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| What does transformational education look like? |
| Written by Richard Taylor |
| Tuesday, 16 February 2010 14:33 |
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Wellspring often talks about an education that transforms lives but what does this type of education actually look like? I recently sat down in a Wellspring Academy classroom and saw it demonstrated during a lesson on water to a class of grade 3 students. The teacher was David Mugenyi, a man who clearly loved his profession and his students. The purpose of his lesson was to help the students learn about the properties of water, its role in our daily lives, and the importance of water stewardship. The first thing I noticed was how the classroom was arranged. The twenty-five students sat in clusters instead of the stringent rows of a normal classroom. The second thing I noticed was the students. They respected each other. They seemed to enjoy discussion and readily helped with moving each others books or picking up dropped items. The third thing I noticed was David himself. He was a man in motion. He asked a question, then illustrated on the white board, then gave an item for group discussion, then moved about the classroom, speaking with each group, and answering any questions. The students had a sheet illustrating water in its different forms and were asked to work together to identify them and report their findings to the rest of the class. When a child answered incorrectly, David encouraged them to keep on trying, and helped them find the correct answer. David told a story about a boy in a rural area who did not have enough water and asked the students to think about the impact it had on his life. How would it change the boy’s life if he had proper access to water? He then asked the students to talk about why taking care of water was so important. After sharing some ideas, he gave them a homework assignment. They were to write two paragraphs to their local district official talking about why water was so important and sharing ideas on how it could be stewarded better. What is transformational education? It’s eight and nine year olds being asked to think critically about why water is so important and what they can do to take better care of it and help those around them who do not have enough. |
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