Lesson structure in different school subjects in the Czech Republic

The paper presents the results of an analysis that was carried out within the CPV Video Study research project. It aimed to investigate differences in lesson structure in the every-day teaching of different school subjects in Czech lower-secondary schools. Video recordings of 249 lessons of physics, geography, English and physical education were analysed with respect to two dimensions: the organisation of classroom activities and the nature of the content. The findings show that there are manifest differences in teaching in the school subjects analysed. In classroom organisation, teacher-centeredness was found to be significantly greater in English than in geography and physical education. Concerning the purpose of lesson segments, the focus lay on developing new content in geography but on practicing the content in English and on applying the content in new situations in physics. Due to methodological limits inherent in the approach used, these findings must be interpreted with caution.