ABSTRACT
The second aspect to the teacher-pupil relationship is the sequencing rules which regulate the order in which transmission takes place. If the rules are explicit, there is a clear recognition of what is appropriate to the child at any particular stage. Every teacher has experienced, for example, going into a noisy classroom and saying, ‘What class is this?’ and, on being told a fourth-year class, responding, ‘I thought it was the first year, the amount of noise you were making.’ There is appropriate behaviour at appropriate stages; if the rules are implicit, ‘the sex and chronological age of the child do not become strong marking features of the sequencing
rules’. In this case only the teacher will be aware of what is appropriate, picking up cues from the child’s behaviour as to his reading readiness or developmental stage.
