ABSTRACT
In this chapter we continue the analysis of Norma’s and Jean’s teaching styles. The responses to the cartoon pictures described in Chapter 3 showed that the pupils made continual reference to receiving corrective (evaluative) feedback. There were repeated instances of exchanging information to find out if a sum was right or if a word had been spelt correctly. The incidents, described in my diary, reflected the views of other researchers that getting things right (or in many cases, not being found out doing something wrong) becomes a major preoccupation in the daily life of pupils in our schools. As described by John Holt (1984), for example, this fear of failure leads children to become ‘fence stragglers’ while Measor and Woods (1984) refer to similar strategies as ‘knife edging’. One favoured technique used by pupils is to draw the teacher into the discussion whereby he or she provides more and more clues about what is an acceptable answer.
