OBSERVATION #4: Classroom power.

In this case, I had the opportunity to observe a 3rd grade class. Before going into the class, I had the possibility to talk with the teacher about what she had planned for the lesson, which was "revising vocabulary (Theme: "Food") and doing a listening activity to complete their activity book".
Given that the children were going to have two weeks of Winter holidays in about two weeks, she told me they were going to have a little test before. Finally, the teacher nicely replied to the first four questions from my observation notes.

1) Who chose the aims? ► Teacher (T)
2) Who chose the language and-or skills focus? ► T
3) Who chose the topic(s) and activities? ► T
4) Who chose and prepared the materials? ► T
5) Who chose the sitting arrangements? ► Student (S)
6) Who wrote on the board? ► T
7) Who cleaned the board? ► T
8) Whom did the students speak to? ► Teacher/Student (T/S)
9) Who created the pairs or groups? ► Not applicable
10) Who decided when to stop an activity? ► T
11) Who operated the equipment? ► T
12) Who decided which questions or problems in the lesson were explored? ► T
13) Who chose the vocabulary to be learned? ► T
14) Who gave meaning for words? ► T/S
15) Who spelled out new words? ► T
16) Who gave explanations? ► T
17) Who asked questions? ► T/S
18) Who answered student questions? ► T
19) Who repeated what was said if others didn't hear it? ► T/S
20) Who created the silence? ► T
21) Who broke the silences? ► S
22) Who checked the work? ► T
23) Who chose the homework? ► T

In general, there wasn't really anything that surprised me. I expected the teacher to directed the lesson and that is exactly how it was. Children only participated when they were asked to. Sometimes they asked questions because they weren't sure about what they had to do, but they asked always in Spanish.
Making reference to question N° 5, I think that it is okay to allow them to choose where they want to sit. Most of the time, they choose the classmate they feel more comfortable. However, this could often lead to low-effort response to complete the activities as they misbehave.
For what I've observed when it comes to writing on the board (Question N° 6), children feel an extra-pressure and they tend to pay extra-attention to their mistakes. I suppose that when it comes to values, students could feel teachers trust them when they ask them to write on the board. To them is like assuming the responsibility, they feel like they are leading the class.
I have to admit that I feel a little sceptical about giving the children the power to choose their own homework (Question N° 23). As I haven't worked as a teacher yet, I do not know if it could work but I do believe that it could make everything more engaging, challenging and valuable to them.

A shift of power is not really present in today's education, I think. Thinking about the idea of having students leading the class and not the teachers themselves requires making some changes in education. I mean, before we should think if we are ready for such a big change, otherwise it would be a huge loss of time and it could all end up in chaos. The traditional image of the teacher hasn't really changed, the teacher is supposed to be the authority and guide.
If we hand over some decision-making power in the learning process to the learners, I wonder what would happen with the aims and purposes. I'm not saying it is impossible or that it will never happen but it is certainly risky as it could all get out of control. After that, getting back on track would be even harder.
Children are used to being instructed and not being in charge of their own learning. If we wanted to change that, we would have to clarify roles, there would have to be some kind of training before because even today, sometimes student don't know what to do when they are left to make some decisions.

Reflection: I think when facing a group of students we have to know who they really are, their position and potential so that we can know where to go from there and what kind of options we can offer them to choose. Experiment with them, give them the chance to have some control over the direction of the lessons. I mean, allow them to take part in our decisions as teachers. This way children can learn about responsibility, compromise, respect and how to trust their teachers.
Of course, never forgetting that it is always necessary to set some limits otherwise they could end up thinking they can do whatever they want.