“Behind the Scenes” is a CAS project in the IB Diploma Program which is based on teaching the ISKL bus monitors English. The project was started a few years ago by students and was given its name to honor those people who work ‘behind the scenes’ in our school community.
It started with the projects to improve the common space for our cleaning ladies and has now morphed into teaching bus monitors ways to enhance their communication with ISKL students through greater proficiency in the English language. It is important to appreciate these bus monitors who consistently devote their time and effort to ensuring the safety of ISKL students, something that is often overlooked. While carrying out their duties, bus monitors can be faced with students who resist following the basic rules on the bus. This brings light to two aims for the most recent Behind the Scenes” CAS project:
- To empower bus monitors by improving their English to communicate more effectively with students.
- To collaborate constructively through partnerships in order to come up with ways to resolve the issue within the student body.
The English lessons gave us students an enhanced understanding and appreciation for the responsibilities the bus monitors have in their roles. Because of this, as juniors pursuing the IB Diploma, we try our best to make the most of our evening lessons despite our busy schedules. We only have one, short, hour-long class per week and we often find ourselves so engaged with teaching and having fun with the bus monitors that we’re unaware of how much time has quickly passed by.
As student teachers, we have also grown to respect full-time teachers more, seeing how much time and effort is required to organize school lessons and to provide different teaching methods depending on the level of understanding each student has. Organizing a one-hour lesson per week is already a challenge and is compounded when dealing with language barriers. Despite these challenges, we got to know the bus monitors better and enjoyed each other’s company.
We believe that the mutual understanding between the student body and the bus monitors ensures a more positive and healthy environment within our ISKL community, one that is encouraged by the international community and as global citizens. ~ By Farhana, Yee Aun, Alanis, Sahana, Iman, and Dhabitah
