Where's the action?

[Tod Baker]

Is your Exhibition leading students to take meaningful actions?

If yes, please tell us about them and how you facilitated the students taking action. If your answer is no, then why do you think so? What prevents students from taking meaningful actions? It is, after all, one of the purposes of the Exhibition. I think meaningful and sustainable action is the mark of a truly effective Exhibition and PYP Program. Your thoughts?

[Nancy Hultquist]

What prevents students from taking meaningful actions?
This is such a great question. I think this is the hallmark of all effective learning, whether it is the Exhibition or not. I am wondering if getting the teacher to "let go" of control is one of the most difficult parts of an effective Exhibition.

What does anyone else think?

Nancy

[Tod Baker]

That's right, Nancy. Rather than control the teaching and learning, we need to teach and learn side by side with our students. During Exhibition work, teachers often need to connect students with experts from outside the classroom for information and support. I believe most teachers are fine with that.

Maybe what prevents students from taking meaningful action is the lack of such a support network. Students in a school community that has access to experts like parents who work for NGOs have an advantage over students without such resources. There are tools out there, like Ning and Skype, that can connect people from different parts of the world, but there is nothing like having a personal contact inside your school community, someone who can work side by side with students.

Can anyone share an example of students taking meaningful actions? Did they have a support network that extended outside of the classroom?

[Leigh Newton]

I just joined and wrote a blog on our Exhibition that has just started this week.
I'm at The International School of Azerbaijan. Our Exhibition is called Thought Ignites Action.

We linked it to the previous unit, called Children in Search of a Lifestyle which looks at children in need around the world. That means we've just finished researching and are now following it up with the Exhibition unit on action that responds to the students' research. I don't know if anyone else has done this before. We've planned it well so I'm confident that the kids will understand and respond well. .

We're using our own version of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs that is a good visual representation of the different needs that we have. I don't think I can attach a file to show what we're doing. Anyone know how to do that or has that been disabled on this Ning?

To answer your question... We've found a gut response of the kids is simply to raise money. Our response to that is that there's little engagement with the topic and little change taking place in the students and those they interact with. Our students' famillies are mostly quite wealthy and money doesn't mean much to them. Any money raised is not going to mean much to these students although of course it might be significant to others. Our emphasis is on assisting the students to be creative in their response. While we'll never tell them not to raise money we keep emphasing the need to be creative in how they respond.

While we've only just begun this unit, we are expecting the students to connect with NGOs, an orphanage, newspapers, parents, local council etc.

[Tod Baker]

It's a common action for our students as well, "Let's raise money!" Raising money can be meaningful if we integrate it with raising awareness. The fund raising drive needs to educate people about the cause. This is where many of the fund raising events that I have seen come up short. Without effective leadership, they tend to turn out as simple social events for the fund raisers. Think bake sale.

And what do we do with the funds raised? Drop them off and say goodbye? It would be an unforgettable experience for students if they could follow the pipeline and learn how much of the money raised actually benefits the people it was intended for and how it is used. Was it actually used for what the students intended. Who made the decisions about how it should be used? Was it a managing organization? Did the people effected have any say in the decisions? These are the kinds of meaningful lessons that students can gain from raising money.

I hear that students manage to take meaningful actions with an NGO on their side. That might turn out to be a very good move. Good luck.

[Tod Baker]

Hi Leigh,

We now have a place on the left sidebar to share files.

Cheers,

To

[Cristina Milos]

Well, parents report back improvements within the family environment. The kids nag them about overusing water or leaving the lights on for too long. (Our PYP Exhibition is focused on the use of natural resources and the impact on the envrionment).
I am not certain whether this last for too long, though, as grade 4 students move into a different campus when beginning the Middle Years Programme.
It is indeed something that we, as teachers, should be concerned with. How much of this enthusiasm is taken to a higher level and molds children's lives?

[Cristina Milos]

If I recall correctly, Action in PYP does not exclusively mean "charity" or money raising. Actually, if I think harder, that is to be avoided in most circumstances - as it develops, at a sunconscious level, a sense of superiority towards less favored social groups.
I think are there always ways of proving awareness in this regard. Many of the issues raised throughout the Exhibition (during research, when kids encounter real data on , say, pollution, waste, poverty, or any other key-concept involved) can be solved differently.
Donations to an orphanage, for instance, are indeed necessary but not enough. Planning visits there, spending time with the orphans and bringing a smile on their face counts, too. I think THAT takes real effort and commitment from the students' side. Money come from parents- it is a quick way to "deal" with the problem.
To facilitate this essential (and ultimately, rewarding) component -action - you need to become a role-model. Sparkle their interst, raise awareness and start doing it yourself. Do WE take action as adults?

[Tod Baker]

Yes, we should act on our beliefs as well. When it comes to sharing the planet, I try to follow that mantra "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" at home and work. With our classes, if we approach inquiry as co-learners with our students, then we can take action together as well. We all become role models.

[Andy Birch]

This is definitely something I've found problematic but occasionally some of the ideas have taken off in the school and still survive to this day. Whilst the students should focus on global problems it should really be about how they take action at school and in their immediate community. Having a good set of mentors really helps this to happen. We've painted a playground, built habitats, created classroom packs, class recycling centres, school drinking bottles (to stop plastic waste) not to mention cleaning a canal for a day as a publicity exercise in a students neighbourhood because of the smell of the water. I've found that focusing the students onto problems that they can actually affect personally is the most important thing. Often we look, especially at the start of an exhibition for the more traditional problems and try to take action helping those, again along traditional lines such as charities. This does have it's place, but can often be seen as external to the school. I feel that action should be about changing our ways within a school context whilst benefiting the local community. Pigeon holing groups of people as having problems or into socioeconmic groups who need help as mentioned above can emphasis differences too much and leave students with the impression that problems belong to someone else and they are there to be a 'saviour' whilst not realising that often we are part of the problem.

[Cristina Milos]

Great ways of empowering students to take action and be responsible.
Thank you for sharing, Andy - I will definitely share this with other teachers. :)

[Tod Baker]

Well said, Andy. And thanks for coming by to visit our Exhibition. Sorry I didn't find time to stop and chat. How's your exhibition wrapping up?

I have yet to see charity work well. Like I said before, when students raise money they should do so in conjunction with those who are to receive it. Both parties need to work together to identify the needs that the money raised will satisfy. So often, students read about a problem and decide to collect money for it without consulting the people who are dealing directly with the problem. I'll raise money for that problem and send it off just doesn't cut it. Students who do this are too far removed from the problem and its solutions to make the action meaningful. It's just not that simple.

I like your approach about effecting change in the school and the local community. This gives students close connections to problems and solutions. That makes it meaningful and sustainable.

Cheers,

Tod