding power since national independence in 1966, has emphasized school expansion as a mechanism for broadening economic and social opportunity. Over the past 2 decades, the number

9 J. Carew and S. Lawrence-Lightfoot, Beyond Bias. Perspectives on Classrooms (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1979); J. Oakes, "Classroom Social Relationships: Exploring the Bowles and Gintis Hypothesis," Sociology of Education 55 (1982): 197-212.

10 L. Anderson, D. Ryan, and B. Shapiro, The Classroom Environment Study: Teaching for Learning (Oxford: Pergamon, in press). In addition, Avalos and Haddad report encouraging results from classroom interventions mounted in east Asia. These modest projects involved intensive teacher training-encouraging tighter organization of class time, more complex inquiry methods, and intensive interaction with pupils. See B. Avalos and W. Haddad, A Review of Teacher Effectiveness Research (Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 1981). Nitsaisook reports on a similarly successful in-service training effort in Thailand that yielded strong, empirically documented gains in pupil achievement. See M. Nitsaisook, "Report of Primary School In-Service Teacher Training in Thailand" (Ministry of Education, Department of Teacher Education, Bangkok, 1987, mimeographed). " World Bank, World Development Report, 1989 (Washington, D.C., 1989). On urban-rural inequality, as well as disparities in livestock and household assets of rural peoples, see C. Colclough and S. McCarthy, The Political Economy of Botswana: A Study of Growth and Distribution (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1980).

278 May 1991




of primary schools has more than doubled. Primary enrollments have

quintupled. The number of teachers has increased sixfold. Growth in secondary school spaces has been even more dramatic. In 1962, Botswana had just six secondary schools. Today more than 140 junior and senior secondary schools operate. The number of secondary school teachers has

grown from about 50 to over 1,700.12 This explosive rate of school expansion is straining the capacity and

quality of teacher-training colleges. Since 1962, the government has constructed three new colleges. The number of trainees enrolled each year has risen from 120 to over 2,000. Education department enrollments at the University of Botswana also have increased.

Able secondary school graduates still enter the teaching profession, given only modest growth in Botswana's wage-labor work force. But little detailed information is available on the background and competencies of new teachers. This lack of knowledge helped motivate our study of teachers and their pedagogical methods (sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the U.S. Agency for International Development [USAID]). In addition, the government and donors have invested heavily in curricular improve- ments and teacher training over the past 5 years, again with little understanding of the classroom context into which these interventions are injected.

Botswana Classroom Study: Variation in Teacher Action

Complementing Prophet and Rowell's earlier ethnographic work in Botswana, we developed quantifiable scales that measured (a) discrete behaviors of the individual teacher and (b) dominant pupil behaviors exhibited by the entire class. (We made no attempt to sample individual pupils or to record their behavior.) Each sampled teacher's class was observed over the normal 40-minute period that we term a "snapshot." Each teacher and his or her class were observed on three separate occasions over a 3-month period. A total of 154 junior secondary and 127 primary school teachers were selected in the sample. Eleven students from the University of Botswana, following training and field tests with the instrument, collected most of the data.

The organization of our observation instrument reflected two basic objectives. We constructed scales that captured how instructional materials were used and described the basic social structure set by the teacher. By quantifying observed teaching behaviors, we were able to determine typical pedagogical methods and variation in how teachers go about their work. We hoped to assess whether the routinized pedagogical practices reported

12 U. Kann, "Education for All: Botswana Country Paper" (paper presented at Education for All conference, Nairobi, November 1989); U.S. Agency for International Development, "Botswana: Country Development Strategy Statement, Fiscal Year 1991" (Gaborone, 1989).





by Prophet and Rowell were generalizable to all Botswana teachers. Second, we wanted to employ scales for which reliable measures could be taken by relatively inexperienced research assistants. This article reports only findings that stem from the low-inference measures contained in the observation instrument.

The instrument consisted of two sections. The first section included continuous scales requiring the observer to estimate the proportion of time the teacher behaved in specified ways. For instance, each observer estimated the share of total class time the teacher lectured, led recitation, or performed logistical, nonacademic tasks. These estimates were made at the end of the 40-minute class period or snapshot. The second part consisted of a checklist of pupil behaviors engaged in by the entire class during a 10-minute segment. Observers checked, "pupils reading a textbook," for example, if the majority of students were engaged in this action. While the 10-minute segment refers to dominant pupil behavior, it also picks up how the teacher structures the class. The use of instructional groups or individualized activities for particular students is extremely rare in southern African classrooms.

The instrument also included basic descriptors of the classroom and teacher-availability of instructional materials, subject being taught, and language(s) of instruction. In addition, the observation protocol covered three basic types of behavior. First, the use of instructional materials (texts, exercise books, blackboards) was coded on the basis of both teacher actions and dominant pupil behavior (observed during the 10-minute segment). Second, measures of how teachers spent class time were included, distin- guishing particularly between academic versus nonacademic tasks and between time spent lecturing at pupils versus encouraging social interaction. Third, the protocol attempted to measure the form of social interaction in terms of routinized recitation, questions directed by the teacher to an individual pupil, or whether students actually initiated queries or discussion. Observations occurred midway through the school year, 7 months before annual examinations.

We make no claims about what types of teacher behavior are functional in boosting pupil literacy or numeracy. Here we simply attempt to describe action in the classroom-the individual teacher's behavior and the basic social structure within which students must operate. Our ongoing work will relate variation in teachers' classroom behavior to pupils' achievement gains.

1

"s It has been pointed out to us that we do not look at the interaction of'teacher behavior and pupil characteristics. In the United States, a few researchers have looked at how teachers adapt to the variable backgrounds and behaviors of children in the classroom, e.g., Jere Brophy and Carolyn Everston, Student Characteristics and Teaching (New York: Longman, 1980). This issue was beyond the scope of our study. We do enter pupil persistence rate into our models as a rough proxy for pupil quality.

280 May 1991




Reliability Analyses

Before turning to our findings, we look at reliability issues inherent within classroom observation studies. In the Botswana study, three observations were made of each teacher. Variation in scores on any one scale can stem from three sources. First, we assumed that true variation in behavior occurred among sampled teachers. Second, different observers may have systematically marked scales high or low, which can introduce nonrandom error (interobserver reliability). Third, true variation across teachers could be obscured by unreliable measurement of the same behavior over the three observation snapshots (call this "time-related reliability"). We controlled on a final source of nonrandom error: the subject being taught during the observation snapshot. For each teacher, instruction in the same subject was observed in each of the three periods.

Obtaining highly reliable scores among all observers proved to be somewhat problematic. All research assistants were trained to use the scales, first, by watching videotapes of Botswana classrooms, then, in the field during a pilot exercise. During this pilot test, three or four observers coded the same teacher and pupil behavior in each of 25 classrooms. Appendix table Al reports average deviations among the observers for selected 10-point scales. Overall, observers made very similar estimates. This is not surprising for the low-inference measures on which we report here. However, when we moved to the full round of observations, scores recorded by one assistant were systematically biased (as revealed by re- gressing teacher-behavior scores on each of the observers, coded dichotomously). All classroom snapshots observed by this assistant (representing about 15 percent of the total sample) were dropped from our analysis.

As a conservative control on remaining measurement error caused by interobserver differences, we entered a control variable into all multivariate models for the observer showing the highest bivariate correlation with a given behavioral outcome. These associations reached statistical significance in 4 (of 16) multivariate equations reported below (P < .05).

Time-related reliability did not prove to be a problem. Teacher and pupil behavior were remarkably stable over the three observation snapshots. This was analyzed for each scale by comparing (a) the standard deviation of the three scores calculated for each teacher then averaged over all teachers to (b) the conventional standard deviation, indicating the deviation from the mean score. The mean deviations (showing average variation across time) were consistently smaller than the conventional standard deviation (showing variation among teachers). For instance, the standard deviation across teachers for the percentage of time spent instructing in English equaled 30.1, but the mean deviation across the three snapshots was 3.3. For the percentage of class time that teachers spent lecturing, the standard deviation equaled 15.3, while the mean deviation was 11.8.





Note that this apparent consistency may be artifically inflated because the same researcher observed the same teacher over each of the 3 periods.14

Two exceptions to this pattern of reliable coding across the 3 observation periods should be noted. The percent of class time spent with pupils working silently on exercises varied over time almost as much as it varied among teachers. This situation also occurs with the dichotomous measure of whether all pupils were sitting, listening to the teacher lecture during the 10-minute observation segment (within the pupil checklist).

Teacher and School-Level Antecedents

Background information on junior secondary schools, provided by the central statistics office, was matched with our classroom sample. This allowed us to see whether qualitative factors at the school and community level helped to explain variation in teacher behavior. Interviews with each observed teacher also provided basic background data, yielding additional explanatory variables. Overall, the choice of antecedent variables was constrained by ease of availability. Our current work in Botswana attempts to query teachers in greater depth about their background, extent of teacher training, and pedagogical beliefs. This will yield more complete explanations of why instructional methods vary among teachers.

The school-level data, coming from 30 sampled junior secondaries, indicated that Form 1 enrollments averaged 138 pupils, with Form 2 enrollments falling in absolute numbers by 14 percent. Junior secondary schools employed 18 teachers on average, with a pupil-teacher ratio of 17:1. Approximately 63 percent of all teachers held diplomas (5 years of postprimary schooling) or higher degrees. Sixteen percent of all teachers were expatriates among sampled schools.

Urban junior secondary schools were more likely to have higher rates of pupil persistence between Forms 1 and 2 (r = .46); higher pupil-teacher ratios (r = .34); and higher quality housing for their teachers (r = .26), measured in terms of rooms per house. Urban schools did not employ more teachers in absolute numbers relative to rural schools. Schools with more teachers did tend to have lower pupil-teacher ratios (r = .40).

Inside Classrooms: Descriptive Findings

Table 1 reports teachers' use of instructional materials within both junior secondary and primary classrooms. The first five items come from our checklist of behaviors engaged in by all pupils (during the 10-minute segment of the full 40-minute snapshot). For these items, the researcher

"14 These ratios for all behavioral measures are reported in annex 2 of an earlier version of this article (B. Fuller and W. Snyder, "Vocal Teachers, Silent Pupils? Life in Botswana Classrooms" [paper presented at Comparative and International Education Society, Harvard University, Mass., 1989]).

282 May 1991




TABLE 1 USE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS BY JUNIOR SECONDARY

AND PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS AND TEACHERS

Junior Secondary

School Primary School

Mean SD Mean SD

1. Pupils using a textbook 1.11 .23 1.12 .33

2. Pupils reading any other book or paper 1.05 .18 1.01 .04

3. Pupils working on written exercises 1.15 .24 1.21 .26

4. Pupils writing an essay 1.01 .07 1.01 .07

5. Pupils doing exercises on the blackboard 1.12 .23 1.14 .26

NOTE.-Items 1-5 are dichotomous variables, coded I or 2; scores are then averaged over the three snapshots for each teacher. Therefore, the mean of 1.11 in row 1, col. 1, indicates that in only 11% of all classroom snapshots were pupils observed using a textbook. For junior secondary teachers, the maximum number of cases (N) = 154. For primary school teachers, N = 127.

simply checked yes or no as to whether the behavior was observed. These items were then coded dichotomously (action not observed = 1; observed = 2).15

The first row in table 1 indicates a mean score of 1.11, related to whether junior secondary classes were observed using a textbook. This mean value indicates that, in only 11 percent of 462 segments (154 classes x 3 observation snapshots), were pupils observed using a textbook. Classes were observed reading other written material in 5 percent of the 10-minute segments. Pupils were observed writing exercises in 15 percent of observed segments. Use of instructional materials during the full class period may be understated in that these findings come only from the 10- minute segment.

The use of instructional materials was similar for the 127 primary school classrooms observed. Here use of nontext written materials occurred even less frequently than in junior secondaries. The frequency of written exercises was somewhat higher in primary classrooms, 21 percent. The class was observed working on essays in just 1 percent of all 10-minute segments in primary and junior secondary classrooms.

Table 2 reports on how teachers use class time. Junior secondary teachers spent about half their time presenting material or lecturing to

"15 Tables 1-3 report scores in their raw form, rather than converted to simple percentages, so that the standard deviations remain meaningful.





TABLE 2 TEACHERS' TIME USE AND BEHAVIORS IN JUNIOR SECONDARY AND PRIMARY SCHOOL CLASSROOMS

Time (%)

Junior Secondary


Mean SD Mean SD

1. Teacher's instruction in Setswana .17 .11 .32 .36 2. Teacher presenting material to class .49 .15 .43 .18 3. Teacher spends on logistics .16 .12 .13 .14 4. Pupils reciting material .11 .13 .17 .14 5. Pupils working silently .16 .14 .15 .14 6. Snapshots during which homework assigned .35 .24 .23 .32 7. Pupils taking a test 1.03 .10 1.01 .07 8. Pupils listening to teacher lecture 1.69 .30 1.54 .36 9. Pupils reciting material for teacher 1.28 .33 1.43 .26

10. Pupils waiting or talking while teacher prepares 1.06 .15 1.07 .16

NOTE.-Items 1-6 are expressed as percentages. Items 7-10 are dichotomous variables, coded 1 or 2; scores are then averaged over the three snapshots for each teacher. Therefore, the mean of 1.03 in row 7 indicates that in only 3% of all classroom snapshots were pupils observed taking a test. Sample sizes are indicated in the table 1 note.

the entire class. This measure is an estimate by the researcher and applies to the entire 40-minute class period. Sixteen percent of class time was spent off academic tasks, organizing lessons and logistics. Interaction between the teacher eliciting simple information and pupils responding in a choral fashion also took up 16 percent of all class time, on average.

Starting with item 7, we report additional data from the 10-minute pupil behavior checklist. For instance, item 8 indicates that in 69 percent of the 10-minute segments the class was observed sitting passively, listening to the teacher lecture. This varies from the 49 percent teacher-time allocation reported in row 2. This is explained, in part, by the fact that the 10- minute pupil checklist was employed 10 minutes into each class period, when teachers are more likely to lead off with a lecture or presentation.

Findings for primary school teachers and classes were quite similar (table 2). Pupil recitation of factual material is more frequent in primary classrooms (seen in items 4 and 9). Primary school teachers assign homework less frequently.

Table 3 takes a closer look at the form of social interaction between teacher and pupil. The 10-minute pupil checklist included an actual count of the number of times an individual child responded to a question from the teacher. The average number of questions equaled 4.7 and 4.1 within junior secondary and primary classrooms, respectively (item 1). The observer also recorded the frequency with which an individual student asked a question of the teacher during the 10-minute segment. In less than one in four segments (item 4, mean of .22) was one teacher-initiated question

284 May 1991




TABLE 3 FORM OF TEACHER-PUPIL INTERACTION IN JUNIOR SECONDARY AND

PRIMARY SCHOOL CLASSROOMS

Junior Secondary


Mean SD Mean SD

1. Frequency with which any individual pupil answers a question asked of him/her (during 10-minute snapshot) 4.7 4.0 4.1 4.3

2. Percentage of instructional questions that require a single answer .76 .18 .78 .22

3. Percentage of instructional questions that are open-ended .14 .13 .17 .21

4. Frequency with which any individual pupil asks a question .22 .69 .14 .58

5. Class discussion of material 1.16 .27 1.21 .29

NOTE. -The mean value in col. 4, starting in row 2 (.22), indicates that in less than one in four snapshots did any individual ask a question in class. In row 5, col. 1, the mean value (1.16) indicates that in just 16% of all snapshots did two or more pupils ask questions or volunteer information regarding the lesson. Sample sizes are reported in the table 1 note.

asked at the junior secondary level, on average. The rate was even lower in primary school classrooms, with one question observed in less than one in six segments. Our observers also estimated the percent of all questions asked by the teacher that had only one correct answer (item 2). About three-fourths of all questions were closed-ended in both junior secondary and primary classrooms. The final item in table 3 indicates that in just 16 percent of the 10-minute segments was the class observed discussing material (defined as two or more pupils contributing to a teacher-led interchange about academic material).

What Factors Explain Variation in Teacher Behavior?

Two different multivariate models were run for selected teacher and (classwide) pupil behaviors within our sample of 154 junior secondary classrooms.16 The two models are specified beginning with the first two columns of table 4 (related to use of instructional materials). In column 1, we regressed percent of time teachers spoke in Setswana on background variables collected from the short teacher interview. In column 2, a subset of these teacher-level independent variables are combined with background data available at the school level. Three independent variables appearing

"6 Dependent behavioral variables were selected post hoc; since many teacher and pupil behaviors occurred so infrequently, there was little variation to explain.




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in the first model were dropped in the second model since they rarely showed significant effects, and by dropping them we conserved degrees of freedom. These two models indicate that teachers' use of Setswana (rather than English) was less when math or English was being taught. This was not a surprising finding but notable in that these two high-status subjects minimize use of indigenous languages, even the national tongue, Setswana.

Variation in teachers' use of textbooks is explained, in part, by regression results reported in column 4. Textbooks were more frequently employed when English was being taught. Textbooks also were more often used in smaller schools (defined by the number of teachers on staff) and in schools with a lower pupil-teacher ratio. (Note that these two exogenous variables are somewhat colinear [r = -.40], but one is not substituting for the other in this equation.) The frequency of written exercises (full model, col. 6) is related to math or English being taught. Here the more abundant availability of texts may prompt the teacher to engage in more complex instructional methods, including the structured use of written exercises. Note that the observer bias is significant in the first model but not the second. 17

Table 5 reports regression results for teacher time-use variables. Column 2 reports findings for the estimated percent of class time spent on logistics, estimated by the observer at the end of the 40-minute class period. Teacher time spent on logistics tended to be higher when English was being taught, higher in larger schools, and lower in schools with more expatriate teachers (although each coefficient fell short of statistical significance). Instructional materials may require more logistical action, for example, passing out and collecting textbooks at each end of the class period. Teachers in schools with higher-quality teacher housing spent a lower proportion of time lecturing. The logical link between housing and teacher behavior is vague. It may be that schools with better housing tend to select, or more successfully compete for, teachers who exhibit different pedagogical practices. Much more work is required to differentiate school-level from teacher- level effects on classroom structure.

Column 4 reports on the second measure of teacher lecturing, taken from the 10-minute pupil checklist. Findings similar to the continuous teacher measure are apparent, with English, math, and school size (number of teachers on staff) all taking on significant coefficients. These analyses do not illuminate why school size is related to more time spent on logistics. Future work should address this suggestive finding.

Table 6 displays similar regression models for our indicators of the form of teacher-pupil interaction. The percent of class time spent in pupil-

"17 The complete correlation matrix for all antecedent and dependent variables is reported in Fuller and Snyder (n. 14 above).

288 May 1991




TABLE 5 INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL AND TEACHER CHARACTERISTICS ON TEACHERS' TIME USE

(Unstandardized Betas and t-Statistics Reported)

% Teacher Time Pupils Listening to on Logistics Teacher Lecture

(1) (2) (3) (4)

Reduced model: 1. Form .04 .03 2. Subject = English .55 .52 -.10 -.20

(1.72) (1.78) (-1.18) (-2.71)** 3. Subject = math -.31 -.09 -.21 -.16

(-1.21) (-.33) (-3.07)** (-2.37)* 4. Teacher credentials -.06 -.09

(-.26) (-1.50) 5. Commercial materials .01 .01

(.44) (1.74) 6. Urban school .33 -.24 .09 .08

(1.23) (-.45) (1.11) (.79) 7. Observer control -.85 .02 -.11 .09

(-2.66)** (.03) (-1.37) (.50) Full model:

8. Pupil persistence .44 -.09 (-.69) (-.57)

9. Number of teachers .04 -.02 (1.82) (-2.97)**

10. Pupil-teacher ratio -.02 -.01 (-.77) (-1.01)

11. Expatriate teachers -2.41 -.70 (-1.72) (-1.31)

12. Teachers' facilities -.11 -.02 (-2.70)** (-2.42)*

F-value 1.90 3.66*** 2.15* 4.24***

df 7,93 9,77 7,97 9,87 R2 .12 .30 .13 .31

NOTE. -Blanks indicate that variable was not included in model. "* P < .05. "**P < .01. *** P < .001.

recitation sessions was lower in larger schools and, interestingly, higher in schools with more expatriate teachers. Our second measure of recitation, whether the class was observed engaging in this behavior during the 10- minute segment, shows very similar results. Here, too, we would like to know why these patterns appear.

Patterns and Conclusions

A great amount of resources is being spent on curricular reforms and teacher training throughout Africa-all aimed at changing the classroom behavior of teachers. These costly interventions are often built on the common wisdom that teachers rely on "chalk-and-talk," given the scarcity




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of textbooks, materials, and more engaging pedagogical strategies. But

development projects should be founded on clearer understanding of the actions of teachers and children inside classrooms. Our findings offer a bit more texture in trying to picture life in African classrooms.

Indeed, Botswana teachers are quite vocal. Yet pupils are not altogether silent. How both teachers and students are vocal-and the manifest social structure of the classroom within which action and inaction occur-con- stitute the more interesting story. The extent of variation in teacher behavior and the underlying factors driving this pedagogical diversity is the second issue illuminated by our findings.

To review key findings: Textbooks and written exercises are used less

frequently than one might assume, especially in such countries as Botswana, where basic materials are in good supply. Substantial variation among teachers can be seen in the frequency with which they employ these instructional materials. Subject matter and the availability of a text (as in the case of math and English) consistently influence teacher behavior. When these subjects were taught, both texts and exercise books were more frequently used. Instruction in these two subjects also was associated with less teacher time being spent on nonacademic logistical tasks and on lecturing to the entire class. In short, the subject matter and presence of a textbook tend to make the classroom less teacher centered.

The teacher in most classrooms was vocal and dominant. Yet pupils are not always passive and silent. A good deal of time-within both primary and junior secondary classrooms-was spent chorally reciting material or involved individual pupils responding to questions (posed by the teacher with greater frequency than common wisdom presumes). What is striking, however, is that the vast majority of teacher questions are closed-ended, demanding simple recall. Students rarely speak up in class with any queries of their own. Yet again, our data reveal considerable variation among different teachers and classrooms.

Teachers may see recitation as an important method for simply ani- mating the instructional process. It is interesting that teachers in schools with more expatriate staff demanded more frequent recitation than did teachers working in schools dominated by Batswana staff. Also, where pupil persistence rates were higher (more often in urban schools), teachers more frequently required pupil recitation. An alternative interpretation of the former finding is that expatriates are allocated to schools that fail to attract more creative teachers who rely less on choral recitation. Ex- patriates are less frequently placed in urban schools. So the latter finding suggests that recitation usefully and more intensively animates pupils and is associated with higher persistence (which, of course, could be codeter- mined by other exogenous factors). Future work, especially on the eth-

292 May 1991




nographic front, should focus on the meaning that teachers and students themselves assign to recitation and other pedagogical methods.

Teachers working in larger schools (in terms of staff size) tended to spend more time on logistics and less time using textbooks, demanding recitation, and lecturing at pupils. These findings, while not entirely consistent, suggest a narrower range of behaviors among teachers in larger (more bureaucratic?) schools. More work is needed to confirm and uncover why this may be the case.

The conventional wisom and earlier ethnographic work are not altogether inaccurate: Botswana classrooms are largely "teacher-centered." But this general image must be embroidered with important detail. Our evidence suggests that teachers vary primarily in their capacity to enliven classroom interaction. For example, the reliance of many teachers on recitation (and less frequent engagement in logistics) suggests an emphasis on pupil action of any form. Teachers vary on the character of interaction and information exchanged, but only after pupils have been animated in some way and even if it requires a more domineering pedagogical style. Teachers may be trying to motivate their students. Yet they may know, or simply resort to, low-complexity methods of sparking verbalization and pupil engagement.

Several factors stand out as having no influence on teacher behavior at the junior secondary level. These often alleged explanatory variables- including teacher credential levels, urban location, and grade level-show no direct effect on behavior. Significantly, the behavior of primary teachers differed little from that ofjunior secondary teachers. For whatever reason, the routinized scripts that teachers follow in Botswana have little to do with the age or developmental character of the children they face.

We did find variation in the behavior of teachers and pupils, suggesting that many teachers attempt to alter social action found in the classroom. Future work should go further in pinpointing antecedents that explain this variation in teacher inventiveness, including their own social class background and training, as well as school-level factors such as the head- master's possible influence. And more work is urgently needed to assess how variation in teacher behavior influences children's acquired literacy and social development.

As we begin assessing the relative achievement effects of alternative teaching practices, we confront a broader institutional issue: Is the school an insular organization within which teacher behaviors influence pupil achievement, independent of children's own cultural rules? Or does variation in students' ethnic and family background-especially the indigenous social rules found in their villages and communities-interact with the rules found in this foreign organization called the classroom? Placing





variation in observed teaching practices in this larger cultural context may help to explain why some pedagogical strategies and innovations are efficacious in boosting achievement and why other methods are not.

Earlier classroom ethnographies helped to illuminate the African teacher's general dominance and routinized pedagogical scripts. Overall, our quantitative evidence does not dispute these images of the typical teacher. Yet by looking across a larger number of classrooms we have shed light on variation in pedagogical practices enacted by different teachers. As we inch closer to understanding effective teacher behavior, we must

again enlist anthropologists to identify congruences and conflicts in the behaviors and social beliefs that children bring into African classrooms. The fit between teacher behavior and children's conceptions of classroom rules may be quite influential in understanding the learning, not just the teaching, process.

Appendix TABLE Al

INTERRATER RELIABILITY FOR SELECTED MEASURES

Mean Deviation Measure (% in 10-Point Scale Increments) among Observers*

Teacher's instruction in English .42 Teacher's instruction in Setswana .28 Teacher's time spent lecturing .58 Time pupils spend reciting material .49 Instructional questions that require a single answer .97 Instructional questions that are open-ended .72

NOTE.--Each measure (using a 10-point scale) required observers to estimate percentages or levels, e.g., share of time the teacher engaged in a specific behavior.

"* Computed by subtracting each of (three or four) observers' scores from the mean score for the particular scale, then calculating the mean of these deviations.

294 May 1991



Documents

Vocal Teachers, Silent Pupils? Life in Botswana Classrooms