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Busy Hands Busy Minds Lego Engineers Group
Our Boys in School program was developed several years ago by staff at Coatesville due to teacher’s concerns and backed up by recent research that a number of boys find school difficult in different ways. It is unique to our school, being developed as a result of many hours of teachers sharing observations and information relevant to the social, emotional and learning needs of boys at Coatesville School. During the planning and implementation stages, teachers attended and presented at conferences and seminars and we worked very closely with Dr Michael Irwin from Massey University who was then collecting data for his thesis on Boys Education. The importance of a male role model in a boy’s life was promoted as a very significant factor and we have been extremely fortunate to have had male teachers on our staff to take up this role.
Research tells us that developmentally, there is often a significant difference in the readiness for school and formalised learning factors between boys and girls. Boys learn differently to girls, favouring a practical “hands on” application to learning. Boys learn by touching and doing! Our program presents learning opportunities in an environment which caters to these needs. The simple group task of designing a kite that flies may appear to be just a fun activity to the boys but in fact is teaching them skills in taking turns, volunteering ideas with others, working as part of a team, completing tasks, taking on leadership roles and listening to and respecting others. In addition to all these things they are following our science (flight), technology (design), maths (measurement) and English (speaking & listening) curriculums. During the time our program has been operating, we have had numerous visits from teachers and principals in other schools to observe and glean ideas to use in their own schools. This is indeed confirmation of the success of the program.
Boys are selected after consultation with classroom teachers considering on a number of criteria. Extrovert personalities benefit from learning to take turns and listen to others while introvert personalities are encouraged to participate in a small interactive group. The group caters for boys who need guidance to complete tasks and develop independence as well as those who need direction to recognize their strengths and abilities to develop self esteem. Social skills and social sharing are encouraged within the group activities and there is also a place for boys who provide strong role models and leadership qualities for others to aspire to.
The main objective of our program is to enable the boys to make work and learning easier within the classroom environment. We want them to transfer these valuable skills they are learning and practising back into their classrooms to become more successful learners. Over the last two years we have refined the program and linked it to our Coatesville Competencies which have become part of every teacher’s classroom program. Each boy on the program has set himself an individual goal in consultation with his teacher and Mr Robson, which he is striving to achieve.
We are heartened by the success of our program by the number of boys requesting to be involved every year, by the practical responsibilities our older boys are able to carry out around the school (assembling new equipment, video recording school events, ‘tweaking the school website’) and the very positive feedback we have received from parents of boys who have participated.
Margaret Read
Associate Principal; SENCo; Co-ordinator Boys Program.
Busy Hands Busy Minds Lego Engineers Group |