Sometimes serving as examiners
for the Practical
Examination of the BEd. degree
course can be an enriching experience. Many trainees submit
painstakingly prepared aids. Most aids usually serve a pedagogic purpose. The
following is a
model of the Trivandrum Central Railway Station made
by a trainee this year.
A mere look at the model
may not suggest any pedagogic purpose.
But real learning happens when
one teaches vocabulary related to a Railway
station/ journey using a toy train which runs over the rails one sees in
the model.
Well... some of you may still be sceptical... What follows is
the theory related to the use of models
and the
activity of making models:
“Language is a code
restricted to those that are familiar with it. To non-users, it is mysterious
and complex. For good understanding therefore, teachers must be aware that
learners are abstracting. Meaning does not exist in isolation or in the words
but in the context which the words are used. L2 users/learners must
be well exposed to usages of words through teaching aids as guides to learning
grammar, concepts, spellings and even pronunciation.”
[Asokhia MO (2005). What
is a language. In: MO Omo- Ojugo, BN Egede (Eds.): Basic English Language
Course for Tertiary Institutions. Ibadan Nigeria: Satmos Publishers, pp.
143-160.]
Rays and Thomas (1973) recommended manipulative materials
as teaching aids. Manipulative materials here mean objects or things the
children are “able to feel, touch, handle, and move.”
[Rays R, Thomas R 1973. Consideration for teachers using
manipulative materials. In the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Laboratory. Inc. Virginia, pp. 101-108.]
According to Anyakoha
(1992) the involvement of teachers and learners in improvising materials gives
students and teachers the opportunity to concretize their creativity,
resourcefulness and imaginative skills.
[Anyakoha EU 1992. Development
and Utilization of Facilities for Home Economics Programmes in Nigeria Schools
and Colleges for Manpower Development. Vocational/Technical Education and
Manpower Development. Nsukka: NVA Publications.]
*There appears to be a relationship between preparation of teaching models and the trainee’s
own pedagogical acumen.
The model can become a tapestry of the trainee’s grasp of a particular pedagogic
strategy. In preparing a model, a
trainee is putting an idea related to pedagogy to a new meaningful context... something
visual and tangible to solidify the
pedagogic strategy in ones own mind.
Further, in preparing models, trainees are polishing their fine motor skills- using a pair of scissors, cutting and folding
paper, learning the abstemious
use of glue etc. Sometimes colouring
and painting become essential which provides an invaluable opportunity to stimulate creativity. In fact, creating
concrete or visual representations of information provides scope for developing Visual-spatial intelligence.
Well... are you
convinced of the usefulness of making models and using models for
teaching?...
Please
feel free to offer your comments...
