Introduction
This paper considers the learning limitations of ‘transmission learners’ within
a traditional context. Do they develop learning styles/learning expectations
incompatible with the principles/practices of independent learning?
Transmission learning
John Dewey, among others, characterized the traditional model of learning
associated with religious education as 'transmission’ learning. For the transmission
learner, education is about the transmission of knowledge from teacher to
student, rather than the development of skill. The teacher is viewed as a
font of knowledge and controller of the learning process. Thus a teacher-centred
classroom is conceived where the role of the teacher is to inculcate finite
knowledge in the students, and the role of the student is that of a passive
recipient of this knowledge. Karl Popper referred to this transmission process
as the bucket theory of the mind (the metaphor being of the teacher pouring
knowledge into the student). Spontaneous conversation, personal information,
discussion etc. are regarded as something for outside the classroom.
Proactive skill development is viewed as largely outside the remit of the
student in the transmission learning process, being perceived as something
you do when you have ‘done’ learning. In TESOL methodological terms, transmission
learning is about accuracy rather than both accuracy and fluency.
From the conception of language as finite knowledge, rather than a tool for
the negotiation of meaning, transmission learners have a preference for rote
learning, a reverence for the printed word (textbook) and difficulty understanding
the concept of plagiarism. Naturally they experience a strong test backwash
effect.
The transmission view of learning as a teacher-controlled process means the
maintenance of a power distance between teacher and student, and a vocational
empathy are expected from the teacher. A good pep talk and a reprimand 'for
the good of the students' can be received with some satisfaction as the correct
relationship of control is established in the classroom. Personal information
is not felt to be appropriate, and students can show little interest in self
correction and personal evaluation which they feel is the teacher’s job and
not theirs.
Conventional learner training limitations
Learner training is an obvious path we need to go down. However, conventional
learner training materials aim at getting students to analyse their own unique
learning style rather than dealing with cultural factors that are common to
students. The low degree of responsibility our students feel is their due
in the classroom means that they have little interest in reflection. Transmission
learners do not think it is their job to reflect on their own behaviour and
the idea would strike them as silly. If pressed, they would probably answer
with something they thought the teacher wanted to hear anyway rather than
what they actually did or felt.
Case-study solutions
One solution I devised is to transpose learning style issues into third person
case studies or problem solving questionnaires and to incorporate such material
in the curriculum. Consider the following case study:
A new teacher comes to a class. It is his first job in the Gulf. He sees the
students are friendly and he starts talking to them about his life. They ask
him a lot of questions. The teacher knows that it is good for the students
to practice speaking and that talking about our lives is good for this. The
students start to shout and make jokes in Arabic because they
think he is a weak teacher. The teacher gets angry and shouts at them.
The students get angry with him. Now they don’t like him and he doesn’t like
them. They say he is a bad teacher. The teacher goes back to the staffroom
and says to the other teachers ‘These students are horrible!’.
Who is correct? Why?
Déjà vu? If so, it is not surprising as the above type of scenario has been
a rite of passage for Western teachers who have gone to work in the Gulf since
the advent of communicative language teaching. Unfortunately for many teachers,
this kind of bad experience can end up in a mixture of cynicism and antipathy
to the local culture - a permanent state of culture shock wherein teachers
cannot perceive the problem as a valid academic issue they need to tackle.
It is compounded by a confusion between learning style and academic ability.
The traditional teacher-centred learning style can be viewed negatively because
of the students’ over-dependence on the teacher and their reluctance to think
independently however easy the task.
Confronted with the above case study, I found our students immediately sided
with the students, but appeared genuinely interested in the rationale behind
the teacher`s behaviour and opinion. Not least because they seemed willing
to accept that teacher might be right although they did not know why.
I devised a group of such case studies, attempting to illustrate methodological
difficulties for transmission learners, as conscious raising activities for
students. After asking a colleague to take a look through, he came back to
me with the impression I was writing orientation material for new teachers,
as the case studies portrayed the types of problems they were likely to encounter.
Conclusion
It is an interesting prospect that if we tackle learner training in an appropriate
cultural and methodological framework, it might be possible to better our
students’ work and prevent ourselves from developing a blighting professional
cynicism at the same time.