Creating the lesson plan and presentation for The Island Foundation taught me that children 10-12 years old learn best when:

• What they are learning builds on and relates to what they already know, and their daily life.
• Appropriate difficulty level.
• Let them explore with their peers.
• There’s materials to physically touch and play around with their hands. Instead of just abstractly talk and listen.
• Frequently change the dynamic of the class. Sometimes quiet, sometimes move around.
• Change activity after 10-15 minutes. Keep sections within their attention span.
• Sufficient demonstration before telling them to do. Sufficient feedback after they done.

What connections can you draw between Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and/or Vygotsky’s social learning theory and the way you have constructed your lesson?

According to Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, children at 10-12 had just got their logic and are able to put themselves in someone else’s shoes. They just learnt make generalisation of concepts. They cannot process concepts that are purely abstract. They know that to reverse an action, they need to do the opposite. Since they got these mental skills quit recently, they will get excited and can learn a lot when practicing these skill. Our lesson plan uses a fairytale and a set of activities to guide them into a Dugong’s perspective. We then ask them to come up with creative ideas about how to “reverse” pollution, in the hope that they will actually apply this to their real life. By considering the Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, we make sure what we will be teaching is interesting and challenging to them, at the same time within their ability.

Why is this approach to learning important for meeting Indonesia’s development needs? Refer back to the Catalysing Productive Livelihood report from earlier in the unit.

Indonesia is industrialising fast, it is a challenge to them to remain sustainable at the same time. Our lesson plan educates students to conserve ocean environment.