Case+Study+-+Myth,+Legend+and+the+Bible

One of classes we observed during our time at Ridgewood was Mr Brian Lee's Myth, Legend and the Bible class. We were interested in the course due to its novel subject matter, so we interviewed Mr Lee about what he did with his students. His teaching methods include several that have been highlighted in our research.


 * THE CLASS **

Mr Lee has been teaching this course for four years, having taken it over from the two teachers who originated it. The first year he did it as he was given it, mainly based on handouts, but since that time he’s updated a lot of the information to make it as current as possible. Most of his outside reading is for this class, he is extremely committed to it. It is a yearlong course, exploring myth, legend and fairy stories from it’s earliest origins with early man until the present day, including looking at the Bible from a secular point of view, exploring the evidence (including archaeological) behind the verses, and the deeper truths they reveal. For more information on the course, click here.


 * RICH TASK **

As part of the assessment of the class, the students carry out a Rich Task on Beowulf. This is a wide open project, in which they do a retelling of the poem. They are free to choose the medium, and whether or not to modernise it. media type="custom" key="8256802" 
 * EXAMINATION **

The assessment of the Rich Task is tailored made. Mr. Lee marks it by taking the one he sees as the best, their mark is highest, and then everyone else is marked in comparison. This encourages competition and there are various optional components that can help improve marks – for example Beowulf is an alliterative poem, so if there is a lot of alliteration in their piece of work, they can get those marks. media type="custom" key="8256906" In the final classes, they watch the Star War movies, which in many ways put most of the ideas of the class together. For the final exam they write a paper about Star Wars. media type="custom" key="8256916"
 * LEARNING TYPES **

Mr. Lee uses many teaching and learning methods, which he feels keeps his students interested. They do a lot of group work; there aren’t many straight lectures. He puts students in groups and then they come together as a class and talk about the stories. Sometimes he’ll set the questions, and at other times they do. There is a lot of discussion, with the whole class or with the group, and he then opens out to a class discussion. He ‘tries to hit at multiple intelligences’. media type="custom" key="8256870"


 * ATMOSPHERE **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Mr. Lee thinks that motivation is helped by the fact that himself and the people who take the class are interested in the subject. The biggest problem here is that his class consists of seniors, and there is a reduction in diligence towards the end of school, which he calls ‘senioritis’.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;">CHANGES FOR THE FUTURE **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Mr. Lee is constantly changing what he does in the class, seeing what works and what doesn’t. The lesson we observed was the first time that he’s used [|the Brick Testament]. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Another aspect used in the class is the use of modern examples. For example, when they do Hunter/Gatherer myth, which was very much about animal worship, they read William Faulkner’s The Bear, which is in many ways a mythic hunt of a legendary bear wandering the woods of nineteenth century northern Mississippi. He tries to bring what they’re learning into their own lives. He also tries to apply what they learn in class to their own lives. The lesson of the story studied in the class we observed was that evil can produce good, he’ll get them tomorrow in class to think of anything that has happened to them that they thought was bad but led to a positive outcome. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;">media type="custom" key="8256738" <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 11pt;">Observation based on the previous