‘I get bored when we don't have the opportunity to say our opinion’: learning about teaching from students

Abstract

The idea of engaging students in discussions of teaching and learning has not had as much attention in Greece as in some other countries. As a new high school teacher confronting the problem of motivating reluctant learners I drew on the research I had undertaken on pupil voice for my M.Phil. The research was concerned with features of pedagogy that capture and sustain students' interest in history—a subject that is not always popular among young people. The analysis of data from interviews with 12 to 14 year old students from secondary schools in different parts of Greece highlighted three things: the importance of content that connected with students' everyday lives; opportunities in lessons for active involvement; and giving greater responsibility for learning to the students. This paper summarizes my research and indicates how the guidance of the students has helped me improve my own practice as a teacher.

Notes

1. My MPhil thesis was completed last year in Cambridge and was entitled ‘Attitudes to Archaeology in Greek Secondary Education’. It was the work on student voice in the Cambridge Faculty of Education that led me to change the original emphasis of my thesis.

2. The Ministry has also introduced a pilot ‘flexible zone’ where a school, for one hour per week throughout the year, is free to choose a special topic—which could be national heritage education.