General Info
The current school year 2020-2021 entailed a two-fold challenge for teachers in Greek kindergarten schools: a. to develop meaningful and flexible lesson plans for their pupils, in order to overcome the close temporal proximity between two cultural occasions, which differ largely in nature, content and teaching focus, namely the Greek carnival and the Greek Revolution bicentennial; and, b. to adapt these lesson plans to the multi-faceted limitations imposed by a pandemic-defined virtual classroom context.
Teachers at the 2nd Experimental Kindergarten School of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki sought to deal creatively with this challenge by developing an online teaching scenario, which was tightly connected to the lesson plan of our school’s Museum Education club, combined the semiotics of the Greek carnival custom “Janissaries and Boules” from the region of Naousa (Zalios, 2007) with the Greek Revolution narrative and provided a set of thought-provoking and hands-on learning activities for children (and their families) (Mylonakou-Keke & Kekes, 2007). The purpose of the scenario was to help children understand the notion of “freedom” and the need to strive for this collectively, by any means.
The scenario developed in four synchronous online sessions of two teaching hours each on a Webex platform [also using breakout sessions (Chatzigeorgiadou, 2021)], combined with Google Classroom for asynchronous revisits of lesson materials and assignments. Drawing on principles of active, collaborative, inquiry-based and reflective learning (Kolb, 2014), our scenario aimed at supporting: a. the development of knowledge and skills, regarding historical facts and figures, spatio-temporal concepts and symbols (Tzekaki, 1996) through maps, flags, timelines and pictures of related artefacts; and b. the development of new attitudes towards history based on empathy, self-reflection, respect, collaboration and constructive dealing with dilemmas (Leontsinis, n.d; Repousi, 2000; Fardi, 2013) through educational drama techniques (Govas, 2001; Tzibazi, 2006; Kalesopoulou, 2017; Avdi & Chatzigeorgiou, 2018), where perceptions -far from being granted- are dynamically reconstructed and negotiated by discovering new possibilities (Zapri, 2007).
(NB: A full list of references and resources can be found in the material link stated in "Educational Details")
Audience and Educational Framework
Educational Details
The scenario was built on four distinct presentations (defined in the material as "Acts") created with Microsoft Powerpoint. Each presentation contains a carefully selected set of pictures (paintings, artefacts etc) to elicit open-ended, reflective responses upon thoughts, feelings and symbols through observation, critical thinking and hypothesising. Throughout the whole project parents and carers helped with writing down children's ideas and uploading their works, and supported children's work at home. Also, every lesson was held by both class teachers (a facilitator and an assistant) to better support our pupils and their carers throughout the teaching process.
Presentation 1: A transition from carnival theme to Greek Revolution theme
- Facts: Meanings around the name and significance of the Greek traditional carnival act "Janissaries and Boules" from the region of Naousa (connection with the Ottoman Janissary troops and the purposeful disguise of the troops of Kleftes in the carnival period in the 19th c.). Video showing the phases of the Boules act.
- Educational drama activity: "Marking the moment" / copy Boules' movements to understand their meaning as non-verbal signs (embodied acts)
- Maths / Language assignment: look out for symbols on costumes (e.g. the cross); "Time traces" / Draw the act sequence in four phases (dressing up, gathering, dancing, lifting the mask)
Presentation 2: A journey to the roots of the Greek Revolution
- Facts: the fall of Constantinople 400 years before the Greek Revolution featuring the Byzantine and Ottoman leaders (who are situated inside and outside the Constantinople walls respectively) and their flags
- Educational drama activity: a. "Time travellers" / travelling back to the Byzantine capital of 1453 on our "time machine" and accompanied by our nine muses on a mission led by the Muse of History, Clio (NB: our time machine and our company with the Muses derive from our Museum Education club); b. "Marking the moment" / The Byzantine side is highlighted by Byzantine hymns as prayers and the Ottoman side is highlighted by Ottoman military Mehter music; c. "Thought-tracking" / describe the two leaders thoughts and feelings and guess what happens next in our story, before revealing the fall; reflect on your own thoughts and feelings
- Maths concepts: spatial orientation through maps and the concept of "Walls"; time orientation through timeline placing the event in relation to events that are already familiar to children
- Maths assignment: use building blocks to recreate the Constantinople walls and the two troops (and their different size) inside and outside the walls; draw their flags paying attention to their symbols
Presentation 3: An insight to family matters of the time
- Facts: being a child in the 19th c. related to i. forcible recruitment in the Ottoman Janissaries (Devshirme/ paidomazoma); ii. getting married at an early age to avoid devshirme (but not taxes); iii. preparation from an early age for the troops of Kleftes at the mountains (especially in large families)
- Education drama activity / The problem: "Thought-tracking" and "role play" / in the setting of a Lytra's painting depicting a family think which option would be the best for the young boy of the family; pupils and parents/carers were split into groups of "families" using Webex breakout sessions, where each family should discuss and record (draw and write) which option they prefered and why
- Language: Presentation of each family's opinion and discussion of other options [e.g. turn to Orthodox at another point in life as in the case of Mouhabetis Papadatos, baptised later "Kosmas" (Nikolaidou, 1978; Agathos, 2017)]
- ICT: seek the names of parents and children in well known large families, such as the Kolokotronis and the Tzavelas families and record the result (possibly through a diagram)
Presentation 4: Struggle by any means
- Facts: Gallery of Greek Revolution figures presented in semiotic pairs (land-sea, men-women, mountains-cities, Greeks-Philhellenes, Weapons-Ideas); flags as symbols of freedom, faith and commitment to a common cause
- Maths / Language: Create a Greek flag out of four white stripes and a blue A4 sheet (pattern of alternating forms/colours); discover and count the syllables of the phrase "Freedom or death" "hidden" in the flag's stripes
- Expression / creativity: "Liberty then and now" / Draw Liberty as visualised by Solomos in our national anthem; draw what is Freedom to you
- Educational drama activity: "Freeze frames" / Pick a figure and draw them or disguise like them; write their names and pay attention to their distinct traits (e.g. a ship for a sea figure; a coded name for a member of the secret society "Filiki Etairia"; the flag and language of a Philhellene; their face expression and body posture); upload pictures and drawings on the respective online presentation of the Google classroom assignment, in order to present your characters in our online Greek Revolution event
- Language / Drama activity (for our final class event): think about your own revolutionary cause and share it with us; "Teacher and student in role" / the teacher as a journalist speaks with the historical figures - the pupils present themselves as "heroes" or talk about the hero "who visited their home", and share their revolutionary cause of today (embodied act).
- Tracking our journey in history: the teacher compiles pupils' works from the Acts 2, 3 and 4 in a video sequence created with Windows Movie Maker as a reminder of our thread of thought throughout the project
Language: to justify choices; to interpret symbols and images
Maths: to make inquiries based on previously gained knowledge and experience; to form hypotheses and conclusions; to interpret by observing, describing, comparing, using symbols and sequences; to orientate oneself in remote time in relation to known past events on a timeline; to orientate oneself in space with maps; to implement topological concepts (open-close; inside-outside; outline; border)
Expression/creativity: to develop self-esteem and empathy; to work collaboratively
Human environment: to reflect upon historical facts and issues
ICT: to use a proper body posture and attitude during synchronous online classes; to collaborate in teams in order to achieve a common goal; to respect other people’s contributions; to focus on those aspects of a digital material (e.g. internet information) that are related to the goal of a given task
1. Microsoft Powerpoint
2. Google classroom and google presentations
3. Windows Movie Maker
4. Pictures of related paintings and other artefacts from museums, galleries and other internet sources
5. Children's own toys and clothing at home
Implementation
(where and how the practice was implemented)
Feedback was gained through:
1. Pupils' engagement and participation during our online classes
2. Pupils' response to assignments
3. Parents' own comments in a separate discussion after the project
In particular:
1. Pupils' participation during lessons showed an increased, active engagement, which was explicit in pupils' rich descriptors of feelings and thoughts; self-confidence and respect during our dialogues; reflective comments, ideas and questions regarding alternative solutions; activation and sharing of previous knowledge; detailed observations; and increased ability to recognise and name places on the map and fixed points of reference on the timeline, such as events and years
2. Pupils' work results showed a high level of creativity and varied level of perceptual and structural complexity, according to each pupil's current skills and interests; an increased interest in writing; an accurate understanding of topological relations and symbols
3. Parents' comments appeared to be positive as to the quality and detail of lesson planning; the originality of teaching and learning approaches; the use of team work in breakout sessions; the collaboration of two teachers in each online lesson. In two instances parents views were negative towards teaching history dealing with war and traditional customs in general, considering them to be more or less appropriate for young children. However, negative views of certain parents may be in contrast to their child's positive performance and attitude in class.
Ideas for future implementation:
1. Parents'/carers' increased fatigue and stress in supporting their children's distance learning process at home in a lockdown context inevitably evoke feelings of insecurity and instability, which subsequently interfere with their viewpoints about online teaching processes and contents. This observation, combined with the fact that adults are less familiar with contemporary preschool education processes (Zapri, 2007), leads us to consider providing parents with a set of "advance organizers" related to the process of innovative learning approaches, before implementing them, especially in terms of online classes with parents'/carers' presence.
2. Additional coaching in terms of differentiated teaching may be needed for children with learning difficulties and their parents/carers, in order to maximise the effect of a learning scenario on the child's potential.
3. Online teaching conditions are by definition more challenging for our highly energetic preschoolers, thus equally more demanding timewise and energywise on the part of the kindergarten teacher in terms of preparing and delivering effective online lesson plans. Realistic goals, clear focal points, expressive communication, more frequent short breaks and a reasonable extent of flexibility and variety in techniques and methods may largely facilitate the flow of the lesson overall - even when it comes to more "theoretical" historical subjects.
Educational material/resources (file/URL) accompanying the practice
Greek
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