Pupils 'should be banned from putting hands up'

January 18 2011

Teachers should not ask pupils to put their hands up when they know the answer to a question.

This is according to education guru and former deputy director of the London Institute of Education Dylan William, who said teachers who take this approach have no idea if the rest of the class know what they are doing.

Speaking to the Guardian, he suggested that picking names at random or giving children mini whiteboards to write their answer on is a more effective way of finding out whether pupils understand.

Mr William also recommended that teachers hand out fewer grades and provide constructive comments instead.

"I've nothing against grades at the end of the school year. But telling students, after every piece of work, that they're at levels 5, 6 or whatever is bizarre, perverse. The national curriculum levels were meant to be descriptions of the totality of achievement over an entire key stage, not judgments on individual pieces of work," he commented.

Writing for the same newspaper earlier this week, journalist Yvonne Roberts said pupils can be demotivated by league tables and constant monitoring.

She noted that teaching to the tests "blunts" the skills youngsters need to go the extra mile.

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