I forgot my pen again!

Small things like a student turning up for a lesson without basic equipment can cause delays and set the student and teacher relationship off on the wrong foot for the rest of lesson. These small disruptions are frustrating for those students who are ready to get on with the lesson and are tiring and demotivating for the teacher.

Problem

delays to the start of lessons because of students not having basic equipment with them

Causes

forgetfulness

some students are unable to afford to buy or replace basic equipment

lose or theft of equipment

no lockers to store equipment

poor organisation and pupils not knowing what to bring

some students have learnt to depend on teachers to provide them with equipment

Objective

Eliminate the disruption to classes caused by students turning up for lessons without the right equipment

Who should be involved

A group of teachers who feel strongly about this issue or who already have some solutions of their own

As many students as possible (the whole school) to help the co-design team to understand the issues

Evaluation of the brief

This brief describes an apparently simple challenge, to ensure every student has the equipment they need to complete the lesson. Of course it's not going to be that simple. This brief touches upon the feeling expressed by some of the staff that the huge effort put into supporting students can sometimes have the effect of making them dependent on the school for the basics. This is sometimes called 'learned dependency' and has the negative effect of making it much harder for some students to take responsibility for themselves generally, and for the their learning in particular.

How big is the problem anyway? What are the different reasons why students don't have the right equipment? Does each reason need a different approach to resolving it? What do parents think? In response to this brief we could start by getting the students in the co-design team to understand at first hand the experience that teachers have when students disrupt the start of lessons. Opportunities might include the design by students of a whole school communication campaign. An in-class system of some sort. A school-wide service. Also perhaps even a product such as an ultra cheap basic set of equipment and a connection to the schools system of incentives.


Posted by engine on 02/01