It has become a common tradition in classrooms around the world for students to raise their hands when they have something to say. Hand raising alerts the teacher, provides an easy way to get attention without speaking, and is a simple concept for students to learn. However, a school in the United Kingdom has banned students from raising their hands.
At Burlington Junior School in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, administrators made the decision to completely change the way students (ages 7-11) would answer or ask a question in class. Instead of raising a hand, the administrators believe that giving a thumbs up sign with the right hand while wrapping the left hand around the fist of the right all while keeping the hand on the desk, was a better idea. Why was this sudden change in the way students answer questions made? Headteacher Cherlye Adams explained, “It is to stop the pupils waving arms about, which can be distracting. It has calmed the pupils down. Staff have noticed a positive difference in the amount of people answering questions. I don’t think this approach to answering questions is a big deal. There is also no issue of children in the back of the classroom being missed or ignored.”
This reasoning is not justifiable for some parents of the students at this junior high. In fact, some believe that it is natural for students to raise their hands when they have a question or answer. This new rule discouraging students to raise their hands is enforced through posters in some classrooms. One poster has a picture of a student raising their hand with a giant cross-out going through it.
This method of not raising hands had been tested in 2010 at London University’s Institute for Education. The deputy director of the university, Professor Dylan William, admitted that, “The kids and teachers all hated it at the beginning.” However, the results of the experiment remain unclear. In some classrooms, children learned faster when using the new method. However, other classrooms still had the same results as when they did raise hands.
How would the new rule of not raising hands affect Padua students? Blair Luedke (‘15) believes that raising hands is not a big distraction. “I think that it is very unnecessary to have raising your hand banned. It is not distracting at all, it’s a way to get the teacher’s attention to answer a question, or to ask a question. Raising hands is important, it shouldn’t be banned.”
Many who disagree with this new method believe that administrators should not be focusing on whether students put their hand or thumb up but rather, on the student’s studies. Although it is believed that this new method will create a relaxed atmosphere in the classroom, it will, according to some, create confusion and frustration among the students.