Flipping a Classroom

The idea of "flipping" as classroom - that is conducting instruction outside of the class and follow up work in class - is a very interesting idea that seems to, quite literally, turn traditional teaching upside down. The main point that's presented in this article by John Graney is that flipping allows for much better use of classroom time. Instruction does not require much teacher-student or student-student interaction, the students simply listen and take notes and with today's abundant technology the students can easily do that outside of the classroom. Homework, however, can be greatly benefited with class time and the accompanying possibilities for collaboration. It is here, in assessing their intake of the presented material that students could most use the guidance of a teacher or help from peers, thus having them do this in the classroom is, in effect, maximizing classroom time. As well as maximizing the teachers' work time - questions, comments and help after the presentation of the materials can be be done right then and there in the classroom. Helaine Marshall states, "with lesson presentation taking place outside of class, time in class consists of the instructor observing students to ensure on-task attention and equal participation of all learners; assessing how well each student is doing based on contributions and questions; dealing with confusion or misconceptions about material in the videos, and encouraging higher level thinking" in this article.

Classroom restructuring

I think that this is a fascinating re-imagining of the role of the classroom. By having classroom time be activity time, it puts the most interesting things in the classroom and on a regular basis not just as an exception. Of course, class time will only be interesting and students will only be able to participate if they've completed the "instructional videos" (referring to above graphic) or, in other words, the presentation on the lesson. By having the students come in ready into the class they can be more focused and they can know, more or less, what to expect. I have not tried this method yet, but the theory looks way too good to pass up. Bored, unfocused and disinterested students are among a teacher's least favorite things. Other negative classroom things seem to radiate out from that: from poor performance to bad behavior. Thus reformatting the class to minimize these can only be a good idea.

A criticism of this method that comes up is that teachers apparently abandon their central role in the classroom here. However, I think that this is far from true. What is true is that students are empowered a lot more, though not at the expense of the teacher who still selects class materials and assignments, carries out assessment and so on. The teacher may not stand in the front of the class as much, yet still the whole class is still led by the teacher. To use an analogy, the traditional teacher is more like a marching band leader, central and unmistakable, while the flipped classroom teacher is someone along the lines of a team coach and referee bound into one, he or she sets the rules and overall strategy while the players/students actually carry it out.

I look forward to trying this method on when I go on to teach, though it will require some convincing. Many traditionally taught parents might be hesitant to embrace this method, this its presentation might have to be tweaked - e.g. "homework is to watch the video and in class we'll discuss it and have an activity and quiz." When grades and morale improve, parents should be accepting of it in a big way.