Dancing for Change

Shanze (1)

During the month of January, MAN 2 Kota Malang not only ushered in the New Year but also welcomed a big change in the classroom. The school had decided that the classrooms were no longer going to be separated by gender. This brought along a series of mixed responses from students, who had grown accustomed to the single-gendered classrooms.

For ETA Shanze “Aisha” Tahir, this meant working with her co-teachers to design icebreakers and warm-up activities that facilitated higher levels of interaction between students and fostered a greater sense of classroom coherence.

Shanze (2)

For this month’s lesson on heroes, Aisha suggested the idea of leading a warm-up called ‘Dance Moves Show-Off.’ Students would introduce themselves by saying their names, their favorite superheroes, and the characteristics of the hero. The twist is that they would need to also show off a dance move. The other twist was that they would need to introduce themselves to a student of the opposite gender. For the second twist, many students were embarrassed and reluctant. However, after a few rounds, the students warmed up to the activity and lots of them ended up having a fun time getting to know their new classmates.

Shanze “Aisha” Tahir is currently teaching at MAN 2 Malang, East Java.

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