The power of a hammer, drill and 3 inch nails!

I remember, as a kid, being so excited when my dad asked me to help him do some D.I.Y; being allowed to use a hammer, or a drill, before looking on so proud at what I had helped him make, even if it was just putting up a shelf!

Those feelings of excitement and pride can be really powerful emotions, and can be really useful for helping engage pupils who may otherwise be distracted. And it is those feelings that I wanted my pupils to feel and experience, particularly those who I may struggle with inside the classroom.

Rural to urban migration is a typical, traditional Geography topic which I’ve taught across both KS3 (often when looking at countries such as Brazil or India) and as part of a GCSE specification.  As usual there were some pupils who never really engaged with the content in the classroom. Alongside this I wanted all of my pupils to actually start to empathise with people who live in slums, and understand just how appalling the living conditions can be in some cases, and so the building shanty town lesson was formed!

A simple trip to my favourite shop (B&Q….though others are available) provided me with wooden stakes, garden canes, rolls of duct tape, 3 inch nails, blue plastic tarpaulin and some rope (with the drive to school the next day slightly precarious, particularly as the wooden stakes stretched from the boot, over the handbrake and into the passenger footwell…next to my poor, unsuspecting girlfriend!)

When the class proceeded to walk into the room to the sight of me holding a hammer in one hand and a drill in the other even the ones who were normally loud and chatty looked on (though admittedly I’m not sure if it was fear…or bemusement). Anyway once in groups and equipped with a box of stuff, an hour and half later round the back of the school we had our own shanty town settlement, with surprisingly the kids who are normally disengaged, and can be “difficult or disruptive” around school, leading their teams, safely drilling holes, hammering in supports and generally having fun.

The real power of the drill came in the debrief and subsequent lessons. Not only had they all developed their team work and problem solving skills, but when discussing whether they’d like to stay in them over night many of them really began to grasp just how difficult a life it would be, and even those normally disengaged were able to recall the lesson and apply their learning into an exam question, and have since been dramatically more engaged in lessons (admittedly with the promise of future trips and construction projects!)

So, if you teach slums, or any other topic for that matter, have got a DT department to borrow hammers from, a local B&Q and a scrap of land round the back of your school, can I encourage you on just how powerful a learning tool a hammer, drill and 3 inch nails can be.