Opinion
Evolution of Learning Environments – How Educationists would build Indian School of Future Part 7
Read on for amazing insights into the vision of building the school of the future…
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We were keen to feature views of School Leaders and Educators on 'The Evolution of Learning Environments: Building the Indian School of the Future'. The excitement was palpable. Educationists across the country were preparing to gather at the ScooNews EdBrainstorm with Professor Sugata Mitra on April 2 in Mumbai. In preparation for this exercise to discuss the building the Indian School of the Future, ScooNews invited key delegates at the EdBrainstorm to share their vision on the Evolution of Learning Environments. The result was a smorgasbord of ideas and beliefs, a melange of thoughts and concepts, lively agreements and livelier arguments!
The complete story featured in our April 2018 issue, we are reproducing this online as a series of articles to make it comfortable and easier for our online readers, read the 7th episode for some more amazing insights into the vision of building the school of the future…
Provoke and liberate!
If children have interest then education happens, said Sugata Mitra.
In my search for a better understanding of Reggio Emilia’s Philosophy of Education, I chanced upon a wonderful video The Tin Forest by Rocky View School dated May 2, 2016. The school had adapted the story The Tin Forest written by Helen Ward, for provoking the students (age group five to six years) to be creative. All the material required including picture books of the story was within the reach and an amazing tin forest was created by the students. Other than the creative work, what struck me and what was clearly visible among the students, was the total involvement, the teamwork, the joy and fun, the excitement, the decision making, the open-mindedness, the spirit of inquiry, the research work and the sense of satisfaction and achievement. Effective learning took place through the child’s innovation, imagination, ingenuity, and inspiration.
Is it not what the 21st century education is all about? Is it not what is the need of the hour? We as educators have to ensure that children are given space and time to grow and learn on their own, discover, make mistakes, learn from them and move ahead rather than being spoon-fed, crowded or cornered against the wall. It’s for sure not a very difficult task – the only difficulty is changing our mindset. My responsibility is to guide the child to be an independent individual who fits into society like a glove.
Even during my teaching days, I used to be a great believer of giving freedom to the child to learn and thus used to always be on the lookout for something new, something different, something challenging to make teaching and learning interesting. I used to cherish the look on my students’ faces when I entered the class … ‘What is she going to do today??’ Hardly ever was the textbook opened in my classroom but I relied a lot on bringing in more material related to the topic to the classroom. This created massive curiosity among the students, encouraged classroom discussion, individual opinion, framing questions, investigation, creating a new outlook and perspective on the topic.
A teacher’s passion and positive attitude towards students, subject and teaching matters to promote the classroom environment and culture accordingly. Once the students know they have an independence to choose the topic they want to do first or last, there will be a lot of excitement and interest generated amongst the students. The learning atmosphere will be relaxed, open and non-threatening. It will make teaching more rewarding and fun for the teacher too. Child-driven education gives children a zest for imagining and learning to last a lifetime. For sure, it is essential and a lifeline to understand the potential of a child and nurture it. Grant children the lasting gift of freedom.
About the author:
Pratibha Sinha is the CEO, DSR Educational Society.
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