Learn history in a very different way

NO MORE SCENE OF TEACHERS LECTURE ON THE BOARD AND STUDENTS SITTING BELOW TO LISTEN

Making projects, designing models, acting... are creative ways of teaching history that teachers at many high schools in Ho Chi Minh City apply to stimulate interest and improve hard and soft skills for students.

Teaching history through projects is an initiative of teachers and students of 9 high schools in cluster 1 (District 1, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City). During the recent Vietnam Heroic Legacy history project report held at Le Quy Don High School (District 3), students were dressed in ancient costumes and reenacted historical anecdotes associated with each national hero. Through this project, teacher Nguyen Viet Dang Du, head of the history group at Le Quy Don High School, hopes that students will find Vietnamese history fascinating and colorful, and at the same time nurture a love of history through new teaching methods.

A staged performance by students of Nguyen Thi Dieu High School (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) in the Heroic Vietnamese History project

In addition to the performance, the presentation also arranged a space to display vivid "handmade" models. In particular, teachers and students of the High School for Gifted Sports (District 1) brought models of sand tables that "packaged" knowledge, demonstrating the design talent of students. "No longer do teachers lecture on the board and students sit below to listen, students can now "step out" to immerse themselves in the flow of history," said Mr. Le Van Tan, history teacher of the High School for Gifted Sports.

Stemming from the desire for students to deepen their knowledge, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha Diem, a teacher at Hung Vuong High School (District 5), asked students to design desk calendars based on the topic of each lesson. For example, with the topic "Echoing the immortal epic" in the 12th grade history program, students will make a calendar about the milestones in the period of resistance against France and the US of the Vietnam People's Army.

In another lesson, Ms. Diem updated the knitting trend of young people, encouraging students to knit key chains in the shape of bucket hats, soldiers, etc. According to her, exploring and creating meaningful items like this will help students enjoy the lesson more.

To highlight the creativity of his students, Mr. Che Anh Thien, a teacher at Tran Van Giau High School (Binh Thanh District), let them write scripts, rent or design their own costumes for plays. After each play, he would comment and summarize the lesson content. "When history becomes a compulsory subject and its status is raised, the responsibility of teachers in investing and creating must be greater to make students excited about learning," Mr. Thien shared.

Students' products from learning history

K IS NO LONGER A "DRY" SUBJECT

Participating in the performance about Uncle Ho on the day of the reporting session at Le Quy Don High School in November this year, Tran Huynh Minh Vy and Phan Thanh Huong (both 12th grade students at Marie Curie High School, District 3) shared: "Visually recreating history is an interesting way of learning, helping us to actively seek knowledge and "remember" data, instead of memorizing it mechanically."

Previously, for Vu Phuong Linh (11th grade student at Pham Hong Thai High School, Hanoi), history was a boring subject with difficult-to-remember timelines. Since approaching knowledge in a new way by making models, presenting, designing posters and acting, Linh and her classmates' feelings about the subject have changed. Linh said that creative activities are often applied to observation periods or replace 15-minute paper tests. Thanks to that, students' learning spirit and scores have both improved.

SO THAT STUDENTS DO NOT GET "THROWNED" BY INNOVATION

However, the only thing that makes many students like Linh worry is how to not be "overwhelmed" by innovation. For example, Phuong Linh usually needs 2-3 days to complete a PowerPoint presentation. If it is a product design activity, the time spent will double. There are days when subjects are tested at the same time, requiring presentations or making products, making Linh "run as fast as her legs can run". "Creating new ways of learning is good, but I only want to do it when I have free time so that I can allocate time for other subjects," Linh expressed.

Understanding this, Ms. Diem suggested that teachers should not abuse the production of products but should consider factors such as the purpose, content of the lesson, cost, and students' ability to complete it. Sharing the same view, Mr. Thien said that teachers need to make detailed plans before each lesson, including assigning reasonable tasks and orienting knowledge for students.

Student model for history lesson

Ultimately, no matter how they teach, teachers realize that the key issue is to use history to educate students’ qualities and ideology. Specifically, teachers must have the right orientation, breathe into each lesson patriotism, national pride and awareness of protecting the territory.

As for students, teachers encourage them not to just study in a 45-minute period, but to combine reading more books, newspapers, and outside materials or visiting historical sites to actively inspire their learning and completely "immerse" themselves in history.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/hoc-mon-su-theo-cach-rat-khac-185231225191051145.htm