Students Teach Humanities

Written by Vidhatri and Suhavee 6B

Ever since the College Value ‘Learn’ day from term 1, 6B has been team teaching Humanities with Miss Li. It is such an exciting way to learn. Instead of having the teacher always standing at the front teaching students, students are now taking control of the classroom! It may sound very unusual to many of us, but it has quickly become one of the most interesting and effective way to learn, because it gives us the experience of being a leader of the space and being able to witness all different types of teaching styles.

We’ve been team teaching for about one term now, and everyone in 6B has been a humanities teacher. We volunteer to pair up with a classmate, using the lesson slides and worksheets Miss Li provided and explained beforehand. We also communicate respectfully in pairs to decide who will be managing behaviours using warning charts and gives students a chance to take more responsibility for their education, rather than just passively listening and taking notes. By teaching others, the pairs of students study the teachers’ notes hence they develop a better understanding driven by their intrinsic learning motivations. On the other hand, other students will also be paying extra attention to the student teachers imagining if it was them teaching the class, which encourages them to be more engaged. 

This method words well with the classroom teachers’ support, depends on the lesson dynamics, when the student teachers need more guidance to make the lesson flow, or if they are not familiar with the concept or the topic of the lesson. By having both support from different perspectives, the humanities lessons make students feel more conformable asking questions or joining discussions when learning from their peers.

‘Teaching the class humanities has given me opportunities to improve my leadership skills, such as public speaking, time management, and communication skills to better deliver the lessons.’ Vrushank

‘Having a go to teach my peers has helped me to realize that I need to work on public speaking and communication skills, so that I can help the class to achieve their humanities learning goals.’ Haniya

We strongly suggest that all students should have a go to team teach with your classroom teachers, meanwhile, classroom teachers should also allow students to practise their agency and leadership skills to become more independent learners.