LOOK-the GROUP Working!!! Put up all the ROLES!!!

So, here I am, still plugging away at this Carnival band idea in the season.  One thing it has done is to help actualise all the work that goes into major productions of 'the mas'.  It is not just like a video that you look at, turn off and return to owner.  It can become an organic creation with the power to consume your waking nights and days to completion and beyond.

The roles that I envisaged for my WebQuest were difficult for me at first, because there were so many elements involved in this quest, I did not see at first, how I could break them down into manageable tasks for a group, far less for a class. Then I recalled that my daughter used to be involved in Children's Carnival through her school-which meant her teachers had been involved too, along with us parents.  I began to think about the products and tasks, and in what ways they could help with the WebQuest.  There was so much information that the group could have gathered about the play in general and how Carnival in particular worked with those theatrical elements, it was hard to consider how the real world revolved around this activity, then I realised that I did not have to do this by myself.

Once the products were defined, and the sources given, the group work itself would generate its own momentum.  What made me realise this was when I was in a class and realised that some of  my students were involved in Carnival on their own steam, without necessarily belonging to a masquerade band.  One student's mother was a seamstress who sewed costume parts for a particular band.  The student had a part-time job in costume construction and actually 'helped' work on one of the larger costumes.  Another student's aunt had a food stall in a prominent spot where the bands passed on parade days, so he had one of the best spectator views.  It meant, therefore, that the students' gathering with the roles in mind,would have their own experiences to bring and share with each other, and the value gained would be incalculable.

Group roles assist in helping the student assume a position of authority within a context of credibility.  It-the activity- is beneficial because it then makes the learning process more important.  Group roles mean that learning is no longer a solitary thing to be confined to the class, the test and the result.  It can mean that the student grows in knowledge and appreciation of themselves and their place in the world in which they live.It also means that the teacher may provide the stimulus, but when the students provide the catalyst, engaged learning becomes possible, personal and more profound.  

Working on the Quest - WebQuest, that is

It is a thing I never thought I would be doing really, because I never thought I had the intellectual gumption! Well, well, well, who would have thunk it???!!! Not me. Not really, although on reflection it is really not so surprising. I have been involved in drama since I was about 13 (seventh grade?), I participated in dramatic productions as crew and performer since then until my early 20s.  I have been a Carnival masquerader since 1991: I realised I was missing out after I took my then toddler daughter to take part in Children's Carnival.

So, as a teacher of Literature, I think my creativity was challenged, because I had never thought of merging the two forms together-even though designers like Wayne Berkeley(deceased) and Peter Minshall had moved quite easily between the stage and the street in their work.  Most recently, Brian MacFarlane has been doing the same, but 2013 was his last Carnival presentation, he says.  I have participated in productions by all three of these artists over the years.  But then, I am a teacher, not a designer-not so?

Well, the brain stretched itself in ways that I did not think possible.  I think that there are still more avenues I could explore with this, but I think I need to know more about 21st production .  When I was looking for the pictures and the sources, I realised how much was in the cyber world about my country-and I saw and thought about things in a way that I never did before. I thought about how designers brought creations from the page to the stage, also about how a designer would conceptualise something like Shakespeare.  Then I realised that historically, Carnival designers have used Shakespeare and John Milton, so I was in good company.

It was also a challenge because the prevailing perception of Trinidad Carnival is one which features scantily clad people in various stages of euphoria and/or intoxication.  It was good to focus on other aspects of creativity and originality.  Not much is known about the opposite, but it does exist, and I hope that the webquest would show that.  I would also like to think that the students would be interested in this aspect as well, and that it would enhance their own creativity to take from Shakespeare and bring an understanding of the play and the portrayal together.

WebQuests and the project approach-Module 6, Activity 7b

WebQuests are a feature of the educational process whose time has more than come in the education system.  We have jumped the chasm between the chalkboard and the computer screen and now have to negotiate how best to help the learner.  

I found the project approach in the earlier activities useful, if not immediately applicable to my own situation.  I think it would need time and willingness from all quarters to implement.  Time and experience have taught me the adage of working smarter, not harder.  It might prove challenging to convince people that the initial heavy input is offset by the rest of the process.

Of course, in my school, issues of compatible infrastructure have to be dealt with.  None of my present classes were fortunate enough to receive the government-issued laptops, so their cumulative ICT skills may be somewhat spotty, and access to a system outside of school may very well be problematic.  Nationwide, there is a competition open to all schools called 'The Young Leaders'.  This does have elements of a project based approach at first thought.  However, this generally takes place outside of regular classroom hours.  I have seen projects flounder due to lack of sustained interest or other cause like the aforementioned lack of infrastructure. Other interested parties may find this discouraging, especially when the schools who do win prizes do not suffer the same drawbacks.

WebQuests have the innate characteristic of engaging students on a number of levels and making them aware of events in a way they would not have been normally-as in 'Industrial
Revolution'.  I think that this is one of the most important characteristics of WebQuests-that the students are able to deal with the real world in a way that enables them to engage critical faculties and still earn credit for them-like 'Extra, Extra!'.  I also like the ways in which the student is allowed to be both reflective and creative.  School, therefore, becomes a place in which life is experienced in an increasingly more relevant way.