and Goreto, Nepal (in Sindhupalchowk District). In most of the lessons the
teachers were observed using methods they had been taught in the training.
The key observations were as follows:
- One teacher asked all the 15 students in the class to come in the front of the
room. The task was to share the name of a food with their peers and find out
what food name their peers were thinking of. The activity was ‘mix-freeze-pair’
and was enjoyed by the students. After the class the teacher explained that
this activity enabled students to learn from each other and also led to students
developing positive social behaviour. The teacher reported that after using
this activity in the previous year, the students had become more open to
one another and they mixed more easily. - In a science class the teacher began with a ‘think-pair-share’ activity. Although
the activity was correctly implemented by the teacher, the question used for
the activity was not appropriate because the question was about the content
the class had yet to cover that day. - In a mathematics class, the teacher asked the students to sing a song related
to the course content. The teacher then showed the class picture cards and
asked the students to count the number of animals in a picture. The teacher
then showed the students how to match number cards with the animal
picture cards so that the number cards matched the number of animals.
After that, the students were divided into groups and the teacher gave the
students a stack of number and picture cards for the group to match. The
teacher moved around, checked the group’s work, and helped students
when they asked for assistance. This activity seemed to promote collaborative
learning. When a student in a group made a mistake, other students helped
him or her correct the mistake. Apart from learning the content, the students
also learnt important life skills such as cooperative behaviour, helping each
other, and teamwork. - In another class, a ‘jigsaw’ activity was used to involve everyone. The students
also participated in discussions and some also made presentations. For the
‘jigsaw’ activity, the class was divided into three groups to work on three
different sections of a theme. Each of the groups discussed the topic, then
made a presentation to the rest of the class. In one group, the discussion and
presentation was led by one student only. When the group was asked why
the others were not participating, the students explained that the assignment
was prepared by one student only, not divided between the members of
the group. The teacher suggested that the group members should divide