Abstract:
Flipped Classroom [FC] refers to a form of blended teaching and learning where the traditional
classroom environment is ‘flipped’ 1800 with the tangible-spacial classroom being extended by
means of a virtual one. This paper presents the preliminary findings of an on-going research on
the practicality of implementing a FC in the Sri Lankan School Context. The research identified Students, Teachers, School Administration and Parents as the major stakeholders and four
questionnaires were administered to 10 school administrators (head-masters, head-mistresses,
school board members and/ or mangers), 20 teachers, 50 students and 20 parents affiliated to
different schools in the Western Province of Sri Lanka in order to ascertain their perspectives
and insights into the adaptation of a FC. Cross-referencing of these data with respect to gender,
grade taught / learnt in and teaching/ learning medium (English, Tamil, Sinhala and mixed) revealed interesting viewpoints on this matter. The paper draws upon these survey findings along
with the data from selected interviews, secondary sources as well as researcher’s observations
and concludes the findings under four main topics; a) The Digital Divide; FC’s extreme dependency on the computer and the internet along with the digital divide which exists in the country
at present would make its implementation unfair for certain groups of Sts, b) Teacher’s Conundrum; Not all teachers are equally competent in technology and it might be unfair to expect
certain digital immigrants to assimilate into the constant use of advanced technology in their
classrooms, c) The Students Psyche and d) The Parental Factor; The majority of the students
and parents are not ready to deviate from the traditional way of teaching and learning due to
the implications it might have on certain high-stake examinations. The paper concludes that
the major stakeholders unite in discouraging the implementation of a FC in the school system;
in the current state of affairs it would pose more challenges than advantages to the Sri Lankan
school education system.
