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AN ADMINISTRATOR’S REFLECTIONS FROM THE NCTA WORKSHOP
By Dave Barrett
As a school administrator I am not in the classroom teaching as much as I would like to be. Yes, it was a voluntary jump from a full time teaching position to a district Social Studies coordinator to a school administrator position, but the love of teaching has never left me. I have had opportunities in the past few years to do model teaching for teachers looking to improve their quality of instruction and this year as a school administrator to fill in when a teacher needed to leave early due to illness or a substitute teacher arrived late, but it is not the same as having one’s own classroom and seeing students progress with academic inquiry throughout a semester or school year. But, I am still able to gain in ideas and practice from attending and participating in the NCTA seminar and will be able to help teachers at my school improve their practice because of what I learned.
During one of his sessions Dr. Ellington introduced the “Education About Asia” magazine to the group. Some participants had heard of it, some had used it and some may subscribe or even had contributed to it. It is a great resource for teachers to use in two different manners. The first is for a teacher’s own personal knowledge and increase in scholarship regarding matters relating to Asia. The second is for students to read some or all of articles from the magazine for classroom work and discussions. In two recent issues influential Asian personalities were given short, but professional biographical articles that highlighted some of their contributions to their nation or the world. An idea for implementing these two issues and the articles from them would be to assign individuals or small groups one of the featured persons to profile. This would be done early in the term so time could be given to properly prepare an in class presentation for their peer students. They would essentially become an ‘expert’ on that person and their life and when the time fit within a history class they would create and give their presentation in addition to the regular instruction from the teacher. Such a presentation could be a powerpoint, a dramatic reading, a short scene acted out or any number of methods a student could devise to share their view of the impact of their chosen person.
The benefits of such an activity would be that students would get to choose someone of interest to them or from a country that interested them, practice their own research, create their own presentation and then speak to their peers to supplement the standard instruction. Students often enjoy being creative in a presentation, cheer each other along with accolades regarding how good a presentation is and can also be competitive in trying to outdo someone else. These all lead to fun and interest for students, by students, and they become more invested in their own classroom experience. In addition, when they speak to their peers they often deliver important points in a manner that adults do not conceive of and sometimes can make a greater impact with their peers. This deepens the overall learning for the individual and the group. The teacher is then also left with many additional thoughts, ideas, images and sources to use as they teach their subject. This idea also helps teachers increase scores on evaluations due to student engagement and student choice. It is suggested that a rubric of expectations be created and given out in advance of the assignment and that each student create 2-3 exam items for a section or semester exam.
Dr. Littlejohn taught about how Confucianism differs from Western thought and why it is important. This is of vital importance for teaching a history class regarding Asia, but anywhere else as well. As students try to learn about the history of the world or a region like Asia they may not understand why an individual or country may have acted as it did. Why were kamikaze attacks during World War II possible? Would millions of Japanese killed themselves or attacked Americans soldiers during an invasion of Japan rather than surrender if the bomb had not been dropped? How could the Japanese justify the killing of millions during their invasion of China? Why does the Chinese culture have the ability to look at questions with such a long term focus rather than just the next few months or years? When students can understand that in different parts of the world the societies truly visualize the world and their place in it much differently that Europeans and especially Americans they can better understand and appreciate the different lands, cultures and people who live there. This appreciation for a difference in world view and practices help students understand history, not only of Asia, but of the entire world as they study it. Being able to attempt to apply another culture’s viewpoint template instead of trying to force ours upon their world is a skill valuable not only in history but in business, law, politics and personal travel. Asking students to take off their ‘Modern American’ glasses and put on ‘5th Century Chinese’ or ‘20th Century Vietnamese’ glasses will help our students gain a much more realistic and definitive understanding of history. When they learn to do so when studying Asia they can apply that same technique to all other periods and places in history.
The examples he offered regarding the story from Confucius compared to the story from Plato is a wonderful example. One can easily detect a difference in personal and societal thought between the two. One can also compare that to our American values today and how that could even be altered depending on your social, economic, religious or ethnic status. Another story I always personally enjoyed using to a similar end was the Chinese fable of the man who lost his cow/horse and how rather than too much excitement or depression from good and bad events he tried to keep an even keel through all events. This can be particularly useful when teaching inner city students whose lives often appear to be moment by moment, often beyond their control due to family circumstances. When an instructor is trying to help them see the long term benefits of education versus a short term thrill such a story can help them understand a little better. If they talk about their ideas regarding any of the three previously mentioned stories it can help an educator try to see the world through their eyes, exactly what we are trying to help students do, and perhaps reach that child in a more effective manner.
Another strategy teachers can employ is quite simple but very effective and it helps engage students and elicit responses. Many students today require visible images to help them learn. Many of today’s students are experiential learners and part of that experience is visual images to help them conceive of the concept being taught. Using images in the classroom is a fun and easy way to help increase our student’s interest and understanding. An easy way is to find two images a teacher wants to use to illustrate a point in class. These can be photos, art works, cartoons – basically whatever! Students will be divided into pairs and one will face the front of the class while the other will face the rear. The students should have one piece of paper and one writing utensil between the two. When the classroom is ready the students facing the front will be shown an image and will describe it to the students facing the rear to sketch. It is important to stress that art quality images are not the desired outcome, but a general sketch of the image. Also, if the describer knows the image, they are not to disclose it, but rather describe it for their partner. After five minutes the image is removed and the pairs switch places. The next image is shown and the roles for participants are reversed. Time is called after five minutes and class is brought to order again. The first image can then be re-displayed and students are asked to comment on it. The teacher can offer some help, but should do as little as possible. The second image is then displayed and students are once again asked to comment. The teacher now has the full attention of the class, the students are deeply engaged and they are already pointing out parts of the image that are important to them. Some may already be what the teacher wishes to point out, others may be new ideas.
The purpose of this exercise is to introduce students to a new topic, help them visualize it before learning about it, describe it in their own words and sketches ahead of instruction and now be better prepared to have deep rooted, long lasting learning about the topic at hand. After participating in such a brief exercise students are engaged and prepared to receive more meaningful instruction. When students have to both verbalize and visualize something they are well on the way to internalizing it in their own mind and memory.
The NCTA seminars I have attended have all been of high quality in both content and instruction. I am happy to have had the opportunity to attend the most recent program and will look forward to participating in future programs as well.