Case Study
On the streets where you live
Develop a project relevant to the local community and take primary pupils out to ask the questions. They'll learn about the differing views and experiences of local people and gain confidence from their experiences in approaching adults.
Adults walking through a town centre are stopped by groups of three or four primary pupils carrying clipboards. The children ask politely if they can ask a few questions and proceed to ask a series of questions about the adults - Where have you come from today? What is the purpose of your visit? Which of the following places have you ever visited?
Yes, this is taking education and learning outside on the streets for children to acquire skills in approaching adults - some children may be quite scared - asking questions from a survey they've had a hand in compiling and thinking about the responses. The detailed analysis will be done when the class returns to school.
One class was carrying out a visitor survey in a major historic city when one of their number ran back down the street calling out to friends. 'Guess what? Guess what? I asked this man which was the best place he'd visited and he said "the wine bar"!!' Well, it's all part of the learning process.
This kind of approach is helpful particularly when teachers ensure that the mix in each group is of introverts with extraverts. Give instructions that the questions are to be asked alternately by each person so that each pupil grows in confidence with each successive approach for interview.
The outcomes of market research feature a report written by pupils that would interest a local tourist office - indeed you may make contact first so that someone from the tourist office will come to talk to the class about what they found out and their conclusions - and yields interesting data about the local community.
