I’d suggest that by now most of our college community have a good basic understanding of many aspects of Project Based Learning. Over the last couple of years since IFS-ITS first came on the scene, there have been many blogs that have explored the fundamentals of PBL, as well there have been references to websites where a greater understand can be gained. I am sure that many parents now know about the four Cs of PBL, and can explain what Group Norms are, and can probably speak confidently on many aspects of PBL, but how many know how the traditional four Rs in learning interface with PBL? Would many people have a clear understanding of how PBL integrates and works together with the Australian Schools’ Syllabises? We are after all under the jurisdiction of the NSW Board Of Studies who must be satisfied that we are providing our students with the quality of education they deserve.
A misunderstanding could easily arise into thinking that PBL does not incorporate core literacy and numeracy skills, however nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, PBL is the ideal approach to learning these necessary skills, because it is not about learning/teaching a subject in isolation, but rather that subjects are integrated into a project and they are learnt as part of real situations.
At the moment in Stage 2 we are working on a project we’ve named: ‘What is more powerful – Pictures or Words?’ In this project we are pitting the creativity of language against the creativity of visual artistic expression. [What is more powerful for you?] Our students are exploring sayings by incredible individuals like Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, Gandhi and others, such saying as:
“There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.”
and
“Winners never quit and quitters never win.”
and
“If you can’t fly, then run,
if you can’t run, then walk,
if you can’t walk, then crawl,
but whatever you do,
you have to keep moving forward.”
and
“Education is not the learning of facts,
but the training of the mind to think.”
and
The pen is mightier than the sword.”
and
“A picture tells a thousand words.”
and many more.
Aside from the ‘Word’, our students have the opportunity to see paintings, drawings and photographs from famous and lesser known artists; students are being asked to describe in words their thoughts and feelings that these pictorial images evoke for them. This project will run until the end of the term, the students will move from experiencing the writings of others and reflecting, to creating their own – prose, creative writing and poetry, and they will also move from looking at other people’s creations to making their own. From there they will examine each other’s work, expressing their own peer critic.
I trust we can all appreciate that through such a project, students have the opportunity to work deeply on their English expression and literacy skills, whilst at the same time exploring their artistic creative nature. You will also no doubt recognise the worth within the moral and social aspects that this project can provide our students with.
Attached are some photos of the class at work with their various chosen ‘Words’ and ‘Pictures’ for this week.
Kind regards,
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