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Teaching and Learning Methods Exam & Marks Driven
- “ Education is to draw out, not
to put in”
- “ Education today is either doling
out knowledge or information”
- “ Exam marks have become the be
all and end all”
- “ The focus on exams and marks is
like winning a 100 metre race on steroids”
Creativity Missing
- “ Scientific literacy is missing”
- “ Why are we not producing world
class scientists?”
- “ Why should a beaker have a beak?”
- “ How can you create a class where
a a child can ask questions?”
- “ How can a child’s nature skills
be developed?”
- “ It is because of the nature of
teaching that curiosity is thrown out”
- “ How can we develop in students
an intrinsic ability to see and learn from nature?”
Language an Issue
- “ The essence of teaching is communication”
- “ Language today is only a tool,
an elective”
- “ Language has become a skill subject,
not language as literature”
Teacher apathy
- “ Blaming the curriculum is a totally
unjustified alibi”
- “ Teachers don’t see the pastoral
side of teaching”
- “ If a student hasn’t learnt, the
teacher hasn’t taught”
- “ You are not teaching if you are
not learning”
- “ Today’s teachers are ignoring
the classics”
Student Disillusionment
- “ I have been brought up in a system
where there is no innovation”
- “ My lab environment was very claustrophobic”
- “ Many of us feel sleepy in class
because it’s hot and there aren’t enough windows”
- “ I haven’t learnt anything in economics”
- “ The real value (knowledge) of
students is not recognised”
- “ I am scared …the system is corrupt,
I don’t know if I will get into a good college”
- “ How can we make history and social
studies more interesting?”
Observations
- Teaching and Learning Methods
- The
emphasis in most Indian schools is on exam oriented "learning".
- The
prevalent 'direct teaching' method also known as the "factory approach"
discourages student curiosity, questioning, innovation and feedback.
- This
produces mechanical knowledge aimed at passing exams.
- Innovation
in teaching and learning aimed at development of creative and original
thinking skills is rare:
- There
is very little learning from first principles (cause-effect learning)
- Few
teachers and schools relate learning to actual phenomena in nature
(development of physical intuition)
- There
is very little focus on application of knowledge and development
of relevant practical skills.
- There
are few incentives and opportunities for 'indirect' e.g. creative,
collaborative and hands-on learning.
- Some
examples of innovation among Bangalore schools include teaching
social science through simulation games to secondary students at
Mallya Aditi, science teaching that encourages questioning by primary
level students at NAFL and student participation and learning at
The Center for Learning.
- Most
teachers display a distinct lack of imagination and initiative in
interpreting and enriching textbook learning.
- Assessment
methods focus almost exclusively on exams. Many children would do
better in class if alternative methods of assessment (e.g. aural)
were factored into overall assessment.
- Off
campus specialist-tutoring courses is an accelerating and important
phenomenon that has grown into a parallel education system.
- Tutoring
focuses entirely on exams and marks; exam questions often are leaked
to students.
- Tutoring
classes outside of regular work hours have become a major source
of income for many teachers.
- The
"factory based" approach to primary and secondary education, combined
with the race to secure a graduate degree, has produced a large
number of "graduates" without effective thinking, application, teamwork
and leadership skills. The consequences of this are far reaching:
- The
lead-time for training and retraining new recruits in industry as
well as the cost of such training is increasing.
- A
large and growing segment of the population lacks basic vocational
skills and training.
- Productivity
throughout the economic system is low
- Accelerating
expectations combined with a lack of productive opportunity has
created a potentially volatile situation.
- The
explosion in school graduates has not been matched by an increase
in quality undergraduate institutions. This has resulted in fierce
competition for limited seats
- even
a 0.5% difference in marks can result in success or failure.
- For
example, over 120,000 candidates compete every year for the 2,000
to 3,000 seats offered by the prestigious IITs
- Cultural
enrichment of students, a key education objective, is not happening:
- In
teaching language, the focus is on language as a skill rather than
its classical and creative aspects.
- Learning
and development opportunities in art, music, dance, theatre and
classical languages are limited.
Information technology (IT)
- IT
presents a major opportunity to rapidly spread information and knowledge
cost-effectively even to the most remote rural areas of the country.
- India
is gaining a worldwide reputation for its success in exporting contract
software services - Indian programmers in India have not yet however
established a reputation for building new and revolutionary software
products. The question remains whether they will close this 'creative
gap' any time soon. Part of the reason for lack of success so far
may well lie in the nature of the education system which discourages
creativity and learning from first principles
- The
key to effectively leverage information technology in Indian primary
education is to get teachers and students proactively involved with
IT through, for example:
- Undertaking
real life projects within and outside the school campus
- Encouraging
close interaction with software and hardware companies
- Making
available resources to less privileged groups
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