In the past, all teaching and learning processes were centralized by the teachers. This meant that they proactively transferred knowledge to students and their lectures were considered standards whereby students were taught to learn by heart. This approach to teaching resulted in several problems. It allowed students to become passive in the learning process. Students were unable to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom into practice. They were not taught how to think critically and independently (Arends & Castle, 1991). Therefore, this approach was changed to one which was more student-centered, with the aim being to develop students as critical-thinking, independent, and strategic learners. Among the teaching strategies that supported the student-centered approach, was a problem-posing strategy which was extremely popular (Brown & Walter, 2005). The question arises about this strategy and what is entails, and whether it helps students to develop their critical and creative thinking skills?
The problem posing strategy is defined as a teaching strategy, in which teachers play a facilitating role in the creation of suitable situations, through which students can raise problems and find out solutions to address those problems (Ghasempour, et al., 2013). In the other words, the problem was transferred from the teachers to the students. Consequently, students were able to develop their critical thinking skills as they were directed to view the situation from different perspectives in order to raise problems. They were also encouraged to develop their creative thinking skills by brainstorming the situations in order to find different solutions to these problems (Ramírez, 2006).
However, it is not easy for teachers to adopt the problem posing strategy in their classrooms and students may not be able to raise questions when they are involved in these learning situations created by teachers. Why does this happen?
With regard to the teachers, creating suitable situations for students to pose problems is not easy, especially for new teachers, who may not have sufficient experience, skills, or the knowledge to create such situations (Brown & Walter, 2005). Even if teachers are qualified enough to do so, the teaching curriculum may also prevent teachers from using this strategy. For example, if the curriculum only allows the teacher to present the class with a particular topic over within a limited time frame, the teacher may not have sufficient time to apply the problem posing strategy which often requires a longer time for the students to address such a topic. Furthermore, the schools’ culture may also affects teachers’ performances. They may well recognize the importance of the problem posing strategy but they may not implement it because it takes time, provides little feedback to the teachers in terms of performance appraisal, and it may be new to their schools. Therefore, to encourage teachers to use this strategy, instead of only focusing on raising their awareness of this strategy, and giving them training, broader initiatives such as promoting innovation in teaching and learning in their schools, valuing their innovation in teaching and learning, and developing an organizational culture that supports the implementation of new teaching methods are critical.
With regard to the students, how they acquire knowledge is developed through different levels. Therefore, if students are assigned tasks which exceed their learning capabilities, they will be not be able to complete them. Thus, instead of applying the same problem posing strategy to all of students, teachers need to have a good understanding of their students abilities in order to develop suitable teaching methods and assignments (Stoyanova, 2005).
In general, the problem posing strategy is a good strategy for developing learners to become critical and creative thinkers. Its effectiveness depends on how it is used in practice. When both players – the teachers and the students are ready to use it, this strategy will be effective. Alternatively, if it is applied without consideration to the students’ level of learning and the teacher’s experience, it is likely to have a negative effect by making the classrooms more challenging, boring, and demotivating.
References
Arends, R. & Castle, S. (1991). Learning to teach. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Brown, S. & Walter, M. (2005). The art of problem posing. s.l.:Psychology Press.
Ghasempour, Z., Nor Bakar, M. & Jahanshahloo, G. (2013). Innovation in teaching and learning through problem posing tasks and metacognitive strategies. International journal of pedagogical innovations, 209(1178), pp. 1-10.
Ramírez, M. (2006). A mathematical problem-formulating strategy. International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning, pp. 79-90.
Stoyanova, E. (2005). Problem-Posing Strategies Used by Years 8 and 9 Students. Australian Mathematics Teacher, 61(3), pp. 6-11.