Life in the office, out in the field, or on the farm is all about integration and transferring knowledge from what is known here to what is required there. This integration is not static. It will involve integrating what one knows already, or searching for new patterns and processes in a continuous learning context. It will also require the sort of persistence in the face of failure that is an integral part of problem solving, a crucial life skill. Such a work context is alien to the silo nature of school learning which makes transfer and integration across subjects difficult, if not impossible.
Project based learning is a proven way of achieving this integration at the school level.
What is project based learning?
Project based learning is much more than a project in a single subject that past practices may point us toward. It is a cross curricula process, a practical use of curriculum overlap, where through authentic problem solving the students are enabled to develop competencies and skills in a number of interrelated subject areas. Thus what might be called work proficiency skills are enabled, such as higher level thinking, communication, collaboration and transferring knowledge across disciplines. Further, the students are enabled to develop their social and emotional skills such as becoming self-directed learners and effective team players. Finally, the disciplines themselves are extended from the classroom stage where finding the right answer has been the end to creating the right answer.
Beyond and above, the project must be real and authentic in a way that will engage and motivate the students. This engagement will be greater if the project at least impinges on the world of the students.
Selecting the topic and getting started
Selecting the project was simple enough. Like many schools we had decided to use radio advertising to promote enrolment but had no idea which radio station to use. Thus the concept for the project was ready waiting for us: to do a survey/research of our parents and the likely catchment area for future students to ascertain what radio stations they listened to. This fulfilled all the above PBL criteria.
The first task was to select who the target group was to be.
To ascertain this, collaborative groups were set up from the information obtained from the sociograms the class had done at the start of the year (See Classroom Relationships and Sociograms; Teachers Matter Issue 13). Individual students were selected from across the various sociogram groupings in an effort to obtain a greater cross section of ideas and thus add depth to the interdependent thinking involved. In doing this, any potential social cliques that may have been tempted to indulge in off task socialising was lessened if not eliminated. In addition, the socially dominant students were grouped together to remove the possibility of group members being intimidated by their presence (See Facilitating Learning Through Collaborative Groups: Teachers Matter Issue 22).
Next, an organising question was needed which was, who are the groups that could influence which school the potential students would attend? To kick start this each child was asked to discuss with their parents who they thought had an influence. Back at school each group brainstormed further and then in a whole class period, taking turns, put an idea forward until every group had exhausted their lists. Once this was done the analyses that was now on the whiteboard was evaluated to see if there were some common patterns. Eventually three groups appeared: parents, grandparents and students themselves.
Planning the survey
What method would be used to gather the data became the next question. Two obvious ways appeared, either to do a telephone survey or a house to house canvas. A command decision by the teacher was in order here. In this case a telephone survey was decided. This was partly because of time, but also because it enabled further curriculum overlap where the protocols the students would use for personal safety transferred to net safety in social media and other areas.
A teacher lesson followed. First it addressed safety issues which included identifying themselves by just a first name and the school and carefully avoiding giving out a surname or an address. Then it dealt with the questions to be asked and the importance of them being simple, unambiguous and non- threatening. Recording was to be meticulous with replies to be written down in summary form and repeated back to ensure they had got it right. Finally was the importance of signing off with a thank you and a request to ask if they wanted to be phoned back with the results. Throughout good manners were included such as being careful to not interrupt or get into any argument or discussion away from the topic, peppered at appropriate times with please and thank you or equivalent.
Execution
The organising question this time was what script can be written that will develop not only rapport between the interviewer and the interviewees to ensure their cooperation but also obtain the data we require?
Therefore a preliminary question was what data is required? That had already been answered earlier – parents, grandparents, and students – therefore the script had to have included in it something that distinguished this. Overall the KISS principle was emphasised: Keep It Short and Simple and go for the general.
The collaborative groups were re-activated to develop this script, progressing through the same process as when selecting the target group as detailed above. Developing a common script as the end product of this process gave both quality control and integrity to the project.
Role play was added at this stage as preparation for the real thing.
In order to prevent telephoning anyone twice, the phone book was divided between groups to organise their own calling lists. As a general guide the requirement was no more than five, no less than two calls per student.
Presentation of results
Before starting on the final presentation of the organising question, what graph would be the most suitable, needed to be decided. This requires the trial construction of several different graph types to ascertain which most clearly showed the information obtained. Depending on the class level perhaps the most simple –a bar graph, pie graph, and line graph – may be the range to survey. The colour scheme to be used with the graph also needs thought, bringing in a brief but important link to the art curriculum.
Finally the formal written report is completed. First is an introduction setting the scene by explaining the purpose of the report and a general outline of the nature of the survey. After this comes a detailed section with a narrative interpreting the graph(s) detailing both pros and cons. To complete the report the final paragraph is a recommendation of what radio station(s) to use. Attention needs to be drawn to layout too: certainly headings to be used and the positioning of the graphs but more sophistication can be added by trying out other variations such as different font styles.
Concurrent activity: social and emotional learning
Social and Emotional Learning is a significant aspect of PBL projects. To achieve the greatest benefit each student needs to keep a self-critical reflective
journal or a portfolio (See Using portfolios to grow and show professional development: Teachers Matter Issue 19). This then records and raises to the consciousness level the progress that is being made in the personal intelligence areas. These records can either be long term over a whole term or even a year, or short term over just the length of the project. Short term is the best initial time frame. These should be available for teacher perusal; however teacher interference must be non-threatening formative assessment.
This work is so important for personal growth that space to do this must be timetabled in on an almost daily basis.
Organising questions are important and at least in the initial stage teacher supplied. Here is a starting set, to be modified according to the student level.
Self-awareness. What did I learn about myself; especially in things I was good at and things I had to work on to improve? This is all about becoming aware of strengths and weaknesses, and therefore where they need to focus so they can perform better.
Self-management. When did I control my impulsivity and thinking carefully before acting, and therefore not make careless or confrontational comments or decisions? This is all about controlling emotions.
Social awareness. When was I able to calm a situation because I was either aware of how the participants felt and therefore modified my actions accordingly and helped sooth the situation? This is all about recognising the emotional make up of other people and behaving accordingly.
Relationships. What actions did I take to build and maintain positive relationships with those I contacted or worked with? This is all about building positive relationships and networks.