ABSTRACT

Teachers and pupils co-construct classroom reality, but existing studies examining learner-centred pedagogy (LCP) in the Global South have primarily focused on teachers. Pupils’ experiences with LCP and its contribution to their learning have attracted little scholarly attention. This article seeks to address this gap to some extent by exploring not only teaching and learning practices observed in classrooms but also pupils’ narratives about their experiences in Tanzania. This research utilised focus group discussions with pupils and classroom observations to understand pupils’ perspectives on classroom experiences. Pupils spoke of discussions, group work and pupil-initiated Q&A as their favourite classroom activities; however, classroom observations revealed virtual absence of LCP-related practices. Analysis of pupil–teacher interactions and relationships with teachers indicates pupils’ fear of teachers and their view of the latter as a respected source of knowledge. The paper underscores pupils’ perspectives as a step to make LCP policies truly centre on learners.

摘要

教师和学生共同构建了课堂现实，但现有研究在全球南方检验以学习者为中心的教学法 (LCP) 主要集中在教师身上。学生使用 LCP 的经历及其对他们学习的贡献很少引起学术界的关注。本文不仅通过探索在课堂上观察到的教学和学习实践，还通过探索学生关于他们在坦桑尼亚的经历的叙述，试图在某种程度上弥补这一差距。这项研究利用与学生的焦点小组讨论和课堂观察来了解学生对课堂体验的看法。学生们将讨论、小组作业和学生发起的问答作为他们最喜欢的课堂活动；然而，课堂观察显示几乎没有与 LCP 相关的实践。对师生互动和与教师关系的分析表明，学生对教师的恐惧以及他们将教师视为受人尊敬的知识来源的观点。本文强调学生的观点是使 LCP 政策真正以学习者为中心的一个步骤。