By Flourette G Dkhar
Our child spends on an average six to seven hours in school. If one happens to go for a morning or an evening walk, whom does one frequently see or meet? Apart from the other people is it not students again, hurrying and scurrying to their tuition classes? This is true not only with Secondary and Higher Secondary School students, (where the majority of them opt for tuitions) but it is equally true even with students studying in lower primary classes.
Why is this so? The reason is that at present most of the learning is associated with reproduction of facts and information- to the extent that if a student can reproduce word by word from a well known textbook, from carefully chalked out notes, from line to line answers given to them, and to add to it, if the writing is neat, clean, good and supplemented with perfect illustrations from the textbook, then they are considered to be the best, and are graded and rewarded with the best grades. We do not blame the students for this, infact we salute those students who have excelled from such a system. This they must have made through their sheer hard work, sincerity, dedication, sacrifices and support from teachers, tutors and family. But what happens to the majority of students (with special needs and without special needs) who cannot cope with the system as they climb from one grade to another, from one class to another? Do they get retained in the system or do they gradually fade out from it, as reflected in the UDISE data (2012-2013) of our state, which shows that the dropout rate at the secondary level is as high as 35.94%. This maybe one of the potent factors which may account for it.
This process of learning has made majority of our students become very mechanical, rigid and aggressive. They are full of hatred and anger towards the school, towards teachers, they are stressed out, they do not get the time to play or to relax, which makes them rebellious, which in turn is bringing out the worst in them. They are being denied of a happy, stress free life of childhood, which they should experience during this period of their growth and development. They do not find joy and freedom in learning and this kills their curiosity, creativity and quest for learning.
Is this then learning, or is it something else? Should it continue in this way? Can we bring a change in it? How can it be done? These are questions which teachers, teacher educators, policy makers, administrators in the field of education and parents need to contemplate and reflect deeply.
Let us admit that every day new changes and inventions are discovered and so is true also with the process of learning. All this while it was and is still the teacher who dictates learning to the child. Why then do we not reverse the system- from’Teacher Centred Pedagogy’ to ‘Child Centred Pedagogy’? as advocated by the NCERT’s, National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005.
This pedagogy calls for a paradigm shift in the learning process whereby it is learner centric, it is flexible, it facilitates supports and encourages learning, there is active participation in the learning process and autonomy on the part of the learner. In this process of learning knowledge is viewed not as something which is ‘given’ and ‘fixed’ but that which evolves and is created by the learner. Learning takes place not only within the four falls of the classroom but also in the wider social context.( NCF, 2005 pg 110) The role of the teacher here also changes from a hard task authoritarian to that of a guide, a facilitator, a mentor and a friend.
What follows from here is the need for us to value every child- with or without special needs in our classrooms. The NCF 2005, states that ‘…..children will learn only in an atmosphere where they feel that they are valued. Our schools still do not convey this to all children’ (NCF, 2005, pg 14) How as a teacher do we value each child? We value each child when we provide and create opportunities for the child’s experiences, voices and active participation to be a part of the daily learning process. In doing so, we are fostering democracy as a way of life in our classrooms. Our children will experience equality of status and opportunities, justice and liberty of thought and expression. These being the values enshrined in our constitution, and which are also the guiding principles of the NCF, 2005.
Learning will turn out to be joyful, to be pleasant and not stressful (not only for the child but also affected the parents.) If the child creates his/her own knowledge then such knowledge will be the result of understanding, which will prove to be more meaningful to the child. This gives rise to internalization of knowledge which will have a long lasting impact on the child. The evaluation process of the child then shifts from whether the child can reproduce the ‘given’ and ‘fixed’ knowledge to understanding and application of knowledge.
This process of learning will not only enhance cognitive development in children but will also help in the positive growth of the affective domain of the child- wherein by interacting and learning together with peers and friends in small groups they will be able to understand, respect one another, and later learn to live together. As the saying goes, ‘Children who learn together learn to live together.’
Let us not deprive our children of their rights and quality learning opportunities which will bring forth the best in each one of them. What a change we will find in our classrooms? It will not be the teacher’s voice all the time that we will hear but students’ actively participating in the learning process- be it in group work, group activity, discussions, presentations, or expressing learning in various other forms.
Maybe some of the teachers, teacher educators by now after reading the above will want to bring a change in the system. Yes, attitudinal change is the first step for any change to take place, but what follows after that for the teacher to excel in such a process of learning? Firstly, one needs to be grounded in the theoretical background of the philosophy, where the shift will be from the behaviouristic approach to the constructivist approach to learning, and secondly undergo training on the various approaches/techniques to implement it.
Realizing the importance of the paradigm shift, the National Curriculum Framework on Teacher Education, 2009 has therefore suggested pedagogical reforms in Teacher Education at all levels. The NCERT has also taken a lead in this, and this philosophy is now used in all its courses of study and training programmes across the country. Look for such programmes and demand for such programmes!
(The writer is Associate Professor, NERIE, NCERT)