Letting the kids take control...

This week an S3 class undertook a presentation task in class. They were given two periods to work in groups and come up with a presentation to explain what they had learnt about factories in the early 19th century.

The assessment criteria was set and there was one rule: No powerpoint. At the outset this was simply to avoid the common scenario I have experienced where the kids simply regurgitate information on slides and don't really engage with the task enough to achieve meaningful outcomes. Quickly this relatively simple task (one which is commonly used in CfE classrooms) took on a different course to what I expected.

The class itself are a nice bunch, they work hard. However, by giving them relatively little instruction I instead opted to encourage them to try to be creative in how they displayed their information. There were different results.

A number of the groups opted to use Prezi, the presentation format I use. I found that for the most part the results were the same as when they use powerpoint - just with less information on the slides. However, two groups opted for a different slant and achieved a far more exciting outcome.

The first of the two created a quiz for the class (using Prezi simply as a visual prompt). Their knowledge base was apparent and easily assessed - they answered questions the others could not answer and when a correct answer was given they then contextualised it. I was surprised by this creative approach, it was collegiate and in turn produced an interesting five minutes where the class as a whole explored the presentation.

The second group took a completely different route. They went away and recorded a 'documentary', acted out and edited by themselves. Although a bit rough around the edges - this group were able, in the course of about 2 hours work, to write, act out and film a short play based entirely on what they had learnt. Again the class as a whole were engaged by this.

What I learnt was that sometimes less is more. Allowing the kids to take control over how they presented their knowledge produced different results. The groups that followed the tradition 'presentation' should not be criticised - teachers, including myself, have encouraged this with the easy option of information regurgitation. However, by allowing for a more creative approach the other two groups achieved what I would see as far more meaningful outcomes. Hopefully the rest of the class learnt this too - they should feel comfortable in using their strengths to present information however they see fit. After all, education without creativity is not really learning at all. Education is about exploring, learning and consolidating. Different individuals will approach this in their own way - they should be encouraged to do so 100%.

Teaching History Through Creative Writing.

My S3 class recently undertook a diary task based around what they thought life would be like in the cotton mills of the 19th century. I've done this sort of creative writing task a few times with different classes over the past 2 years without giving it a much in-depth thought. I just reckoned that it was a bit more interesting for the kids to write than the usual essays.

However, after marking this particular classes work I put a little more thought into what they were actually doing. Over the summer I spoke to quite a few people who quizzed me on why I teach history. I've had this question put to me countless times since beginning my career. More often than not the reply is based around the thought that History teachers are best placed to try and help future generations learn from the mistakes of the past. Creative writing is possibly the strongest foundation from which such a goal could ever be achieved.

Increasingly, I have found my basic teaching rationale based around the idea of young people putting themselves into historical situations. This is based on my own historiographical view that History is moved by cultures and groups of people rather than the actions of particular 'great' individuals. By trying to get young people to imagine the mindset of people at different points in History a more articulate emotional understanding can be created. From this emotional understanding young people then have the grounding to contextualise the facts they have learnt.

Often older people I speak to complain that History in their school days was just 'remembering dates'. History is so much more than that. By putting themselves into the shoes of others, young people can learn empathy, compassion and gain a fuller understanding of historical significance. That's so much better than regurgitating dates and facts!