DURING MY PGCE YEAR AT MANCHESTER METROPOLITAN the importance of active learning in the classroom has been heavily stressed both whilst on placement and during my time in lectures at University. Even at the stage of an NQT (as I am now), the sinking sensation that comes with having to teach a particularly arduous topic, for which active learning strategies are scarce, has struck me
on many occasions. Hopefully the following activities can provide effective methods in the teaching of various topics which can be adapted to cross all specifications.

ACTIVITY ONE – Philosophy for Children
This activity is great for encouraging the development of personal learning and thinking skills as well as improving skills in debating. It also encourages all students, including those who may be generally less vocal, to express personal views in a respectful and civilised environment.

Step One: Find an article of a controversial nature. Examples of which could be: ‘Does childcare have negative implications for a child’s development?’

The students then read the article, after which the teacher instructs students that they must all individually generate a point of discussion raised through the article’s content. For example, from the above topic, a question that may be generated may be: ‘Why are children put into childcare in the first place?’

Step Two: Once the article has been read, the students are given time to consider points for discussion and must then express them to the class teacher. The contributions of all students are written on the whiteboard. Students must then all vote for the point of discussion that most interests them, or that they think would generate the richest debate. After the vote has been completed, they must then each give their personal view on the elected point. At this stage it is vital to discuss the importance of ground rules.

Important to note: The article has been selected on its merits of being controversial, as it is more likely to evoke reaction from students who may well not be used to expressing their personal opinions in front of their peers. The other edge of the sword is that it may generate controversial views that certain students may object to. Students should be made aware that when a student is vocally contributing to the debate, no other member of the class can interject whilst they are speaking. It may be useful to use a board pen that is passed round the class and only the student with the board pen can speak at any one time.

It may well be that the debate shifts focus as each member contributes, but this should be seen as enriching the discussion as opposed to losing focus. This activity also promotes a stretch and challenge theme of learning.

ACTIVITY TWO – Revision Activity
This activity is particularly effective due to its fast-paced nature. The teacher I picked this up from said she used it to good effect towards the end of term, leading up to exams. Depending upon the number of students in the class, it can be done as an individual activity or in groups of any size.

Step One: Give each student (or group) a piece of sugar paper with a heading related to a previously learnt topic and a marker pen. Each group is then given 1-2 minutes to brainstorm all that they know on that particular topic.

Once this time is up, the pieces of sugar paper are rotated around the class.

Step Two: Students or groups should then be given a short period of time to read the contribution of the previous group(s) before they themselves must contribute to the sheet of paper. This continues until all students or groups have contributed to all pieces of sugar paper, with their respective topic headings. Once all headings have been covered by all groups, the resulting pieces of sugar paper should then contain a great deal of information relating to their topic. These revision notes can then be reduced to an A4 booklet for the students to use as a revision aid.

An alternative to passing the pieces of sugar paper from group to group is to keep each piece of sugar paper on one table and each student or group can then move from table to table contributing to the respective heading. This serves as a means of getting students moving and can be particularly effective if concentration levels are low.

George Bannister, Manchester Metropolitan University and Ashton-Under-Lyne Sixth Form College