© 1997 by Oxford University Press
Articles |
Helping teachers to cope with large classes
project manager of the ODA-funded Primary English Language Project in SriLanka. Before that he was a lecturer at the School of Education, University of Leeds. He has an MA from the University of Lancaster, and is working towards a PhD on teachers' perceptions of teaching and learning within their wider socio-educational context. He has taught English as a first, second, and foreign language in the UK, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sri Lanka, and has been involved in teacher and trainer development in Malaysia, Thailand, and the UK.
The issues raised by teaching in large classes1 are rarely addressed in pre-service training courses. Those teachers—and they are numerous—who have to cope with classes that contain 50 or more learners are, therefore, often ill-prepared to deal with the situation in which they find themselves in schools. This article examines an in-service training session developed for use in the state sector in Thailand which aims to help teachers to come to terms with some of the problems found in large classes. It is based on the author's previous experience in north-east Thailand, and his continuing involvement there in teacher development work.