Case+Study+-+the+UN+and+the+8MDGs

= United Nations Agencies =



= Rich Task =

We were offered the chance to take a one-period lesson with each of the four 9th Grade History classes at SP. We learned that the class have been studying the United Nations (UN), so decided to base our Rich Task on the UN and the 8 Millennium Development Goals. We started by brainstorming ideas and came up with two lesson plans: the first we carried out in Lesson One, the second (which was more successful) in Lesson Two, Three and Four.

=Lesson One=

In the first class we focused on team work and the deliberation of information: students were asked to form groups of 5-6. We then discussed the UN's 8MDGs and the existence of South African UN agencies which work towards some of these goals. Each group was given a sheet showing the 8MDGs and a fact sheet about one of these agencies. Their task was to pick out the most important bits of information about their agency, relating it to the 8MDGs (group work). Then, each group would be asked to nominate a speaker to explain to the rest of the class what their organisation does and why its funding should not be cut (class activity).

//We were somewhat unprepared for this class – our time ran out and the teacher felt that we had been too softly-spoken. We struggled with the large class size (40 pupils). Some of the students had been confused by the sheet listing the 8MDGs. We had planned to use the fact sheets each group had made in the next class, but some of these were not left behind after the class.//

=Lesson Two=

In the second class we decided to incorporate more room for creativity. As before, we discussed the UN’s 8MDGs – but this time we wrote them up on the board instead of giving out handouts. We gave examples of two South African UN agencies, then asked each group to create their own UN agency, using the 8MDGs for inspiration. Each group had to create an organisation name, mission statement and an explanation of how they would reach their goals. Although running a bit over time, a nominated speaker from each group had time to describe their group to the rest of the class. //This class felt more successful, although we still had time-issues and we could have been more prepared (e.g. writing 8MDGs on board before hand).The teacher was impressed that the students had happily stayed on 5 minutes into their break time to finish the class.//

=Lesson Three=

By the third class we were more prepared. We decided to follow the second class set-up, but created example sheets (UNESCO in SA) and blank handouts (now containing room for a logo and organisation background) for the students to fill in. In preparation we wrote the 8MDGs on the board as well as a list of instructions.This time, we gave every student a R100,000 note which they would be able to donate to the organisation of their choice following the ‘convention’.

//This class was great fun, and we even had time to hand out our class evaluation sheets. By now we were much more in control by using a more strict tone of voice when required. The only thing that did not work out was the donating of the R100,000 – again, a timing issue.//

=Lesson Four=

For the fourth and final class, we followed the same structure as class three. As well as writing the 8MDGs on the board, we also wrote each groups organisation name, so they could line up for the class ‘convention’ and groups came, one-at-a-time, to donate their R100,000.

//This class went best of all – we had finally mastered the timing! There was plenty of enthusiasm and also humour when it came to the class activity. We got lots of positive feedback from the students and the teacher, who felt it had been really inclusive. Perhaps the main downfall was that not all the students contributed as much to the group work. This was something that was difficult to address in such a large class.//

=Evaluation of the Lessons=


 * The Rich Task we developed over these lessons had the following characteristics:**
 * The class required group work followed by class activity
 * Social skills, creativity and communication. The task encouraged active thinking and originality.
 * We think the 8MDG is an interesting topic and very relevant to the students. To ensure the students recognise its relevance, we discussed South African UN agencies.
 * By encouraging groups to ‘sell’ their organisation we hoped to motivate the students.

We ran out of time to complete evaluation forms in our first set of two lessons, but in our second set (lesson 3 & 4) the students (n=75) scored the lesson as 8.5/10 with 25% scoring it a 10. The teacher pointed out that there had been great enthusiasm and although the class had been quite noisy, this was to be expected. Her advice was to make our voices louder and clearer - with more authority.

We asked the students: **Which skills (if any) did you develop in this lesson? Some answers include:**
 * "Listening and learnt a lot"
 * "Group work"
 * "Communication, use of imagination"
 * "Negotiating, public speaking"
 * "Group skills, awareness skills, listening and interpreting"
 * "Thinking, coming up with alternative ideas"
 * "We learned to communicate with the other learners in the class…"

We asked the students: **What do you think about leaning in this way? Some answers include:**
 * "It’s really enjoyable, interactive and innovative"
 * "It was great fun and educational"
 * "I think it’s fun and all teachers should teach this way"
 * "I think it’s better because you are basically doing the work and not just writing down work"
 * "You get to learn more. There’s more ideas if you do group work"
 * "I don’t like working in this way because I don’t like working in a group where people can’t work together"

We asked the students for any further comments **Some answers include:**
 * "Timing was a bit short, but enjoyed the team"
 * "Very inclusive"
 * "Loved the session! History doesn’t have to be boring. Really fun!"
 * "It was a great experience for me to be able to learn from teachers from over seas"[[image:screengrabs5.jpg width="385" height="307" align="right"]]
 * "The teachers are very helpful when you do not understand something"
 * "You should keep it up because it will stay with students forever because they learn in a fun way"
 * "Please teach some of the teachers to involve this method of learning"


 * Lessons learned from this set of Rich Tasks **

> the class. Be aware of accents
 * Timing! Set times for each activity and stick to them.
 * Organisation: Be well prepared, for example, have things ready written on the board.
 * Instructions: Must be clear – write them up on the board.
 * Class size: it can be hard to keep track of everything in a large class.
 * Addressing the class: need to have a loud, firm and confident voice when trying to calm

Many thanks to Dana and her classes for their time and enthusiasm!

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