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Nurturing students’ creativity and critical thinking through a theme-based co-curricular activity – “Mini-Oscar” Presented by Mr. Phillip Weber and Mr. Li Hei Sing of Catholic Ming Yuen Secondary School
Ming Yuen MINI OSCAR Mr. Li Mr. Webber
Teachers’ Beliefs -Creativity and critical thinking are for everyone -Depicting imaginary events / characters through a camera angle can stimulate students’ creativity and critical thinking
Students’ interest in movies Informal curriculum: Inter-Class Role Play Competition (before 2003) Mini-Oscar Competition ( ) Formal curriculum: task-based modules
-School theme for : A Touching Moment Students from each class (including split classes) were asked to produce a movie for the Mini-Oscar Competition in line with the school theme
To Prepare for Mini-Oscar Competition for S4-S7 (Nov 03) Integration of movies into modules in class Brainstorming activities Forming of a movie committee for doing coordination work
To prepare for Mini-Oscar Competition for S1-S3 (May04) Making use of movies produced by S4-S7 for stimulation and discussion Brainstorming activities Forming of a movie committee for doing coordination work
Development of Creativity
Student autonomy -Type of movies -Script Writing -Production Teachers as facilitators
Script Writing – A Touching Moment -discuss different possibilities for depicting characters -include original and different ideas Students had to:
A variety of movies have been produced which differ in: -content & theme -how students portray different issues /characters concerned -linguistic demands on students
Students produced different types of movies dealing with a variety of issues / themes Examples of social issues explored by students Racial discrimination Violence & bullying at schools Poverty SARS Examples of themes developed by students Friendship Love Honesty Vs Dishonesty Growing up
Production of the movie & I.T. Support - make use of multiple intelligences -find ways to solve all kinds of practical problems Students had to:
Making Decisions & Judgement
The final product - movies -write the script after much discussion -pretend to be in different human plights -depict the characters / events through a camera angle showing ethical judgement/views Students had to:
explore personal dilemmas and choices in life portray social issues and express personal views on them In the movies, students:
Divergent Thinking – to explore different possibilities & alternatives Convergent Thinking – to make decisions / judgement based on discussions and constraints In the process, teachers encouraged students to use….
-School theme for : Caring Informal curriculum Movies produced by students in will be used as resources for discussion Movies produced for Mini-Oscar Competition in Formal curriculum Class discussion Pre-writing task Film review
Class discussion – Dilemmas / Choices depicted in the movies produced by students If you were ………in the movies, how would you choose/what decision would you make/how would you react?
1. Raised awareness of social issues / viewing issues from a new angle 2. Expressing creative thoughts and inner feelings through movies Impact on Learning
3. More whole-person development through the learning experience 4. Weaker students having a sense of achievement
Even weaker students enjoy producing their own movies because…. - there is more than one take - they have a sense of success and ownership - they can contribute in different ways
Other reflections -Student autonomy - Technical problems -An atmosphere that fosters creativity & critical thinking
Thank You!