1. Explain your feelings and the problem.
“When no one asks or answers questions during class, I feel like no one cares about the class.”
2. Make your request.
“I would feel better if everyone participated.”
3. Ask how the other person feels about your request.
“Do you think you can tell me when you don’t understand, and answer questions when you do?”
Last week was the life skills training course for the carers, which covered material for teenagers about goal-setting, communication skills, self-esteem, early pregnancy, drugs and alcohol, etc.—and of course, how to deliver an assertive message.
As per usual, the biggest obstacle for the course running smoothly was everyone sitting there in silence. It’s daunting to try to present to twenty (I can’t believe I did this in classes of forty a few months ago!) people who just stare at you blankly without speaking. On day three as we hearken back to earlier lessons, building upon our foundations, there is the sinking realization that no one actually understood what you thought was a fairly straightforward lesson…and so a half-hour reprise of the material (on delivering an assertive message) becomes a two-hour review of the material. The example I used to illustrate it is above.
However, when the trainees did understand what was going on, things went very well. One game we played took half an hour to explain the rules of, but people got really competitive once we really began. There was arguing about the point allotment at the end, regardless of the fact that it was their tea break. And, wonder of wonders, on the third day some of the trainees finally submitted lesson plans that were correctly written! The next challenge will be to get them to incorporate the awesome games we played in class into the activities they do with their OVCs, instead of just delivering the lectures their lesson plans specify.
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2 comments:
Is there an education culture difference? In some cultures students do not ask questions because they may appear unprepared or disrespect the teacher by implying he/she is not explaining well. Or they see the teacher as the ultimate source of power and that discussions among themselves will not give them true knowledge.
I'm not sure if it's quite either of those explanations, but it definitely is a cultural/sociohistorical difference. The reason usually proffered is that the Bantu education system under apartheid didn't prepare today's adults adequately for critical learning experiences; the system was based on the repetition of information exactly as said by the teacher, not the synthesis, absorption, and application of information. Critical thinking was not taught and there was little opportunity to use it. This is probably related to the second explanation you offer.
And of course, there's the ongoing linguistic difficulty. They are more talkative when my counterpart badgers them. This probably has something to do with the first explanation you give, and also with a feeling of frustration on their part that they may never understand me so it's no use to try.
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