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CLASS ORGANIZATION FOR EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION

 

According to Smith (2003), he states that there are two types of experiential learning, which are 'learning by yourself' and 'experiential education'. 'Learning by yourself' refers to the state whereby students learn through their own experience. It is our natural way of learning. We see things that happen in our daily life and we learn. When the students learn through programs structured by others, then it is called 'Experiential Education'. Besides common learning process in the classroom, a language camp is one of the platforms whereby experiential education can be implemented. In Experiential Education, the role of the educator/ teacher/ facilitator is to facilitate the students to be actively involved in meaningful learning process. In Experiential Education, a well-managed class organization is very important to create an effective learning environment. Class organization refers to how the teacher/ instructor/ facilitator manages the learning environment and organizes students so that the planned activities can be carried out efficiently, (Chitravelu et al, 2005). For this reason, we will focus on the class organization in experiential education.

 

There are several ways of implementing Experiential Education in classroom or even outside the classroom. For instance, the educator/ teacher/ facilitator can use various tools like games, simulations, role plays, stories in classroom. For the purpose of this discussion, we would like to focus only on the class organization during games. According to Lee, (1979), there are four types of grouping in organizing language games. The type of grouping includes class, individual, pair and group work. He believes that pair and group work are the most suitable ways of grouping the students during the game. Lee has listed out the advantages of pair work, which are:

1.      Easy and fast to organize

2.      Provides more opportunities for intensive listening and speaking practice.

 

Besides, he gives some suggestion on how to organize the students in groups, which are:

1. Membership of groups should be constant for the sake of goodwill and efficiency.
2. It is advisable to have a group which consists of mixed ability students to create the sense of competitiveness among groups.
3. Have a group leader.

We have the tendency to divide the class into two big groups i.e. boys versus girls (if the number of students according to gender is even) or the right side of the class against the left side. It is advisable to divide the students into smaller groups in because it will enhance more participation. Lee (1979) asserted that grouping should be only once throughout the year to avoid time wasting. Moreover, it is best for students, especially children to be in the same group for the rest of the year, and it disturbs children's sense of belonging to be switched arbitrarily from one team to another. McCallum (1980) explained that certain team spirit may aids greatly in playing competitive games and promotes a free exchange of ideas in both in- and outside of class. We can let students to choose their own group members to promote their willingness to participate as students usually have their own group (based on their interest, similarities, etc).

 

There should be mixed ability in the group for the group work to be successful. If the groups formed by the students are not fairly equal in terms of learning abilities, then we should alter the groups. Then, we should monitor the altered groups to ensure each and every one of the group members participate, and that no one is isolated. It is suggested that we establish the teams ourself, so that there will be an appropriate balance of faster students with slower ones in each groups (McCallum, 1980). The group may have or not have the group leader as the role of a leader is only to ensure that the activity is properly organized and to act as intermediary between students and teacher (Wright et al, 1983). Besides, naming the group is crucial because calling or labelling groups as 'Group A' and 'Group B' or 'Group 1' and 'Group 2' can decrease students' motivation to learn. 'Group B' and 'Group 2' will have the thought that they are not good and have to be the second choice as A is always associated with excellence and superiority. Imagine what thought will Group D or Group 4 have if such labelling is done by the teacher. What we could do is that we give other name such as 'Banana', 'Apple Pie' or 'The Brilliant' which shows no discrimination.

 

Furthermore, we can instruct students to work in pairs. This is the easiest and fastest way to organize the students as students in Malaysia always seat in pairs in the classroom. It will provides wider opportunities for students to get themselves in the speaking and listening activities as one student will do the speaking and the partner will take the role as the listener. According to Lee (1979), pair activity (work in twos) can give a still greater amount of communicative practice, though there is less opportunity for consultation and mutual correction. We have to deal with at least 15 pairs (in the class with 30 students) and she, of course, cannot commit ourself into each pairs at the same time. There is, however, a way to overcome this problem for example during an English class. We have to make sure that students with higher proficiency in English are seated next to weaker students for every English lesson.

 

Lewis & Bedson (1999) agree that controlling large classes in one of the hardest tasks facing even the most experienced teacher. It is a simple fact of teaching life that the larger the group, the more difficult it becomes to set up activities which promote active language use. Some problems might arise if the target of the lesson is for students to have enough oral practice in the use of the language (Wright et al, 1983). Passive students would prefer to sit in a corner and let the active students dominate the game. Even if they have the passion to participate, they might only have chances to utter one or two sentences in the lesson or worst, in a week. This could be very frustrating and later, it would demolish students' interest to learn.  Choosing which grouping to be used is very critical, so that the learning can achieve its objectives: to fulfil the needs and wants of the students in terms of get each and every one of them involved in the game (Rogers, 1969). However, according to Wright et al (1983), it is advisable to start with pair work to familiarize them. Then, ask them to play in rows; either against the teacher or between themselves. Weeks later, teacher can ask students to form their own groups. Whichever grouping we choose to use, we should always remember that children should not normally be separated from their friends.

 

 

 

REFERENCES:

 

Chitravelu, N., Sithamparam, S., & Teh S.C. (2005). ELT Methodology: Principle and Practice. Penerbit Fajar Bakti.

Lee, W.R. (1979). Language Teaching Games. Oxford University Press: England.

Lewis, G. & Bedson, G. (1999). Games for Children. Oxford University Press: Oxford

McCallum, G. (1980). 101 Word Games. Oxford University Press: England

Rogers, C.R. (1969). Freedom to Learn. Columbus, OH: Merrill

Smith, M. K. (2003). Introduction to informal education: The Encyclopedia of Informal Education, http://www.infed.org/i-intro.htm

Wright, A., Betteridge, D., & Buckby, M. (1983). Games for Language Learning. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.

 

Prepared By:

Nurul Izzati Md Amin [AP040531] & Noor Robiah Mohd  Nan [AP040155].

 

 

 

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