In most of our university classrooms, students listen far more than they speak or participate. Our university classrooms are not short of knowledge, rather they are short of conversation. Despite decades of reformation, both undergraduate and graduate education in Bangladesh remains highly lecture-driven. Having taught for nearly eight years and studied in a far more participatory system, I find this dependence increasingly difficult to justify.
Of course, the lecture is not inherently flawed. It is efficient, structured, and sometimes necessary, especially for introducing complex concepts. But in our undergraduate and graduate classrooms, it has become not just a method, but the most common and approachable method. And that is where the problem begins! In most of our universities, a typical class still looks like this, the teacher speaks, students listen, and the clock runs out. There is little room for dialogue, fewer opportunities for questioning, and almost no expectation that students will challenge or co-create knowledge. The burden of “delivering” education rests almost entirely on the faculty member, while students remain passive recipients.
Contrast this with what I observed during my time abroad. Classes were rarely confined to one-way communication. Instead, they were built around participatory discussions, debate, group work, and of course critical reflection. Students came prepared not just to listen, but to contribute. The classroom was a shared intellectual space, not a stage for a monologue.
One major reason is the same traditional structural inertia. Our education system, especially at the tertiary level, is deeply rooted in traditions inherited from colonial and post-colonial frameworks. These systems prioritised uniformity, control where lectures are the easiest method to implement. Changing this model requires institutional will, which is often slow to develop.
Another critical factor is assessment. When evaluation is highly based on written exams, especially final exams that determine the majority of a student’s grade it naturally encourages lecture-based teaching. Teachers feel compelled to “cover the syllabus,” and students focus on memorising content that will appear in exams. In such a system, participation, creativity, and critical thinking become secondary, if not irrelevant. This exam-centric culture creates a cycle. Students expect to be told what is important. Teachers feel pressured to provide exactly that. Over time, this leads to a spoon-feeding dynamic, where students become dependent on lectures and lose the habit of independent inquiry.
There is also the issue of class size and workload. In many public and private universities in Bangladesh, faculty members handle large classes with limited resources. Designing participatory sessions, group discussions, presentations, continuous assessment, these require time, and energy. When a teacher is already stretched thin with administrative duties, research expectations, and multiple course loads, the lecture becomes the default.
For students, it limits intellectual growth. They may perform well in exams, but struggle with analysis, argumentation, and real-world problem-solving. They become consumers of knowledge rather than producers. For faculty, it is equally draining. Carrying the entire weight of a class, speaking continuously, managing attention, and ensuring content delivery that takes a toll on energy and creativity. Over time, it reduces teaching to a routine rather than an evolving practice.
What is often overlooked is that participatory teaching does not necessarily require a complete overhaul of the system. Even within existing constraints, small changes can make a difference: incorporating short discussions, encouraging student presentations, using reflective assignments, or allocating a portion of grades to class participation. These are not radical reforms, but they shift the classroom dynamic from passive to active.
More importantly, assessment methods need to evolve. As long as final written exams dominate, teaching methods will remain aligned with them. Introducing continuous assessment, project-based evaluation, and analytical assignments can gradually reshape both teaching and learning behaviours. Thus, if we continue to rely solely on lectures, we risk producing graduates who can reproduce knowledge but not question it, who can pass exams but not engage with complexity.
The writer is an Assistant Professor, Mass Communication and Journalism, Bangladesh University of Professionals. Email: [email protected]
