Editorial
If you enjoy this article, also read The Teacher as Circus Performer by Alan Maley published in HLT.
Lessons from the Circus
Kevin McCaughey, US
Kevin McCaughey has trained English teachers in 15 countries. He is currently Senior English Language Fellow in Cape Town, South Africa. His website with audios for teachers is English Teachers Everywhere
www.etseverywhere.com, e-mail: poosheesty@yahoo.com
Menu
Introduction
Fun
For all ages
Surprise
Creative variations
Loose time
The “Three-Ring” concept
Conclusion
If someone calls your classroom “a three-ring circus” it’s probably not a good thing. But I don’t think it’s really fair. Recently I went to a circus, and I saw quite a few good ideas that we could apply or adapt to our classrooms.
I’m not thinking how teachers might resemble various performers at the circus (for that see Alan Maley’s HLT article, Year 12; Issue 4; August 2010). No, what struck me was the ingenuity with which the circus was organized, and what that organization might tell us about classroom management, about taking chances, about increasing variety, about confronting and surpassing the expectations of our audience.
So I jotted down a list as I sat there. Here it is.
First, foremost, and simply, the circus is a lot of fun. (At least it’s fun when there are no trained animals to feel bad about.) The circus has it all: clowns, acrobats, costumes, music, suspense, and surprises.
A language class, on the other hand, is not entertainment, and most teachers don’t want to be saddled with the responsibility of entertaining. Language learning is a serious business. Still it’s remarkable to me, in the many classes I’ve observed in various parts of the world, just how little fun is on offer. Even more remarkable is that students don’t expect any fun. They tolerate dullness. They expect and accept periods of inactivity. Tradition, it seems - along with administrations, grading, high-stakes testing - dictates that language learning is tough going and requires serious old-fashioned study. What a bizarre conclusion, since there is no research to suggest that a lack of fun is conducive to language learning.
As the circus teaches us, fun can keep an audience focused.
The circus knows what the ESL world sometimes doesn’t, that kids and adults can be amazed by the same acts.
In language teaching, there’s a perceived gap between tasks we do with kids and those we do with adults. Teachers of young learners understand that kids don’t need much in the way of grammar. But with adults, seriousness prevails.
In my training experiences, I’ve often involved teachers in active tasks, getting them to run relay races, play board games, mold objects from clay, or pass around balls and fruits according to specific instructions. Even right after the teachers themselves have taken part, even after they’ve agreed that the language-learning element in the activities was useful, some teacher is sure to comment: “This is great with kids, but it will not work with my 11th graders.”
The circus knows that you can reach everybody with a well thought-out routine. Similarly, any language-based task can, with a little adaptation, work for all levels and ages. I think the problem has its roots, again, in the suspicion that interesting tasks are less effective than textbook drills.
If you go to the circus you know what to expect: clowns, jugglers, acrobats. And yet at some point you are going to be surprised - for instance, when three women unfold themselves from a single box no bigger than a TV set.
It’s a nice sensation, being surprised. I can’t recall having that sensation in the many language classes I’ve attended as a learner. My Latin teacher never gave us a gap-fill based on a Gregorian chant. And my German teachers never once experimented with TPR.
That’s a shame, because I’ll take any surprise, once in a while. Do the day’s routine backwards. Hide objects and do a treasure hunt. Simulate a coffee shop environment for discussion. Try a classroom version of Family Feud or The Price is Right. Take a walking language tour of the cafeteria. Listen to recordings of sound effects and write down what we hear.
It would be great to come across a teacher’s lesson plan that had as one stated goal: “Surprise learners today.”
Circus performers, like language teachers, have been doing the same tricks for centuries. But whereas language teachers are content to instruct mostly in the manner that they themselves learned a language, circus people understand absolutely that their livelihood depends on making tricks new. Tightrope walks, clown acts - these are all standard. But go to any circus and you will see endless variations.
I wish teachers thought more of variations. Let’s take a simple example: a listening task. Often we play an audio and ask students to respond by filling words in a gapped text. That task is a staple, and it’s fine. But the ways we can expand or alter it are virtually endless. Why not put the audio player outside of the room, allowing one member of a group to run out, listen, return, and report. Why not play the volume really low? Why not have three audio players (the three-ring approach) in corners of the classroom, playing different texts, and students must move and scan-listen to find answers to list of questions?
Those variations are simple. Think of how many more are possible. Variety is not just for razzle-dazzle. It’s to keep learners on their toes, and to get different parts of the brain engaged in the various competencies of language learning.
There is surprising amount of loose time in the average school day: before the class officially beings, for instance, or when students are waiting for the next task, or while papers are being distributed, or when the teacher is writing on the board.
The circus has no loose time. While someone is performing, others are setting up quietly, readying the next activity. During intermission, a clown is riding a little bike, or some one is in the ring throwing boomerangs into a basket. These events aren’t major, but they offer something to those in the audience who want it.
Unless you are team teaching, such tight organization can be a challenge. But the basic concept is a good one: Can we do something during these periods of loose time? Have a book corner? A language puzzle on the board? Can we have a game going five minutes before class for those who arrive early?
The teacher doesn’t have to shoulder the burden of organization alone. The essence of effective classroom management is training. We can train students to arrange desks or arrange themselves into certain patterns for certain activities. We can let one group set up an activity while others engage in separate tasks.
The point of three rings is to offer the audience choices: a lot is going on, and you can watch what you want. With special acts, the circus narrows the focus to one ring. They want all eyes on the trapeze artist, say, or the seven motorcyclists who speed together around the center of a spherical metal cage.
Teachers feel most comfortable with the one-ring approach. They like to have all learners focused on the same task: all reading, all reviewing the homework, all taking the test at the same time.
But the three-ring approach is worth considering. It’s a pity that we don’t offer students more choice. There are times when we can make three or four areas where students can go voluntarily and partake in different tasks. American kindergartens and grade schools make use of such areas, called learning stations or literacy centers, but in ESL classes, especially adult classes, such set-ups are rare.
I understand that a circus is about performing and a classroom is about learning. But in teaching and learning it’s useful to look widely for inspiration. Normally, we get new ideas from other teachers and other language classes. That’s useful, but it can also lock our thoughts into the confines of a centuries-old tradition: desks, rows, chalkboard, teacher up front. I don’t know of any research that suggests such a format is the best way to learn or to manage a class. Until there is, let’s look all around us.
What I saw at the circus was snappy organization, skill, and variety that resulted in fun, awe, and joy. I’d be happy if someone called my English class a three-ring circus. And if I were a language student, I’d be ecstatic if a teacher arranged such a class. How could I not learn in such an atmosphere?
I hope that soon our attitude about language learning will undergo a change. Not just teachers’ attitudes, but students’ as well. In this day and age, all that grammar and drill stuff can be found in books, or practiced endlessly on the Internet, or via software. It’s a disservice to offer students in the few classroom hours available to them what they can so easily get elsewhere.
More than ever before, the duties of the teacher should be to organize, orchestrate, and conduct activities. A classroom is a powerful forum because it is a gathering of people; it provides the rare opportunity for English learners - especially those in an EFL setting - to engage in activities together, interacting, playing, exploring, and having fun. And, as in the circus, a lot should be going on.
Please check the Train the Trainer course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Building Positive Group Dynamics course at Pilgrims website.
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