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As a full-time teacher completing a part-time, I made a decision early on: do research that speaks to the daily realities of teachers and teaching. And so, the idea came from a lived experience—the day I asked one of my grade 11 learners (an A student) about the interpretation of a poem. His response? "Ma'am, please just write the answer on the board so we can study it for the exam."

I am sure that many teachers can relate to that request, which is typical of education framed by a "chalk and talk" approach.

"Chalk and talk" refers to a classroom environment where the teacher does most of the talking. There's an over-reliance on textbooks and a focus on recall and rote learning. This is your typical "one size fits all" approach to teaching. Learners are mostly motivated to learn to pass their final year exams.

In South Africa, where I work, that's contrary to what the national curriculum states. The critical outcomes of the say learning has to be active, focus on critical thinking and reasoning, and go beyond memorizing.

But that's the exception rather than the rule in South African classrooms. There is a mismatch between policy and practice.

A weighed the pros and cons of active learning vs. direct instruction. Ultimately, active learning is essential to promote curiosity, take ownership of one's learning journey, and develop important social skills.

The goal of my research was simple: to help teachers include active learning activities in their regular classroom routines. I called my intervention the "altered flipped classroom." The idea originates from the "," an active learning to make the best use of face-to-face time with learners.

Altering the flipped classroom

The flipped classroom makes use of pre-recorded lessons that learners view before coming to class. In class, teachers support them to do their "homework."

The flipped classroom has been in depth and the advantages to learning are impressive. These include improved and the development of such as critical analysis, problem-solving and collaboration. One discovered that the flipped classroom helped low performers to keep up with their peers.

In South Africa, only of public schools have access to the internet for teaching and learning. Because of this limitation, I had to "alter" the flipped classroom by excluding the technology component.

For example, instead of relying on online resources, learners can be given a visual representation of a poem along with a few guiding questions to prepare at home for the next day's lesson. In class, they could then share their responses with a peer or the whole group.

This simple adjustment can enable meaningful contributions and include participation from all learners in a class.

Teachers take on the challenge

I invited Grade 8–11 teachers in public and private schools in the Western Cape province to participate. Thirty-one teachers attended the online training, and nine took part in the study. Their teaching experience ranged from first-year to over 30 years. They also received a which included the background of the flipped classroom, its underlying theories, and practical examples of how to start. Teachers were asked to flip their classroom for three consecutive lessons and to keep a research diary to capture their experiences. These were also discussed during online interviews.

The aim was to explore what had been holding them back from active learning methods. It turned out that they experienced internal and external pressures. Teachers had to overcome possible judgment for "teaching differently" and faced uncertainty regarding the changing of roles. They also experienced fear of having less control, and noted their old habits and mindsets of teaching.

Voices from the classroom

The teachers in were concerned about what colleagues or management might think:

"If someone walked into my class, it would have seemed like … the kids were playing around, not working, but they were. It just … looked different."

Teachers had to face their own deep-rooted habits and mindsets, which mostly centered on control. This appeared to come from their well-established teacher identities, shaped by their beliefs, assumptions and experiences with regard to their own teaching and how they were taught.

One teacher emphasized the need to move from "a conservative in a box kind of teacher." One said "my classroom is my stage"; another "felt territorial about {her} space."

Some teachers recognized the need for change. One said, "I feel like we can break that habit" and another, "We cannot do it the way we have always done it." They started to become aware of old habits that influenced their practice: "It's so like hammered into me that you have to be in the front, you have to teach."

From passive learning to purposeful growth

Ideally, teachers will challenge themselves to question the chalk and talk comfort zone and the system that reinforces it.

If nothing changes, learners are being set up to be dependent on their teachers.

The teachers reported many advantages for active learning, such as increased motivation and learners taking responsibility for their learning.

Teachers should be encouraged to go beyond the boundaries of traditional teaching. Learning experiences have to include opportunities to develop thinking, skills and values. Apart from knowledge, these are essential when entering the workforce or when studying a post-school qualification.

Change is not always easy, but it is necessary.

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