Project CHANGE: Grand Finale

So this is it. The last lesson of the course and the final coursework is hanging on the wall. Not bad,  if I say so myself. I cannot take any credit of course as I did none of the work! 

If you have followed this story (here and an update here), you will know that we have been working on this all winter in one way or another. My aim was to activate the learners to create their own learning material, take responsibility, give them choices and go beyond the course book and look at real-world phenomena. In my previous post, I toyed with the idea of phenomenon-based learning and it is certainly a step in that direction.

I got the group to give some feedback post-unveiling and although they were generally positive about the experience, some valid points were made about challenges. Firstly, as always with these adult groups, attendance is patchy. This makes longer project tricky as every week someone is absent. The group members had swapped email addresses but as they all lead busy lives, emails often went unanswered. This could be frustrating for the team members who are making an effort, and quite understandably so.

Throughout the process, I could see that the less autonomous learners struggled with this way of working. They relied on the rest of the group to carry them through and failed to engage in the activities fully. This was reflected in the feedback: a couple of people, and I know who, did not enjoy the work much.

There was no agreement on time management. Some felt that they did not have enough time to work on this in class, whilst some thought that it took too much time. As far as the latter point is concerned, maybe I failed to communicate the idea that the project WAS the class, not just something extra that was taking away time from something else. I did try to find a balance between the project work and some form of input to keep everyone happy but maybe I did not do this very successfully.

The positive comments focused on the real-life connection of the material and usefulness of group discussions and new vocabulary learnt along the way. The need to look for material involved both extensive and intensive reading skills, which was found to be a useful exercise. One person also commented on the fact that she now has a better understanding of her group members’ character (yes, there were some tiny little conflicts in one group).

Of the two phases of the project (Phase I – finding texts; Phase II – producing own texts), the first was generally preferred. This was to be expected: Phase 1 required less effort, less collaboration and less negotiation. Phase I lessons also resembled “normal” lessons more. The only bit that was different was that they decided on the texts; after that, the teacher was in charge. Phase II required an altogether different approach and way of working. When I introduced the idea of phenomenon-based learning in the last lesson, once person quite rightly pointed out that this was not how she learned when she was at school 50 years ago. No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t smooth sailing all the way but maybe that would have been too much to ask anyway?

So how do I move forward? Am I disheartened by the experience and will never try it again? No, I am not. Little tweaks are required, such as making sure none of the groups is too big and giving them enough time in class. I also need to think about how to activate those learners who are less self-directed. Most importantly though, it is necessary to highlight the skills practised and benefits even more throughout the process. It is not enough to say it once at the beginning of the term. Learners need to reminded every single week of the pedagogical rationale behind every step.

It was quite nice to see them taking photos of the finished product though. As if they were a teeny-weeny bit proud of their work.

 

 

Photo: This project was about CHANGE in many ways. It was about changes in our world but also about changing the way we work together in class.