As a general rule I disagree with taking tourists to the schools to distribute items. There was just another article on DR1 about the loss of school teaching time due to energy problems........... When we bring people to the schools it is another interruption. They do not just lose the 30 minutes you are there, they also get hyper and overexcited and the teachers have a tough time calming the kids back down.
And what if you don't have enough for everyone???? Now how do you feel.
I used to feel (roughly) the same way Planner & in fact about 3 years ago wrote a similar post on DR1. If we look at the school visit as a benefit to the VISITOR who can then get some personal pleasure out of the visit ("I have done THIS for a load of children" or "I took those poor kids a few toys/gifts etc") then I TOTALLY agree with your scenarios & would discourage interrupting classes, limiting the visit to purely handing over School Supplies (or similar) to the Curator or Head Teacher of the school.
What changed my mind about involving the visitors with the children????
I saw how a few of them 'interacted' with the classroom, the teacher AND the children so that in fact THEY (the visitors) actually contributed to the learning process. The last one of these I experienced was just a few weeks ago when I was pleased (no - HONOURED & PRIVILEGED) to accompany a lady who had a prosthetic leg. She really entered into the spirit of letting the children learn from her misfortune 20 odd years ago & showed them how one can overcome adversity with a strong spirit & a determined mind! (The prosthetic limb was a modern variety & what she couldn't do with it is not printable here - does the expression 'Swinging from the chandeliers' give a mental picture though?
?:cheeky:?)
I ALWAYS try to give the school prior notice of my visit & endeavour to find out something about my visitors before taking them to the school. We then try to turn the school visit into something that the children can LEARN from making the learning process a three way experience ( I ALWAYS learn something - EVERY visit).
I DO agree that in a SCHOOL environment, handing 'goodies' out to the students directly is not a good idea. Let them see (or tell them) what the school is getting by way of a donation if necessary & explain how/why this will benefit ALL students, but showing priority of one child over another (because of limitation in supply) especially when those children are in the presence of their peers, is a bad way to pass on gifts as it can give wrong messages to the children!
So, dear donators, if you WANT to visit a school & interact with the children, THINK about what message YOU can take to the classroom, what TEACHING you can impart to ASSIST the classroom teacher so that everyone benefits from your visit! ~ Grahame.
(sorry if that all sounds a 'Holier Than Thou' approach - it is not meant as such but just something I have experienced in the last two years & wanted to pass this on as another way to experience & enjoy school visits!!) ~ G:chinese:
