At the school visit of Takuhoku Elementary school, we spent a few minutes watching a sports lesson on the school's outdoor field/practice area. What made the lesson unique for me was watching the teacher(s). Instead of having the adult teachers run the class, the students were divided into groups, and led by a student from an older year. This leader had already learned the game they were about to play, and it was her/his responsibility to teach the rules to his/her entire team. We left shortly after, but were told that the students would later compete in friendly competition with what they had learned. Implied in this style of instruction is the desire to win, so each teacher and group must try their best to learn and to listen to the instructions of how to play the game.
Anyways, this all reminds me of Dr. Towers' seminar class, where she introduced complexity theory to us. At the time it sounded very strange, and perhaps I'm misunderstood what she was talking about. However, it certainly reminded me of what I saw yesterday, and gave me serious reason to think about using this strategy with students of my own. I'll post a few pictures later; I didn't bring my camera to this school, but will ask to borrow some from my classmates.
Hey Martin, it sounds like you are enjoying the new experience, so does the air smells the same as last time?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was going through my training, we shifted towards a similar style of learning as well, and I believe it works fairly well. The old style of teachers standing in front of the class and talking for an hour are gone. Kids and adults learn better by doing for themselves all that's needed is proper supervision and direction. I think it teaches people how to follow directions as well as how to solve problems.
I don't know I could be way off, either way I think its worth a try.