Personal Reflections

ED 4236: ASSIGNMENT
PERSONAL REFLECTION
March 26 2007
Robin Martine Eve-Macleod
Grad dip ed.
Today was one of those days! It was wet, it was dreary, it was Friday and I was given an extra with year nine! Bloody hell. I got to the class and it was a pigsty, full of dirty lunch leftovers and scruffy, loud, obnoxious kids. My heart sank and shoulders slumped. Still the lesson had to be done. I stood and waited for quiet - no result. In a loud voice I told them to line up outside, grumbling they did (Skinner behaviourism). I then explained that when we went back into class I expected them to behave like socially responsible people, and that this meant they would have to clean up their mess, and not expect others to do it for them.[1] I asked for two volunteers to get a new bin, four volunteers to straighten the tables and the rest to pick up the mess. They did it without too much grumbling. With the class room finally ready I told everyone to get out their Hamlet worksheets and start on them. More grumbling, along the lines of: "who needs bloody Shakespeare", and: "Stupid idiot writes boring crap that makes no sense anyway".

After a while they looked like they might get on with it, but no, up the back one of them was texting away, and another had what looked like a biology book out. At this point one of my students from another class looked at me with pity and just a hint of contempt and said: "Why do you bother?” And I thought what a good question. The weather had meant they had to stay in-doors all day, they were restless, and certainly could see nothing new or interesting in an old rattler like Shakespeare. This mood was not conducive to learning.[2]

The answer came to me that I bother because I love learning myself, I enjoy finding out new ideas and new ways of looking at things, especially old things like Hamlet, and I want to share that feeling. The language and verve of Shakespeare, with the subtlety and absurdity, combine to create a realistic and vibrant experience. But not here and not now, I asked myself “So why was this class so dull?”

As an extra I had little say in this particular lesson plan, and cheeky though it was, I decided to abandon it and try something different. They certainly were not going to learn anything much this way, and they had had enough sitting around for one day and so had I.

I decided to change the experience by making the lesson into an intrapersonal, bodily kinaesthetic experience (Gardner MI), to give them a sense of ‘The Play”, a moving exchange of multidimensional relationships, as opposed to ‘The Text’, two dimensional, abstract phrasing: “Right let’s put away your work sheets, move these tables into a circle, and get out your texts, I mean Shakespeare texts, not your phones! We are going to do the fight at the end”. They looked up in surprise. Shocked out of their torpor, they virtually leapt out of their seats, at the chance of a bit of fun, probably assuming that the extra’s teacher was coping out. Here at last was some enthusiasm.

I put them into groups of five and gave them 10 minutes to do a quick read through and work out how to do it (constructivism, “The learner assumes responsibility”).

So, with books in hand and imaginary swords in the other, they experienced Hamlet as it was meant to be experienced; as a participation between the actors, and as a participation between those on stage and those in the audience.

It was loud, it was boisterous and it was fun. It got out their frustration at being trapped inside all day, and allowed them to have constructive fun. It made them receptive to deeper consideration of what a Shakespeare play is: Is it just entertainment, or are there other meanings within the layers of perceptions that those on stage and off bring to the experience of going to the theatre. How one person’s interpretation can alter our whole perception. This lead to a discussion of different adaptations of Hamlet in film, the Olivier version compared to the newer Mel Gibson, and then in turn to other movie adaptations, such as the Brennar versions of Henry V, and the even more recent BBC TV adaptations into modern place and language.[3]

At the end of this class we had all learned something new not just about Hamlet, but also a deeper understanding of the nature of Shakespearean plays. And more importantly, a deeper understanding of the learning process, that learning can be unpredictable, exciting and fun.

Obviously as teachers we cannot always throw away the lesson plan. Students have to learn what is required, but content based learning can be experienced in a variety of ways. It is important as a teacher to be able to read the students, to decide what kind of learning is appropriate for them in any given context, and on as many levels as possible. To use any means necessary, as Mr Holland (Mr Holland’s Opus) would say, to show them the content in an accessible way.

So my end of term, Friday afternoon, year nine extra, rather than defeating me, as my student’s earlier question implied, had actually been turned into an affirmation of the reason for me being a teacher in the first place, that learning should, and can be fun, and that the more fun it is, the deeper, the learning experience.
[1] Finn & Ravich, A Report From The Educational Excellence Network…”They believe that the teacher's most solemn job is to instruct the young in the”. P.7
knowledge, skills, and behaviors determined by adult society to be valuable.

[2] Connectivism, nd student portal “Thinking and emotions influence each other”
[3] Connectivism, nd student portal “Learning and knowledge rest in diversity of opinions.”