Imagine for a moment you have a Nintendo Wii, or similar, in your classroom (perhaps you do already) which you use for games based learning. Topics or subject units you teach are centred around the use of a specific game and you are in the middle of one such topic.
One day a parent comes into your class and tells you that as a punishment at home their child is banned from using their own games console. The parent knows about the work going on in your class and wants to know what you are going to do about it?
What would you do?
This interesting situation was posed to me recently (some of you might be able to figure out in which context) and is completely fictional. Nonetheless it is a very interesting point for discussion with more and more games based learning work going on in schools.
For me I see this as an opportunity to build a relationship with the parent. Having a good parent relationships can be very powerful in the classroom.
For me I see this as an opportunity to build a relationship with the parent. Having a good parent relationships can be very powerful in the classroom.
School is school and home is home. Should I say that the parents will not allow their child to watch more than 30 min. of television video games because it's not allowed at school. No, of course not. Punishments (consequences) fit the crime and that particular crime happened at home.
Bit of an aside, but I wonder if this question was posed to the other candidates?
I would agree with the other respondents that what happened in school was separate from a sanction at home. I feel that there would probably need to have been dialogue with parents/carers about the nature of games based learning in any case to try to prevent misunderstandings. As with many new ideas parents need educating too. I am old enough to remember questions being asked about televisions in the classroom and its validity as a teaching tool (long before computers came on the scene)
I would explain to the parent that banning their child from the use of the console at home is their right but also to make them realise that this sanction might hinder their learning due to the nature of the work in class. If the parent is open to discussion I am sure we could come to an agreement about the correct course of action.
Agree with above.
Yet, I dont see it as impossible for a student to say when Mommy takes the Nintendo away–“Fine, I'll just use it Mr. Barrett's class anyway”.
Perhaps the answer is to put this situation in an Open House type document so rules and guidelines are established before an incident happens?
But you're not 'playing' games in the classroom… you're using a game as a teaching tool / an educational resource. Do parents have a right to dictate the tools that we can / cannot use in our classrooms?
What would they expect the child to be doing whilst the pupils is sat out, away from the rest of the class who are using the game as part of their learning?
I can understand the posing of this question, but it seems that it should be treated the same as any other sanction used at home. If a student is grounded (if people still do that), surely the parents do not arrive at school to request that they are not allowed out with their friends during break or lunchtime? If a student has been banned from watching television, they are still allowed to watch education broadcasts (surely)?
The focus of the parent here should not be what device is being used, but how.
If a student is banned from watching television as punishment, do they not get to watch videos at school? If they are banned from the computer do the not use the computer during school? They should be banned from using them for entertainment, not for education. Hopefully the parent would understand that.