LESSONS LEARNT - KING’S SPEECH

On Jun 16, 2015, Prof. J Bhatnagar showed the movie ‘King’s Speech’ in the class as part of case study. The film is based on the true story of Prince Albert’s struggle to overcome his public speaking challenges. Not only does he have a stammer in his voice, but like most people, he fears public speaking. The movie is both an entertaining, and very real depiction of the struggles most people face regarding the challenges of public speaking – not because of the King’s stammer, but because of the fear he experiences, and the steps he takes to overcome. At the end of the movie, the class was given an assignment to identify the learnings in the said movie. Based on my understanding of the movie, the learnings and the concepts that featured in the movie are covered in succeeding paragraphs. 1. The importance of the "Informal" or ‘Humour Element’ in Learning. Lionel, the speech therapist, really insists on a first name basis for their teacher - student relationship. He insists on calling the king, "Bertie". Moreover, he stresses informality and humor in the teaching environment. This is so important a concept for learning and dynamic relationship between student and teacher. Research also suggests that using a student's name during instruction can alone, raise scores and help learning, as opposed to no name being used.

2. Credentials are over valued. There is a scene at the end of the movie where the king is angry/overcome upon learning that "Dr." Lionel has no official "credentials". That he learned everything through the "teacher's college of hard knocks". The point here I want to bring out is that the teachers are not trained or taught, they are developed. Credentials are not as important as we think, in our over crazed world for a certificate.

3. Student – Teacher Relationship (Bridge the gap). In the movie, the