Summary
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Organised a two-day comic workshop for the hearing-impaired senior students to encourage graphic art as a medium of conversation and engagement.
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Conducted a survey about experiences, interests and aspirations with 200+ students to understand challenges of impairment.
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Designed products for the manufacturing team which the school intends to continue producing for the purpose of sale.
Comic Workshop
Why
If vocabulary and writing is a hurdle, bypassing the medium by switching to comics to see if engagement is higher.
Process
Single period time-slot, using class teacher to translate and drawing format and ideas on the board.
Result
Two day workshop. Students still engaged, picking up format faster, making their own comics in free time and has taken to the idea beyond what the staff expected.
Survey Worksheet
Why
An interactive worksheet to get a sense of popular subjects, gauging the level of satisfaction with schooling, and aspirations. The worksheet contained several drawing prompts to encourage creative thinking, and make feedback easier to get.
Process
Conducting multiple sessions with students of different classes (ranging from 6th to 12th class), and documenting response to questions about their routine, and preferences in terms of subjects, other interests, etc.
Logistics of sessions:
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A class has to be handled in a single period. Entire exercise done in one day, no translator available.
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Structuring session with these methods used variably
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Introductory session: Translation and time constraints
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Worksheets: Communicating with students by writing questions and answers on the worksheets
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Drawings: Engaging but time consuming
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Extended Discussion: Faster but documentation and translation constraint
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Result
Worksheets that were filled in greater detail were usually by students with better grades, showing a variation in ease of communication and understanding through writing than sign language. In the case of older students, subject-preference questions of the worksheet overlapped with career aspirations, which were usually service based occupations, for example: tailor, engineer, beautician, etc. The example of the right shows the students interest in local politics.
The worksheets were submitted to the principal with the suggestion to organise workshops pertaining to popular career aspirations that could help bridge a skill gap or cover topics that the students felt were important but was not a part of the syllabus.
Crafts Class
Why
The students were to manufacture the standard varieties of bags and pouches month after month. This led to most students mentally disengaging from the class which the admin understood as students being irresponsible and rejecting an opportunity to skill up.
However, given that the class was managed in a strategy to brand the school and help in outreach (for visibility and donations), the class loosely required students to fulfill a quota of crafts made.
Process
Discussing new ideas for bags and pouches and customising them with the teacher to promote interest in the students. Finding more complex designs for highly skilled and interested students, and letting the more disinterested students continue making simple tote bags with the addition of painting their own pocket design (pictures below).
Result
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New items sell faster.
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Standard process simplified for the average students.
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Complex process slightly too challenging for skilled students to pick up in first go but they show interest in learning.
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Students copying newer painting patterns, show interest in divided work and maintain focus for longer.
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