May 24th 2024
‘How has the definition of the word community changed over the last 70 years?
As part of our curriculum for boys in Year 8, we no longer teach the Common Entrance syllabus in History, Geography and TPR which are collectively known as the Humanities subjects. In their place, we have developed our own curriculum which focuses on the development of skills as well as knowledge acquisition.
However, there has still been a desire for an ‘end’ product in order to replace the examinations. As a result, we have developed a project which has seen the boys work in mixed groups across in order to answer the question ‘How has the definition of the word community changed over the last 70 years?'
The boys were set the challenge of answering this question in three different formats in order to highlight the skills they have developed during their lessons. These were:
- A video including interviews with relatives
- A presentation
- A debate where they had to argue for one side of a question relevant to this topic. This involved some groups arguing against a view they naturally believe in.
As part of the preparation for this, the boys welcomed specialists in the art of video making and presentation techniques. We are grateful to both Max Tilney and Luisa March Baldini for giving up their time in order to offer their expertise in these areas. It is clear from watching the finished products that the boys took a lot of the advice on board.
The boys have been working on this project since February half-term and it reached a culmination over the last few weeks with presentations in front of the whole year group and debates in front of some younger boys and members of staff.
The finished elements of this project contained examples that showed impressive knowledge and understanding and the humanities staff were full of praise for the technical proficiency shown in the skills of: video making, presenting as a group and public speaking in a debate format, as these are all skills that will assist them in later life.
This has been a valuable term’s work where the boys have concluded that essentially the definition of the word community has become broader due to the impact of the internet and online communities in general.
