What is education? Good grades, and ability to read and write, ability to decipher numbers? OR CAN IT BE SOMETHING MORE?
Even in today’s day and age where some countries like Finland is taking a stand to remove all school subjects and focus on child’s growth; and Japan where more importance is laid on ethics and values than grades- India stands far behind where school students are still struggling to impress their parents with high percentages in Subjects like Science or Math.
So if we dared to reimagine our classrooms, what would it look like?
Adopt a Blended Learning Approach:
Rather than having lessons which are completely teacher-driven and one-sided, schools can adopt a more blended learning approach. Blended learning is an education program that combines online digital media with traditional classroom methods. It requires the physical presence of both teacher and student, with some element of student control over time, place, path, or pace. Blended learning allows children to have control over their pace of learning. Rather than depending solely on their teacher for information in the classroom, students can make use of videos, blogs, e-books on the internet.
Bringing the Maker Movement into the classroom:
Sound research throughout history suggests that students learn better through doing. Maker classrooms are active classrooms. Here students are not busy taking directions from their teachers but are in fact involved in their own quest for new learning. These classrooms emphasise making, inventing and creating.
“The same old teaching becomes incredibly more expensive and biased toward its dumbest parts, namely the kind of rote learning in which measurable results can be obtained by treating the children like pigeons in a Skinner box.”
Help Students embrace their inner artists:
Classrooms are places where different types of creativity should be nurtured. Students should be made to feel free to creatively express themselves. Art could collaborate into subjects such as language, match or even science. Imagine starting a pottery to learn about mass and density! Creating artwork requires emotions and intellectuality. Learning of this form is bound to stay with the students for a much longer time.
Harness the Gamer Brain:
Playing games in the classroom have moved beyond brain breaks. The whole unit can be ‘gamified’ with customised rules. This not just makes the class interesting, it makes it EPIC! Take problem-based learning to the next level by making it into a QUEST! Simple geography lessons could be turned into a game of chess. Turn the whole class into an awesome game room while analysing moves and celebrating wins in the classroom with leaderboards!