Each One, Teach One

What is the ideal student-teacher ratio? Are you happy with the 30:1 that we have at Bulls Eye? Or should be closer to 10:1?

My ideal is 1:1. It implies that I am customizing learning for an individual student. Can we achieve this ratio at Bulls Eye? Sustainably?

I will chat today about two on-going experiments. The first is happening in Pune. Attaching a photo of a Pune classroom. A simple rotation of chairs by 90 degree is helping us convert students to teachers. And trying to achieve a Student : Teacher ratio of 1 or maybe even lesser! In groups, ‘Each one, Teach one’ happens.

Moving on to the second experiment. In July 16, I showed the Sugata Mitra TED video to Grades 9/10 at Mind Tree School, Ambala. Got students to discuss and reflect. Teachers also attended. Students were enthused about the video’s theme of group work. Teachers – were aghast – and resisted! I returned two months later and continued the discussion with teachers. We started by discussing problems faced when we break the class into groups:

• Will disturb other classes
• Will not work for large classes
• Will not work for Math
• Will lead to indiscipline
• Our furniture is not designed for group work

I then asked the teacher groups to come out with solutions which will take care of these objections:

• Design the team exercises before the class starts
• Do quizzes and games in groups
• Add GD periods to the time table. Make discussions relevant to the student age group
• Take up topics not related to subject: movies, short stories
• Ask students to work on creating scripts
• ‘Stars’ to be given to both teachers and students for participation. Stars to be given to entire groups, maybe entire class.

The Principal, Vice-Principal and trustee attended the presentations. We agreed to get the planning for group learning in place. Kaizen: Teachers will work in groups to plan. Separate worksheets will be created for group learning. Each group will be given only 1 worksheet and 1 pen, so that discussions improve.

These are the on-going experiments that I wanted to share. What has your experience with group work been? Looking forward to your sharing it with this group!

Thoughts by Shaila Sharma, Verbal Faculty, Ambala

Teaching is an intricate and challenging task, a task that includes diverse responsibilities. On the one hand a teacher has to ensure that quality education is imparted in class, while on the other hand a teacher has to make sure that students are absorbing the imparted information. Effective teaching cannot happen without the learning of the student. To be effective, a crucial requirement is to ensure active involvement of the student in class.

One of the most effective tools to involve students is Group task activity. I experimented with this activity recently. I made groups in the class and students were asked to solve the class exercise in a group. I was surprised to see that most of the groups came out with correct answers. In fact the most reticent students were also able to participate and speak. Not only did the groups discuss with enthusiasm, but they were also able to generate their own answer options. I quote Benjamin Franklin here “Tell me and I forget .Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

By involving students in a group task we are achieving two targets. One is – we are making learning a fun and easy task. Two – we are inculcating a spirit of initiative in students. Usually students have a tendency to look to the teacher for everything. However, group activity removes this hurdle – students start taking initiative and make an effort to understand the problem.

With the help of group task, we can assign complex problems to a group, which otherwise an individual may find difficult to handle at an initial stage of learning.

Group task helps students as well as teachers in multiple ways:

1.    “Two heads are always better than one” usually, students are reluctant to work upon the problems on their own. Without trying themselves, they expect the teacher to solve questions. What group tasks achieve, is that it brings peer pressure on a student to at least make an effort. In the process, they develop an attitude to approach the problem via self-effort. It is vital to inculcate this instinct in students.

2.    Students become active rather than passive learners. Many of their doubts are clarified within the group itself, which ultimately saves time for the class.

3.    Sometimes there are students who are reluctant to ask questions in class. Group activity helps these students because it is easier for them to clarify their doubts and queries from fellow students.

4.    Group task also helps in developing lateral and critical thinking in both students and teachers. Lateral thinking deals with solving problems in an innovative manner. It is about understanding and applying new techniques which may be easier and give faster results as compared to traditional methods. Only when a student solves a problem himself, can he/she appreciate different methods to solve that problem. When a discussion takes place in the class, a student gets a critical appraisal of his thinking process or where he/she went wrong.  Adequate time should be given to students to put forward their own solutions, which may be different from the methods taught in class. This will act as a two-way process where even teachers will learn better ways of doing things along with the students.

“Groups” are a successful “mantra” in the class. But there are some basic things that one should keep in mind while making groups in the classroom.

1.    Keep groups small: Ensure that the size of the group is not very large. Keep two, or at max three, students in a group. In small groups students interact more. Big groups are a limitation to effective discussion as the “quiet ones “will remain “quiet”, while a few outspoken ones will dominate the group.

2.    Refer to only one source:  The teacher should ensure that each group is referring to only one source (book, handout etc.). If every student is referring to his own book, it is quite likely that there will be no discussions.

3.    “Must Do”:  Group task inculcates a spirit of initiative in the student. Of course, a student has to appear individually in exam, but this initiative will help in developing critical thinking abilities. Therefore, it is important that both teachers and the students adopt the process of group tasks whole heartedly.  At the end of day, it is going to help them crack the exam. Small changes make the biggest difference.

4.    Only a facilitating process: It should be kept in mind that group task is a supplement to class room teaching. Given the diversity of students, a teacher may find a student who finds it difficult to work in a group. Such students, though rare, should be dealt with in an effective manner. The teacher should ask such a student to change his group as he deems fit. Even after this if the student is not comfortable, then the student should be allowed to work individually.

Thoughts by Suman Arora Puri, Verbal Faculty, Ludhiana

The experience of eating a dish at home and eating the same dish in a restaurant is never the same. The difference is not in its making, but in its presentation. This is what brings the Wow! The same is true for teaching. The times are gone when teachers decided what and how the students should learn. In earlier times, the teacher was the only source of information. But with the advent of technology, students already have the basic information; they have their own thought process; they have all the resources. Teachers today need to switch roles to be facilitators. Their job is to take the students to a path from where they can start their journey to the path of knowledge, on their own. In simple words, our job is to create the need for knowledge and then acquaint students with various resources from where they can get the same. 

The word ‘Why‘ is one of the most significant ones in the English language. It drives you to go a step further to find out answers. As a teacher our role is to encourage these ‘whys’ in our students. They should know what are they doing and why are they doing this. In a nut shell, the teaching process should be student driven instead of teacher driven. One such student driven process is Group Activity wherein students are divided into groups of 2-3 and are given a joint task. The benefits of group activities are:

1)    Interest levels increase because most of their queries are getting solved by group members. 

2)    Confidence building – Hesitation levels reduce because now they are representing a group instead of themselves.

3)    Comfort levels build up in students. They feel free to discuss their doubts even if the teacher is not there.

4)    Group activity makes the class and the topic interesting. It takes the shape of discussions instead of normal give and take mode. (Teachers give and students take.)

Every coin has 2 sides. Group activity does have its drawbacks.

1)    Some groups finish earlier than others.

2)    It can create a nuisance if the group is sufficiently large.

To avoid these shortcomings, group size should never be more than 3 and every group should have a good mix. To increase the participation level, theory should be combined with an interesting activity.

I had to teach Idioms once which I felt is a very boring topic. So to add some tadka, I asked students to go through the slides carefully. After the slides got over, we played dumb charades. I had made chits of the idioms beforehand. A student from each group came and picked up one chit and enacted the idiom. His team had to guess the same and then tell its meaning. If the meaning was correct, the team scored 1 mark. Students’ response was so good that at it was difficult for me to end this class. It was the most interesting class I have taught. My purpose was solved: I wanted them to learn idioms, which was done, and that too with great fun…

One more practice which I usually do in my class is that instead of me explaining all options, I ask teams to defend their answer and negate other options. The benefit of this activity is:

1)    I come to know their level of understanding and their approach while solving the question of a particular type. This is a major determinant of their speed and accuracy.

2)    At times students use certain shortcuts or logics which I also had not thought of earlier. So it helps me also.

To summarize, it is important to hone the analytical skills of students. This can only be achieved if they express themselves. Group Activity provides a way for this. It provides a channel to their doubts which never came out earlier because of the fear of “What others would say”. More doubts lead to better insights, which leads to better learning, which leads to successful teachers.