Innovative Pedagogy in the School

How can faculty members include innovation pedagogy in the classroom and beyond the classroom? Many educational institutions, policymakers, and faculty members are asking questions in order to enhance Innovation in the classroom. CBSE has decided that the Principals of all schools shall be the pedagogical leaders of their schools.

Indian School Principals are entrusted with great responsibility; however, they need to include innovation in teaching and learning in place of simply imparting knowledge. Educational Leaders must encourage inquiry-based learning where students are prepared to explore, create and collaborate.

Merely declaring school Principals as Pedagogical leaders will not solve the problem, until and unless we prepare our teachers to use innovation pedagogy in their regular teaching to enable students to be a creator and innovators. You need good teachers who are passionate to make teaching-learning innovative, interesting, engaging, and experiential.

Reaching out to the learner’s community with creativity and innovation to enable them to deal with life effectively and come out with out-of-the-box thinking is the sole objective of innovative pedagogy. In order to achieve this, there are a few suggested activities we need to incorporate into our system. We need to recognize, appreciate and encourage creative teachers & their contribution in the classroom or beyond the classroom. How well a teacher manages the classroom is the primary determinant of how well the students learn.

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There is maximum utilization of time in productive activities and all students are actively participating in the learning process. In the Classroom Soft Board/House Soft Boards/Departmental Soft Boards like Languages, Art, IT, Eco Club, and publication of school magazine is another platform for students to showcase their creativity and innovation. The school needs to provide opportunities and encourage maximum participation in various creative writing activities such as story writing, poem writing, and creative essay writing. Create awareness toward UN's sustainable goal of development, Health & Hygiene, Cleanliness, and Environmental awareness.

Utilize available infrastructure – Unused walls, IT Infrastructure, Activity room, Developing Kitchen Garden, Sports ground, Respect and know others culture, faith, language, food, and clothes

Creative Opportunity and Best Practices at Star Public School

• Language classes from 5^th onwards are assigned to convert a lesson into drama.
• During vacations, students are encouraged to write a travelogue.
• 70 % of students of a class achieve academic excellence certificate in place of earlier system 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd rank holders.
• Parental participation in order to enhance creativity and aesthetics (Teachers informs the parents about upcoming activities, as a result, it has been observed that parent contributes actively and are involved).
• We ensure that every student must undertake an online competition per term such as PCRA, World Wild Life Fund for India Quiz, TERRE, TERI, Mangahigh Mathematics Challenge, Aryabhatta Ganit Challenge, VVM, KAMP, NASO, etc.

NURSERY TO CLASS V

• Development of speaking skills by participating in Morning Assembly, Observing and Celebrating Important days and Events.
• Hands-on Learning by visiting the Activity room & Jodo Gyan Classes.
• Narrating Stories, Coining New Words, Listening & Comprehending Activities.
• Peer Learning.

CLASSES VI TO XII

• Carving Creativity and Enhancing Aesthetics through unused walls.
• Scientific Minds – Vidyarthi Vigyan Manthan, KAMP Knowledge and Awareness Mapping Platform (KAMP), Solar Lamp Making, Solar Car Making in Collaboration with IIT Mumbai.
• Mathematical Minds– Mangahigh games, Aryabhata Ganit Challenge
• Art Minds & Painters– Carving Creativity and Enhancing Aesthetics through unused walls.
• Vivid Readers – Fast Reading assessment and DEAR Time
• Participating in Online & Offline Competitions like TERRE, TERI, Australian Chemistry, IIT Workshop, etc.
• Concept Learning – Students are asked to sketch during the class based on the stories/explanation of the topic placed on a chart paper in the classroom. In this process class is able to collect ideas and points of view of the students based on their understanding. In this process, Art & Language teachers work together.

Best Practices for Educators at Star Public School

• Teachers are encouraged to suggest creative ideas and to attend teachers’ training and workshop to enhance 21^st Century skills.
• Teachers are also encouraged to apply for State and National level awards and workshops.
• They are also encouraged to participate in environmental projects and research works.
• They are given financial support and sponsorship for short-term courses.

Creativity makes the change in every sphere of life. Civilization is an example of this. When this creativity helps to bring change to the teaching-learning process, it will definitely change the way of teaching by enhancing and inculcating the new way of learning. The modern way of teaching is not confined to the small compact room where everything is monitored by the teacher; it is illuminated by the little ray of creativity. To promote this conception Eleven Teachers from Star Public School had participated in Innovative Practice of Teaching and Evaluation organized by ‘CUSB Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching Award-2019 & 2020’ under the Scheme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India in the Central University of South Bihar. The brief ideas about their innovation are enumerated below:

The innovation is “Exploring Stories through Real World”. The activity is the enactment of the stories by the students. The pedagogic approach used is Experiential and Collaborative learning. This method engages students in critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and finally reflecting.

The innovation is teaching stories through dramatization and radio play. The topic was “Clean the Environment through unity”. The dramatization helps the students to understand the story clearly when they enact each character. The Radio play helps to improve students’ listening skills and understanding of the concept and the theme of the story.

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The main idea of innovation is to engage the students in collaborative and peer learning on ‘Wall Murals’. The basic idea is “Carving Creativity and Enhancing Aesthetics through unused walls”.

The innovation is teaching stories through the pictorial presentation of the character in the Lower Primary level like “Story-telling weds Role-playing”. Interest and curiosity are the way children play the role of the character of the story. The method is collaborative learning.

The innovation is teaching “Addition and subtraction through two coloured buttons”.  White colour buttons indicate Positive integers and Black colour buttons indicate Negative integers. A pair of Block and White colour buttons indicates Zero. The pedagogic approach used is Learning by Doing.

The innovation is teaching composition through the method of “Creative Writing through Magic-Box, Cross-words, and Pictures”. The pedagogic approach used is peer learning. The warm-up session in the class helps to inculcate the spirit of creativity among the students.

Innovation is taught through the method of “Playing with atoms”. The pedagogical approach used is Cooperative learning, Critical thinking, and diffusing knowledge through Collaborative working which gives the knowledge of Atomic numbers, Atomic masses of the Elements through the play.

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The innovative topic is “Unlocking Doubt-box with Peers”. The main attraction of the activity is learning MS Word 2010 through peers and summing up the activities collaboratively in the class and using the application of technology as an instructional aid.

The innovation is teaching through the method of “Experiential learning”. The pedagogical approach used is peer learning which enhances the learning capability of Science subject by sharing knowledge between the students.

We must encourage teachers to attend In-service training, learn new digital techniques, and promote teachers' exchange programmes in India and abroad. Students should get the opportunity to visit other schools situated in different parts of India in order to develop their cultural understanding and diversity.

Ref: https://www.cbse.gov.in/cbsenew/documents//Pedagogical%20Leaders.pdf

About the author:

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Dilip Kumar is the Principal of Star Public School, Lumshnong