Instead of having students sitting in rows of tables to receive lectures from teachers, all the students at a private elementary school in the center of Saigon gather in small groups of 4-6 to discuss and learn from each other under the supervision of the teacher. The small group tables are designed for the students to face each other and not facing the traditional blackboards. The classroom atmosphere can be described exciting, lively, and loud. The students play with alphabets to arrange the topic of the days. When finished, their works are displayed around the classroom. As the result, at the end of the period, many students are still glued to the boards and alphabets, which they now view as fun toys. With this methods, the teachers can come to each tables and spend more time with each group of students on details and answers the exciting questions.
The application of this new method depicts the Vietnamese schools’ acknowledgement of the importance of students’ interaction. The teacher commented: “The topics are not different, but the main thing is to have the students to express their own thoughts and build up their self-confidence.” In the beginning, the teachers said, the parents were concerned about the new teaching method. However, seeing that the students are now more excited to attend schools, they are now in support of the program.
Wow, that’s a step in the right direction.