Demand-high teaching

I thought I would have another go at writing a blog post on a Saturday night when I really should have better things to do but my brain has gone numb watching 'X factor'.

I read a while ago about an approach to teaching and learning called "Demand High Teaching". I'm not sure whether to describe it as an 'approach' but I am going to label it as that for the time being until I come up with a better word. In fact, the advocates of such an 'approach' describe it as a "meme"as described here:  "we are not asking to throw out infant and bathwater.  We are proposing a small course correction to our current direction of travel – or whatever direction of travel you are taking in your teaching approach." (Underhill and Scrivener - http://demandhighelt.wordpress.com/).

So, what exactly is meant by 'demand high teaching?' The basic premise is demanding more from learners: not accepting incorrect responses; encouraging learners to push themselves; walking away from learners when they speak quietly so they are forced to speak up rather than the teacher going towards them; only giving praise when it is warranted; leaving more time for responses rather than feeling the need to fill silences, etc. If learners are forced to challenge themselves, deeper learning is more likely to take place. So far, so good. This seems pretty sensible to me.

However, I was wondering how ESOL learners might react to this. I'm sure we have all been in a situation when we have asked a learner a question, there has been what seems like an interminable silence and have felt the need to stop the torture: "Anybody else help?" etc. I once taught a Japanese learner who would put her head down and refuse to look at me when she didn't know/didn't like a question. It didn't matter how many times I rephrased the question or gave her more thinking time, in the end I just had to change tack and topic. 

Nevertheless, I like the idea of encouraging learners to take risks and to be creative and experiment with language. I find that some ESOL learners can be too dependent on the teacher and expect him/her to do the work for them, to clarify and reformulate language for them rather than 'forcing' them (OK - encouraging) them to do the work. This may be down to a lack of confidence and I think it is wise to tread carefully and cautiously. Learners have different expectations of a teacher and it may take time for them to adapt to a more 'hardcore' approach. Small steps leading to, hopefully, better results.

If you are keen to read more about demand-high teaching, you might want to have a look at these observation tasks which encourage you to critique some of the key issues involved with the approach/meme or what ever you want to call it! Let me know what you think.

http://demandhighelt.wordpress.com/observation-tasks/