I think I am
getting the hang of this! Today we discussed problem-based learning, than
applied the methodology to a series of practical school issues. It was a very
interesting exercise, especially since I had previously studied PBL learning. In
my classes we invented our own PBL packages for students in elementary school
(my package involved an imaginary situation where the Earth had flooded and
students had to decide how humanity would survive). These PBL packages that we
created were also designed to have students take charge of their learning and
engage directly with the material, but I had never considered using it for
university students.
The exercise we
completed had us back in our groups to analyze and discuss different scenarios
that had happened in schools. I was fortunate that my group is made up of one
representative from each country, so we had a very balanced look at the
scenarios from many different perspectives. The first scenario we started with
would be a nightmare for any teacher – an eight-year-old boy with a knife at
school. There were just so many unknowns about the situation that it was hard
to determine what questions we should ask without knowing something more
substantial about the student. My group in particular became interested in questions
of power within families in our respective cultures (as in, who makes the
decisions, mom or dad?). What I found really curious is that despite the fact
that Denmark is physically far closer to Turkey than Canada, we found that
Denmark and Canada had many more cultural similarities, and many more differences
with Turkey and even to a smaller degree, Hungary. What was lovely about the
group is that we were able to discuss this (more sensitive) topic without
feeling judged, just open acceptance from the whole group.
The next
situations I found much more applicable to my every day practice, as it dealt
with a huge problem in Canada – cyber bullying. We talked about two situations
in total, one where a boy was bullied on an online forum he managed, and
another where a teenage girl was probably bullied online, but never confided in
anyone. This seems to be all too common a story in Canada; in fact Irene read a
statistic that 1 in 4 children are now cyber bullied. This was also an
interesting issue to discuss because it brought up questions of free speech,
the right to privacy and the limits of a schools authority (especially since
the cyber bullying will affect the child at school, and may involve students
from the same classroom, but what can a teacher do if the bullying does not
occur on school property or on school computers?).
I think that
there is not a single solution to any of these problems. The best we can do is
spread awareness and compassion in our students by making role playing a part
of our classroom, reading books from many different perspectives and building
an atmosphere of trust and empathy for everyone. And using PBL to encourage
students to dig deeper into an issue and consider all angles and aspects of it
before making a decision!
I really like your thourough reflections! And also how you reflect on cultural differences in regards to the cases at hand. And yes, interesting how Canada and Denmark are quite similar. It is fun to hear about how you worked with PBL in elementary school in Canada.
ReplyDeleteSee you Monday! Best regards, Marie-Louise