Disciplinary technologies and pupil redisposition: school equipment and homework diaries

Time and space in the classroom – lessons from Germany and Sweden

“…The dominance of class discussion as a way of teaching in Germany is mentioned several times in the literature (e.g. Bohl & Kleinknecht, 2009;Prediger & Erath, 2014;Schönbächler, 2006), as are the central roles of homework, tests and marking (Seidel, 2011;Terhart, 2008Terhart, , 2011Zaborowski & Breidenstein, 2011). The lesson's uniformity makes it unnecessary for the teacher to reserve time for explaining the upcoming lessons content and course (Seidel et al, 2002).…”

“…Instead, most researchbased literature in this field resembles the manuals and textbooks used in teacher education, in that they take a 'right' or successful use of time and space in the classroom as a starting point, and the literature offers suggestions on how such correct uses can be established (Bicard, 2000;Canter & Canter, 1992;Charles, 2008;Emmer, Evertson, & Anderson, 1980;Roache & Lewis, 2011;Rüedi, 2007). Even literature that at first glance seems to be descriptive-analytical research in this area tends to lapse into normative rhetoric (Granström, 2006;Thiel, Richter, & Ophardt, 2012;Zaborowski & Breidenstein, 2011). In general, the temporal and spatial organization of life in the classroom is commonly described as a problematic phenomenon, full of contradictory signals.…”

“…They also explicitly describe German classrooms as enclosed spaces. Control, correction and distribution of homework (Seidel, 2011;Zaborowski & Breidenstein, 2011), as well as different kinds of examination (Terhart, 2008;Terhart et al, 2011), are described as integrated parts of the German lessons.…”