My first seminar for our Values: Self Society and the Professions module was an eye opening experience.
On arriving at the seminar, we were separated into five different groups, and each group were given a large brown envelope. We were asked to come up with a tool which would be useful to a 1st year university student using only the materials contained in the envelope. On emptying our envelope, we soon discovered that we had been very fortunate with what we had received, as we had a large variety of materials such as coloured pens and pencils, coloured card and paper, rulers, rubbers, paper clips and post it notes. After throwing around several ideas, we shortly decided that the best use of our resources would be to create a personalised timetable.
We presented this to the rest of the class, informing them that our timetable was colour coded, had a small map of the campus, had post it notes for reminders and social events, and even had an emergency pack which contained everything a pupil would need when taking notes in a lecture. We were very pleased with what we had produced as it was very bright and eye catching, due to the amount of resources we had been given. We were also showered with praise, which indicated to us that we had done a good job. However, on listening to the other group’s presentation, it soon became clear to us that each group had received less and less, and when it came to the last group they had received next to nothing. Despite this, they had put in their best efforts but were still shot down, and told their idea was, pretty much, rubbish. It was then that I realised that there was more to this task than meets the eye.
I am embarrassed to say that we did not think to offer the other groups any of the resources we were not using, as were so caught up in the excitement of making our own timetable, which resulted in us ignoring what was going on around us. As a class, we then discussed the purpose of the task, and how important it is to be aware of your surroundings, and how, as teachers, we should never discriminate against a child for any reason, and every child should be given equal opportunities, regardless of their upbringing or lifestyle.
I think the seminar was a fun but effective task, as I will now always be extra careful that I am giving each child the same equal opportunities, and be extra vigilant that I am sharing my time equally between all my pupils, both on placement, and throughout my professional career.
