Page 20 - FIS_World_May_2015

Real-Time Learning
FISW Students Find Lessons that Connect with Life
As teachers in a PYP school it is our job to ensure that learning is engaging, relevant, challeng- ing and significant.
Our Unit of Inquiry “How We Organize Ourselves” traditionally deals with the economy. During their exploration of wealth and poverty, my Grade 5 students examined three basic principles (geography, institutions and culture) that define the wealth or poverty of individual countries.
Most students were already engaged at some level, having been informed by cultural perspectives and the media. They were quick to ask relevant questions in areas that were significant to them – particularly surrounding Syria and the refugee crisis.
How and when did the conflict start? What was Syria’s economy like before the war? What are the different viewpoints on the crisis? What is the difference between a migrant and a refugee?
By the end of the unit my students had started to form their own opinions
and were developing an idea of the way in which organizational systems can support or destroy an economy – and the well-being of its people.
When we learned that the Oberursel Campus was offering German language lessons to a small group of young refugees from Afghanistan, my students were eager to meet with them to learn more about their situation.
When the boys were asked what they would like to be when they grew up one of them smiled and said “to be educated.”
With help from FIS’s ICT Network Manager Mr. Yama Karimi, and Grade 11 student Sahand – both of whom acted as translators – six of my students met with the group and heard first-hand accounts of their
harrowing journey from Afghanistan to Germany.
To have the opportunity to hear the refugees’ stories was very meaningful for my students. “It was strange,” said Grade 5 student Hannah. “Although we didn’t speak the same language it didn’t feel like our conversations were being translated.”
When asked what they would like to be when they grew up one of the young refugees smiled and said, “to be educated.” All desperately want to learn to read and write, and my students have come to understand that education can be a major factor in the struggle against poverty.
The last question my students asked the group was how they could help. At first the boys repeated that they only wanted the chance to be educated. We rephrased the question and instead asked them what they liked to do in their spare time. After some hesitation one boy said he used to play guitar, another said he liked football.
Two days later my class had collected three guitars, bongo drums, toiletries, books, games, backpacks, footballs and other items for the boys. I was proud to deliver them after school to Bad Homburg where they are staying.
On the last day before Winter break my students proudly expressed their empathy and understanding of their learning through poetry, dance, video and role play. They all followed their hearts and as such were fully engaged with their learning, keen to take relevant action and humbled by the challenging and significant issues that affect them as internationally-minded citizens.
Lisa Asmus-Bentley,
FISW Teacher and FIS parent
Grade 5 students meet refugees on the Oberursel Campus
18 FIS World February 2016