8th Anniversary Essay III

Common-sense curriculums”You are afraid of what you don‚t know”‚ J. KrishnamurthyCourage is perhaps the most underestimated by-product of real education. It is the outcome of failing, often repeatedly; figuring things out for oneself; and learning to address problems with the belief that persistence will yield solutions. For this to happen, students must learn by doing, so that the knowledge acquired will be useful to them all through life. The traditional classroom is not like this. It doesn‚t encourage figuring out for oneself; it‚s mostly about being told what is the right answer, with students being expected to recall the solution at another time. Hence, the word ‚Ëœteaching‚ today is indistinguishable from ‚Ëœtelling‚. While it‚s certainly about knowledge, being almost independent of the learner, it‚s seldom about learning. If the world continues to change as rapidly as it has in the past century, what you have learnt will become less and less relevant with the passage of time. What will remain eternally useful is the ability to learn. This ability is developed by active learning which involves students discussing, questioning, and cooperating with other learners. Much as they will be required to do in workplace situations. Passive learning on the other hand, which involves listening to teachers, memorising and recall, can do great damage. First, while it may help students to imbibe knowledge, it is unlikely to build problem-solving skills which are required in real life. Second, and this is by far the more unfortunate outcome, it reduces the process of learning to a chore, a duty rather than pleasure.Not surprisingly, the past century witnessed the emergence of several models of learning which challenged the hegemony of ‚Ëœfollower-ship‚ pedagogies. Kurt Hahn initiated the outdoor-education movement in North America around the idea of experiential education and character building through adventure. In Europe, Rudolph Steiner and Maria Montessori invented sensory education systems centred on the child and encouraged creative expression. Mahatma Gandhi wrote extensively on a new education system (nai-talim) which would build vocational skills, enable economic independence, and celebrate the dignity of labour. More recently, the National Curriculum Framework 2005, designed by the National Council of Educational Research & Training, made a substantial and detailed case for making school classrooms connect with real learning. If you sift through this enormous tome of erudition, dominant threads of two common-sense principles are discernible. One, make the content useful to children in real life; two, shift away from tiresome rote learning to pedagogies that make learning an enjoyable habit.So why don‚t we see widespread use and evidence of this type of learning? The simple and truthful answer is, because it‚s hard to do. Research studies suggest that teachers teaching through active learning methods require three times as much time to prepare lessons in their first year of teaching. Designing engaging experiences that meet true learning objectives, and yet cater to individual needs, is hard. Executing them continuously and consistently in class is harder. Further, in open learning environments, students tend to question more, and could challenge a teacher‚s authority. At iDiscoveri we have spent the past five years investigating new pedagogies. Having worked with hundreds of school heads, several thousand teachers, and many more children; having examined the experiences of other countries; and after doing our own empirical research, we have acquired valuable insights. Rhetoric can‚t change things; policy may help; revised textbooks do little to alter quality of classroom transactions; and technology is only as good as its users. So what works?What works is a better mousetrap. Actual last mile solutions that are better and teachers can use in class. They should tell them how to teach each concept, in each class, to each child. Solutions which specify the most compelling ways to teach simple machines, photosynthesis, essay writing, or geometry. Which specify assessment, activities, texts, resources, and exceptions. Give teachers the complete tools; train and coach them in using them; and over time transform them into experts. Our early results show a 20 percentage point difference in the learning outcomes of children taught through hands-on curriculums in science and math. Remarkably, children whose previous results were in the bottom third of the class, showed 50 percent improvement. For this kind of teaching-learning to spread, the theoretical world of ‚Ëœcurriculum‚ academics must meet the real world of ‚Ëœteaching‚ practitioners. Today they are estranged, in different galaxies; not only in our country but the world over. Citizens directly responsible for children ‚ parents and school leaders ‚ must find solutions for themselves. If our children are to be creative and character-ful leaders to address the pressing challenges of this century, the processes by which they learn to understand the world around them may make all the difference.(Ashish Rajpal is the co-founder & managing director of iDiscoveri Education)