144 Future Forwards: Exploring Frontiers in Education
We found several such examples, reinforcing for us the power of the
experiential nature of learning.
Communication
For communication, many students (across grade levels) wrote about
teaching others, struggling to give instructions during activities with
NGOs , trying to communicate with someone who doesn’t speak English
or trying to get their ideas across in a group with multiple personalities
and ideas.
EXCERPT #3 - Effective Communication
“The kid I sat next to turned out to be unable to do the page with the
harder questions (column addition), so I decided that it was going to be
of more use to pull him aside and try and show some of the basics he
would need to know. It was incredibly hard to explain why the number
after 9 was a 1 and a 0, and that without words! I expected the language
barrier to be an issue, but I tackled that by counting on my fingers and
writing-the language of math. I felt motivated because we just read a
book in English in which a woman teaches a deaf man language and some
basic arithmetic; she described how hard those first steps were.
The boy seemed excited and motivated, and made a real effort to
understand what I was trying to show. He did make progress, although
he didn't understand carry-over. After a while though he reached the end
of his attention span-but that happens with my sister as well when I try
to teach her math.”
EXCERPT #4 - Effective Communication
“With thinking about how to better explain the rules, I got into writing
the rules electronically. This then developed into me printing out the
rules for the girls to keep. This new aspect then got me into explaining
the rules even better for they would read the page while waiting for all
the girls to come and would then better understand the game and even
help me explain the rules but in Hindi or Marathi. This new skill helped
further the learning of my students and created a better learning
environment for them to participate more. Plus they were able to keep
