Why we Installed Used Tires in the Middle of the School : Design Thinking 101
The Situation
Imagine a class of government school full of 50+ teenagers just hitting their puberty, the high temperature due to zinc sheets on roof, crowded benches due to lack of enough furniture, broken doors and windows along with whiteboard in dilapidated condition, it can make new teachers nervous. I myself suffered from anxiety issues for two days. Classroom management techniques learned during the training institute helped us to run our classes smoothly. Other regular teachers were used to these types of situations. Most of them didn’t care either the students were getting the content or not. Teachers used to try hard at classroom management but due to unforeseen reasons, it could not succeed as expected.
An imbalance was being created between we as volunteer teachers and other regular teachers in the classroom. Students began to focus more on the subjects which we volunteers taught rather than taught by other regular teachers. We didn’t want students to only study our subjects but all subjects as prescribed. Doing this can harm overall academic achievement of the students. The classroom were so noisy that it used to effect other classes also. The high energy of the teenagers could not be channeled in right direction in all the 7 periods. They would listen carefully to the contents in some periods, while in others, they didn’t let teachers teach.
The Challenge
The issue was raised by one of the member of STEAM Club in informal meeting. She mentioned about how much she was interested in studies more now than before. However, there were very few that shared same views as her in the class. Other students would disturb the class either by making noise or with constant arguments with the teachers. They would stay calm if the teacher seemed strict, and if not, I leave it to you about what happens afterwards. Even if some students try to focus on the subject, the disturbance in the class would not let them to. It was also building negative attitude in students towards some teachers whose classes were chaotic and noisy. A different kind of polarization in teachers also started as students started comparison. There was no any situation where would could share our classroom management techniques.
The STEAM Club decided to work on this issue to make the classroom more peaceful. The group was divided into 3 teams. At first interviews with teachers and students was done. In the second stage, the teams observed the classroom while teachers were teaching. They not only noted down student behaviors during the class but also how the teachers acted on certain situations. After that the group sat down for discussions. During the interview, one of the teachers had expressed that, there is not enough resources to channelize energy of students, so they make noises. This expression matched our findings. So we narrowed down.
The Solution
As there was no resources to channelize energies, energy used to be released inside the classroom as noise. Games was the best solution for this issue. However, our school didn’t have any game equipment and there was no sign of making those available sooner. In lack of funds, sourcing gaming equipment was a long process through government channels. Funding couldn’t be raised as we had already collected funds for scholarship programs. On the other hands, teachers argued that, students wouldn’t take care of sport equipment, so it needed to be locked in cupboards. The playground was not big enough for games like football and cricket.
We held discussion in the group about what to do next. Postal Highway was being constructed and there were lot of used tires. We thought to use those tires to construct maze, so that students could play around it or with it. Our main mission was to provide resources for students to be engaged in so that they could balance their energy. Tires were wonderful option. They could be used by all the age groups and were sustainable. Principal sir wrote a letter to the postal highway for tires and we brought them to school. Senior students from hostel helped to install it.
For some days, we let the tires remain on the ground. We observed that students started playing it. Some would try to carry it, some would jump around it, some would roll on it. It was a spectacular sight as other students joined to cheer up. We only installed 2 tires and let others remain. Students would arrange the tires themselves in different formations. After playing with the tires, they would feel drain in energy and would remain silent during the class. Making formation of tires built their creative thinking skills as well.
This article is based on Design Thinking session conducted in 2019 at Shree Ma Vi Bijaybasti, Thori-4, Parsa by Kumod Kumar Sah with members of STEAM Club.
