A Class of Interactive Learning

Most terms associated with teaching today invariably come in context with the word ‘interactive’. Whether it is a lesson plan, an activity or a school event, the need for student interaction is compulsory to the attainment of success.

As a Curriculum Specialist I was asked by the School Management to conduct a workshop on “Interactive Teaching” to help equip the Primary Teaching Staff with effective tools to incorporate an environment of interactive learning.

I set out to plan the workshop by listing a set of targets to achieve. When talking about an interactive system of education, it was but imperative to conduct the workshop in a manner that reflected the amount of growth and learning possible through such interaction. Therefore, I decided to attach a little drama and role play to involve the teachers in the learning process.

I began the workshop with a little act. The drama teacher came to my rescue acting as a student. I placed on screen a picture of a horse eating grass. A short dialogue followed where the student identified the horse as a big dog. The teacher is filled with a sense of query and probes into the child’s mind to understand his interpretation of a horse as a dog. She then directs the conversation towards some logical reasoning allowing the student to rule out the possibility of the horse being a dog. And so, without cutting off the child’s observation and jumping to give in the solution, the teacher is able to strengthen the student’s power of speculation and logical reasoning.

There was an interesting follow up discussion amongst teachers who were appreciative of the amount of similarities that the student had been able to define between the horse and the dog. Surely this interesting conversation would not have been possible if the teacher would have simply stated the child incorrect and moved on with the facts. It gave my teachers an opportunity to actually work and understand student levels with this strategy of ‘Peeking into their World’!

Next up, I dressed up myself with a mystic hat accompanied by a pair of dark shades. Some teachers laughed while others clapped to welcome the refreshing act. My next set target was to create an imaginative story along with the teachers using a bell. The hall was noisy with anticipation and I rang the bell to get my silence. I began the story acting like the mysterious character that walks into a strange town and comes across different interesting situations. My job in creating the story was limited to moving the situations forward indicating the need to describe places and people without influencing the drama. Each time I rang the bell, a different teacher would add on a twist to the story and together we were able to create a hilarious story about the “Stranger in Town”.

I had successfully portrayed the role of a teacher as a strong ‘facilitator’. The teachers were thrilled by my performance and clearly agreed how exciting this act would be for the children in the class. Some decided to use this story teller act as a constant in their composition classes. I was happy to see that the students’ imagination would no longer remain limited to our own experiences and ideas.

The next task at hand was to help the teachers realize how important it is to involve our students in planning events and sharing responsibilities to create an awareness of holding a relevant position of importance in their own growth.

Here, I created a classroom atmosphere. I had already placed the teachers in groups. I walked in as a panicked and confused teacher. A few asked me, “What’s wrong teacher?” I informed them that I had been given the task to plan a “Teachers Day” and was completely out of ideas. I then reached out to them to maybe share a few ideas. They began with many different and fun responses and I created a colourful mind map along with them on the soft board. We discussed activities, materials required to enjoy those activities and also the people who were ready to take upon the responsibility to provide the fun on that day.

Opinions were shared and solutions were devised through discussions. Here, the idea of shared learning came across with huge popularity and teachers felt that they carried un-necessary thinking load on their shoulders which could easily be shared with their students.

I then moved on to hand them papers with a uniform shape of a circle and asked them to create something new and interesting with it. In minutes, I was ready to get the feedback. Teachers had used their individual thoughts to create different characters, objects and even scenery from that one uniform shape. They stood up at the podium to share their creative work and got the applause from their colleagues.

It brought to light individual potential and diversity of thought. As a facilitator, I allowed each teacher the time and space to express and share her art work, exhibiting my patience and fair mindedness.

I sat down on the stairs that led to the stage. I was thinking. By now, these teachers had been trained to ask questions understanding my acts. “What are you thinking about teacher?” they asked me behaving like small children. I began to tell them a story. A story about myself when I was their age. I had created a scene out of my own imagination to instigate a conflict of opinions. I told them that when I was 8 years old, my mum dropped me at the salon for a hair-cut. I was in line and waited till it was my turn. However, the lady decided to give her old customers preference and even though it was my turn, she decided to let me wait. I remained quiet and got my turn in the end. I got in the car and complained bitterly to my mum, who simply said, “It’s your own fault!”

The discussion began. Some agreed to my mother’s statement a little annoyed by my silence while others declared their compassion considering my age and the bossy behaviour of the lady at the salon. All in all, there were reasons given and some places the logic was contested by emotional factors. A vote was taken and most teachers voted on the need to speak your mind and uphold the principle of justice. My role through this act was to highlight the courtesy shown by most teachers while expressing their opinions in contrast to the more volatile speakers.

This act was important to me on a personal level as I firmly believe that empowerment of our children begins with freedom of thought and opinion. It is not just important to teach our children to speak their mind but also the tools of positive communication and effective methods to put across their points without offending or abusing the counter view.

The Workshop lasted an hour and I also touched upon some interactive tools that we could incorporate into our classroom systems to further the interaction between our students and ourselves. These included the mailbox, audio visuals and standard items of clothing that could be used at all times to create a little drama and magic for and by the students.

I concluded the workshop with a hand out that I had prepared for the teachers covering all the objectives that defined a ‘Class of Interactive Learning”!