Active Participation

Active participation of learners has been viewed as the key to the learning process. To constructivists, challenging materials and cooperative activities where students participate and become engaged are essential in classroom instruction. In comparison, classrooms in Chinese heritage culture classrooms, where lectures are the main form of instruction, do not seem to actively motivate students. During classroom instruction, few questions are asked, and small-group activities are limited. Assumptions of learner passiveness, both from cultural tradition and current practice, misrepresent students who appear inactive. By reviewing the words from the Chinese teacher and philosopher Confucius, the assumption of learner inactivity is challenged. Analysis of an interview of a senior high school history teacher and discussion of the way lecture serves as an effective method to achieve student engagement offer a different view of active participation. These historical and contemporary quotes suggest that instruction in Chinese heritage culture classrooms emphasizes learner participation as much as constructivist classrooms. Moreover, in Chinese heritage classrooms learning is not just cognitive but also involves emotion and attitude. As a result, the lecture method needs to be reexamined to understand how it fosters active participation.