The classroom atmosphere appears active and fluid, yet individual students frequently make errors when answering questions. This study examines, from a micro-level perspective, the deep tension between active interaction and genuine versus superficial learning—a tension closely tied to educational quality in ethnic minority regions. Drawing on Interaction Ritual Chains as its theoretical framework and adopting a qualitative research paradigm, the study conducts an in-depth analysis of secondary school classrooms . The findings reveal that the "bustling appearance" is not an occasional mishap at any single stage, but rather something that gradually develops through a cyclical process. Because praise becomes decoupled from the quality of thinking, teachers and students form a consensus at the initiation stage that raising one's hand equals participation. On this basis, teachers and students jointly sustain a formal-level collective effervescence through three interrelated processes: collective choral response, superficial grounds for judgment, and a disconnection between students' life experience and instructional symbols. The cycle concludes with students shifting genuine learning off campus and teachers lowering their instructional objectives. Within micro-level interactive contexts, this study clarifies the relationship between teachers' and students' rational choices and the ritual structure, traces the generation of the "bustling appearance," and proposes strategies to break this cycle.

Jiaxin Liu, Yucong Gong. The Question of Whether Students Are Truly Learning: A Study of the Formation of the "Bustling Facade" in Secondary School Classrooms. Frontiers in Educational Research (2026), Vol. 9, Issue 10: 48-54. https://doi.org/10.25236/FER.2026.091007.

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