Morrinsville Intermediate
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When we are talking about children with different learning styles, we are trying to create an environment where people can do well at different things. As an example, one of our teams has been researching various aspects of medieval England.
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One class has looked at medieval castles; how they work, how they are constructed. They spend probably the first 3 or 4 weeks of that study on the Internet, reading books, and finding out the facts, and for some children that was a really valuable experience, and for most of them it was great.
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Most of our boys are beginning to become disengaged with full-book learning, and so we are trying to respond to the learning styles these children have, the ones who are tactile. A lot of our emphasis is on how to structure a class that allows children to move away from books and onto other materials to show what they have learnt.
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The class that was working on medieval England built models of castles, which had to be authentic, and students had to be able to explain the purpose of the various parts. There’s a lot of discussion among the groups as they are building. These kids know a lot about castles, and it shows.
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The children who perhaps couldn't write it down are able to work with the teacher and explain exactly why the drawbridge had to be that way, and what the skirt of the castle is, and all these other technical things.
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And it's not so much that they know about castles. They know about the culture of the people who lived in those castles and why they had to be constructed that way. So there is a lot of learning going on; all those things about scale drawing and the maths that's involved, that they don't even know they are doing. It is very real and authentic for them.
