Teaching English Using Creative Tools

Dan Bahadur Mahato

English Teacher

Shree Tribhuwan Bal Higher Secondary School

Kawasoti Municipality

Dan Bahadur Mahato, an English teacher from, Shree Tribhuwan Bal Higher Secondary School, Kawasoti Municipality has been developing creative ways to teach and engage students in his classroom and his design are now more effective, creative and fun to look at and easy to learn from.

Now 47, Mahato had served in the Nepali military and as a peace corps officer in Congo. During the time of Maoist insurgency in the country, upon his family pressure, he left his military service and went to work in Malaysia only to return to his village with a zeal to study and teach. And when the school in his village announced to begin higher education, he was one of the first students to get himself admitted and he used to go to school with his own son.

While still studying, he was also actively involved in teaching in the same school and as fate guided and his passion led, he became a teacher in the same school. Dan Bahadur does not limit himself to traditional teaching methods but always tried to push boundaries to find creative ways to make learning fun, easy and interactive in the classroom.

He uses recycled materials for his creative designs such as bucket lid, magnet and wood ply, papers etc. One of his many designs is helping students to understand the ideas and the concept of prepositions using a magnet and a small metal ball. Another design in the shape of a wheel makes it easier to understand the tenses. For his designs, he uses materials other than just papers because he understands papers products are not durable for classroom usage.

"Using such fun tools and creative methods instantly grabs the attention. And when the students are attentive, it's easier for them to learn faster and correctly."

Dan Bahadur was always enthusiastic about creative ways of learning and teaching in his classes. After receiving Creativity and Imagination (C&I) training for teachers from the British Council under Connecting Classrooms programme. The training has helped him to channel his imaginations into reality. He added, "I had creative ideas and imaginations in my head before. But now I have the skills to turn that imagination to reality and find more creative ways of teaching for my students and I am very thankful to the British Council Nepal for that."

From helping understand the simplest grammar rules to complex ideas of English, Dan Bahadur’s room is filled with ideas and creative designs for teaching, which he had created over the years and he continuous to add more to his collection. He adds, "there is nothing you cannot do."