On Tuesday we had our first workshop in the values module, I didn’t really know what to expect going into the workshop so when Derek handed us a brown envelope and gave us the instructions that we had to make something that would be useful to a new student at the university I just assumed that the task was a way to get us to work well in a group with people that we don’t particularly know very well.
After opening the envelope and realising we had very little in the means of resources we came up with the idea to make a personalised leaflet that would help a new student get used to the campus and the surroundings. We then had to feedback to the rest of the groups about our ideas before making the item, it was at this point we realised that group 1 and group 2 had noticeably more resources than our group(group 3) and group 4.
During the production of the item we began to notice that Derek was spending the majority of his time with group 1, praising them for their efforts whilst not really paying much attention to group 3 or group 4. We then made our leaflet and got ready to present the item to the other group. Group 1 got a fantastic response from Derek, as did group 2, we then presented ours thinking we had done exceptionally well given the resources we had access to however we were disappointed in the feedback given, it was around that time that we realised something was going on.
After realising what the message behind the workshop actually was it really made me think. It made me think about how, as a teacher, we must take into account each and every little detail to make each pupil feel involved and included, we cannot expect every pupil to produce the same standards of work if they do not have access to the same standard and quality of resources, which links to inequality in society. As future teachers, we should strive to make the atmosphere in the classroom one that is as equal and fair as possible.
The workshop was extremely enjoyable and interesting for me and I feel that it will be beneficial to me throughout my time at university and my time as a teacher, this workshop will definitely be one that will stay in my memory for a long time!
