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We were all very excited to meet the kids from Oxgangs, However, before that happened we met with Sarah Crole - a deputy headteacher. We shared our plans with her and she assigned us to classes. I was responsible for P4A, Lara for P4B, Kathleen for P5A and Jordan for P5B. We prepared a launch document explaining our plans and providing dates for different stages of the project.
Two weeks of shadowing
I was assigned to class P4A taught by Miss Paula Burnett. As I have a terrible memory when it comes to names, I made a list of all children’s names in my diary and added some notes in Polish so they cannot decipher them. To my big surprise, there were two Polish kids in the class - Hania and Marcin, who straight away started chatting to me in our native language.
We followed kids in class and on the playground. We were trying to find out more about their skill levels and behaviour so we can better prepare for our workshops. I think that Lara, Kathleen and Jordan would agree that these (just two!) days at school were exhausting. I enjoyed every bit of it, but it was very challenging. In the beginning, the kids thought I am a teacher like Miss Burnett, but they quickly noticed my education failings and from Miss Kat, I was “promoted” to just Kat. Fair enough, I knew nothing about managing a group of over twenty 8 years old kids, compared to Miss Burnett.
After the 2 weeks spent on building a relationship with kids, it was time to come up with a detailed plan for our workshops. Every week we would prepare a generic plan for next week’s class and send it to all teachers. Then each of us would adjust it to the needs of our class and our own teaching style.
First workshop - Character profiles
I should probably admit that the beginning of the first workshop in P4A was a bit of a mess. Kids got very excited about meeting Lara, Jordan and Kathleen. But with their help, I quickly moved on to the prepared earlier presentation.
Through this series of workshops, we wanted children to get to know the design process. We started with using free resources available on the Little Inventors website - the character profile and the invention drawing sheets. We wanted them to realise that everyone can draw, that there is no ‘proper style’ of drawing and it is normal to have your own style.
We started by asking them to think of a character they would like to design for. It could be someone they know, like a person or a pet or someone completely made up - like an alien or an imaginary friend. I explained to them, how important it is to think about others when designing/inventing. If we pay attention to the needs of other people, we can make the world a better place. To encourage them to start drawing, we showed them examples of characters drawn by each of us. Well… As we found later on, some kids loved them so much that they basically copied what we drew. Having their characters drawn, we asked them to think of an invention that would make their life easier or solve a specific problem. The kids from P4A surprised me with their creativity and ingenuity. After that session, I knew what their skills are and what I can require from then on the further stages.
Second workshop - Invention drawings
After the previous week’s experience with copying the characters drawn by us, I decided to make a presentation in a way that would not suggest any specific inventions ideas that they could come up with.
My topic was South America. I started with showing them examples of things that were invented in different countries in South America to then move on to more specific topics.
We learned a little bit about all 12 countries and 3 overseas territories in South America. Yes, WE learned. I realised my knowledge was based on stereotypes and rather negative trivia. We talked about animals in the Amazon rainforest and on glaciers, farming and living in such big cities as Rio de Janeiro. However, I did not avoid difficult topics. I mentioned and explained such problems as illegal hunting, overpopulation, deforestation and climate change. While I was trying to avoid violent images, I still wasn’t sure, how they would take it. I was very surprised to find out that they have already heard about most of the topics I covered. After the presentation, they wanted to get straight to work, but I had to show them one more thing. As there are clear instructions on the Little Inventors website on how the uploaded drawings must look like, I decided to create a drawing manual. It did not promote any particular style of drawing but explained that they need to use pens instead of crayons and make sure to outline their drawings with a black marker. It was so nice to see them working. They all were full of ideas. Some of them needed some guidance but that is why Kathleen, Lara, Jordan and I were there.
Third workshop - Invention prototypes
For the 3rd session Lara, Kathleen and Jordan chose creating prototypes of famous buildings. I, however, decided that it would be better for my class to move straight to prototyping their invention ideas. A few days before the class, I carefully studied each drawing and provided them with a note of what materials would be suitable for a 3D model. I created little toolkits using materials such as plasticine, cardboard, plastic straws, crepe paper, bottle lids and paper rolls. There were also 2 toy cars, a sponge, an aquarium hose and gummy bears. It was all so colourful! The prototypes helped kids to rethink some features of their inventions and provided a clearer representation of their ideas.
Fourth workshop - Famous buildings redesigned
After teaching the children about the 3 important stages of the design process: choosing your user, developing your ideas and prototyping, we wanted them to try creative teamwork. I chose 6 famous buildings in South America and asked the pupils from P4A to build them out of cardboard:
The Kavanagh Building in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Rafael Uribe Uribe Palace of Culture in Medelin, Colombia
Niterói Contemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Barquisimeto Cathedral in Barquisimeto, Venezuela
Iglesia de Cristo Obrero y Nuestra Señora de Lourdes in Atlantida, Uruguay
Templo Bahá'í de Sudamérica in Penalolen, Chile
I divided the class into groups and asked them to work in their teams on prototyping the buildings out of big cardboard boxes. You can only imagine the noise and the mess. Who would think that cardboard, scissors and a masking tape can trigger so much excitement! The kids were very creative and some of them decided to add extra features to their buildings. They worked very well in their teams, despite a few arguments that we quickly managed to resolve.
The weeks spent at Oxgangs Primary were my favourite part of the project. I got very attached to the children from my class. I saw such a big potential. They welcomed me to their world and offered me their trust. I hope to meet them again - at the later stage of the project or on my career path.
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