Page 30 - Microsoft Word - Thinking like a wallaby 14DEC16.doc

One way to research a problem is to get other people’s ideas. We can use some Spider-

thinking to find out what the kids think. A simple survey (asking particular questions and
making a note of the kids’ answers) will give us a picture of what the circus skills idea

means to them. Do they like the idea? Do they think it is something that should be

taught at school? If so, what sort of skills would they like to see (e.g., high ropes,

trapeze, juggling, clowning, and so on)? Or would they prefer sports? Or art and craft

activities? Or mathematics, or reading, or science, or gardening, or cooking, or
something completely different?

We could do the same with parents. What would they like
to see being taught in the school? Why do they think

these things are important to learn?

Step 3. Choosing the best solution

So, having researched the ideas of the children and the parents, and having found out
what the government will allow, we can pass all the information on to the teacher. And,

in this case, it is the teacher who will have to do some Wallaby-thinking to sort through

the possible solutions and come to a decision.

The possibilities are:

To teach circus

Not to teach circus
To teach the safer skills of circus, not the more dangerous ones

To let each child decide which skills they want to learn

To let parents decide which skills they want their child to learn

The teacher here is caught in the middle. She doesn’t want children to be hurt, but she

wants them to have fun and to enjoy learning and to be fit and healthy. She will have to

imagine how parents will react, whatever decision is made. Maybe, if she decides that

teaching circus skills is a good idea, she will have to find people to help teach them.

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