Remembering: a valuable classroom lesson (not associated with a unit)

(Please note: This is not a blog on one of the class units but I wanted to include it because it was a real learning experience for me)

Authentic real life learning is at the heart of ESL learning, but this can also be applied to volunteers and teachers learning from their students in the classroom. I volunteer with an ESL class and I recently had a very authentic learning experience that I will not soon forget. 

The lesson was on Remembrance Day.  The teacher was forced to cram the topic into one day because of other time constraints and was uncomfortable with this, but she approached it with her usual cheery and practical self. 

The topic was introduced by talking about holidays, and how some are happy holidays (like Halloween), but others are quite sad holidays. She asked about what holiday was coming up on Nov 11^th.  Some students knew it was about remembering, but nothing else. She explained to them it was about remembering people who fought in wars for Canada, for our freedom. 

The teacher chose to show the learners a short Government of Canada video with images of WWI, poppies and other images of our armed forces.  She asked them to think about answers to ‘who, what, where, when, why and how’ in the video.  The video played.  Answers to the question of ‘who’ we remember were ‘our brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers’, etc. as taken from the voice in the video.  As the video played again and the discussion unfolded, I glanced around the room.  All students were fully engaged. But their looks and body language were quite varied. Many of the students were from countries that are or have recently experienced war. Their body language said everything.  One particular woman had her arms crossed and a very somber look.  She is usually one of the first to answer questions.  Today she said nothing.  

As I watched the class and lesson, I wondered who (brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers) and what they were remembering. I felt so bad for them that I was close to tears.  Is this lesson necessary?  Does it do more harm than good?  How would I feel in this situation? The lesson was taught gently and with respect for the student’s feelings.  There were no recent images of war.  Yet it was so difficult to watch.  

After the lesson, I had a discussion with the teacher. She assured me that lessons on Remembrance Day are very important, and may be even more so for those that have experienced the trauma of war. She has found that many students had told her that they find it consoling that in Canada, something so negative can be remembered in a positive light. The act of remembering those we have lost that fought for our freedom, and remembering those that some of our students have perhaps lost recently in wars fought over freedom, is very important to them! 

As ESL teachers, we promote authentic learning experiences for our students. There is great value for ‘want-to-be’ ESL teachers in volunteering in ESL classrooms for our own authentic experiences. Our students can teach us so much!