‘Hand’s not raised? Too bad. I’m calling on you anyway’
Do you remember sitting in class, trying to be inconspicuous so that the teacher wouldn’t call on to answer a question you couldn’t answer, or were too shy to express yourself well in front of the class? Here’s a piece about the practice of calling on students who aren’t offering to contribute to a lesson. It was written by Alfie Kohn, author of 14 books on education, parenting and human behavior, including, most recently, The Myth of the Spoiled Child (Da Capo Press) and Schooling Beyond Measure (Heinemann). This first appeared on www.alfiekohn.org. I am republishing it with permission.
By Alfie Kohn
Doctors in training call it “pimping.” A medical student or junior resident is abruptly put on the spot, sometimes during patient rounds, as an instructor fires off difficult questions about anatomy, diagnostic protocols, or surgical procedures.[1] The practice is defended in pretty much the same way that other forms of humiliation, bullying, hazing, or punishment are defended: Keeps ’em on their toes! Shows ’em I mean business! Toughens ’em up for when other people abuse them later! And of course that old chestnut: Isuffered through it; why shouldn’t they?[2]
Children in school are rarely questioned with such ferocity, but similar moral and pedagogical concerns arise — with particular urgency, in fact, precisely because they are younger: Should teachers call on students who haven’t indicated they want to talk and, in fact, have tacitly indicated they don’t want to talk?
I recently suggested on Twitter that this practice — “cold-calling” — is so fundamentally disrespectful of students that I’d be disinclined to take advice about anything from someone who endorsed it. Reactions to my tweet fell into three clusters. The first group basically agreed: “It’s a great way to shame a kid.” “Too many teachers actually believe it is a trait of a good teacher, that ‘Hand’s not raised? Too bad. I’m calling on you anyway’ - The Washington Post: