It’s hard being a teacher these days. There are so many boxes to tick and so many rules to follow as to how we should talk to and educate tomorrow’s future leaders. They are so used to exploring their curiosity and finding stimulation through media and technology. Modern students are learning and accessing information that they feel is relevant to their lives and yet feel disconnect with the teaching that takes place in a classroom. How can you as a teacher possibly hope to keep up, to seem exciting and to keep things relevant? How can you compete for their attention against Youtube and Google?
The answer is to think outside the box because if you can’t beat them join them. At Great Race we pride ourselves on being the Masters of fun. We use fun as a vehicle to deliver learning objectives and celebrate social engagement.
We work with corporate clients to encourage them to connect with their inner child, break down barriers and even to actively explore their companies core values on very tangible level. We encourage people celebrating a Christmas party or Birthday to move away from the standard dinner and drinks at the pub in favour of something more inclusive. For schools and universities we offer unique events that transform they way students learn. We take lessons and ideas that they would usually learn in the classroom and transform it into an effective interactive memorable experience.
Imagine taking the maths or science curriculum and turning it into an interactive game that students will love playing. I know you are thinking, ‘is it even possible to make Maths fun?’ I can promise it is because we have done it! Great Race were approached by Trinity catholic college Sydney with the task of turning the year 7 and 8 Maths curriculum into a city based Amazing Race extravaganza. 400 students and 50 teachers split into 40 teams working together completing maths related challenges in a quest for mathematical glory. Not only was it a great city excursion for the students, it was an overwhelming success in regards to their learning objectives. It was such a success that this will now become an annual event and the program has become a case study in the Catholic Schools journal.
We have designed Games for school incursions that educate students living in low-socio economic areas on how to access healthy choices and nurture positive behaviours. We often bring our Survivor Olympics to schools with either specific learning outcomes or primarily focussing on confidence and team building activities.
We really do think its time to take fun seriously. Students not only expect it, they need it to learn in an overstimulating environment. Be the hero at your school and call us to discuss what we can do to engage your students and create one off or annual events that they look forward to.
