JOIN USClassroom processes remain mostly ‘traditional’ with one-way transmission and little interaction. Students are mostly treated as passive receivers of knowledge with very little active participation in their own learning. Where activities are being conducted, the focus seems to be on memorisation and recall with not much analysis or reasoning.” The above lines are observations made by the 22nd Joint Review Mission of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
In this context, there is an urgent need for transformation in the pedagogic practices. This can effectively be addressed with a comprehensive policy. Child-centred schools cannot be visualised without child-centred pedagogy. A complete transformation in the pedagogic practices of schools is necessary today. A robust policy which delineate on the child-centred pedagogic practices has to be brought in to enable children to learn with joy and happiness and make our schools lively and dynamic.
The need for a redesign
Understanding the child in her or his own position with a child-centred perspective and designing the appropriate pedagogy is necessary. Even though a lot has been changed in the schooling system including curriculum and pedagogic practices, a lot of aspects still need to be addressed in the area of pedagogic practices.
When we talk about child-centred pedagogy, we can’t resist endorsing activity-based learning methodology popularly known as Nali Kali, which is in place in Karnataka from class 1-3. If you visit any Nali Kali classroom, you can see children actively engaged in the learning activity and busy writing on the wall slate or doing some reading or writing work with the help of cards or with some learning resources. A study conducted by the Centre For Multidisciplinary Development Research (CMDR), Dharwad during 2009-10 on the evaluation of the Nali Kali methodology revealed that children are enjoying the methodology and they are active in performing different activities.
The very nature of Nali Kali methodology has an inclusive classroom environment where gender and social disparities disappear. The whole school environment needs to be redesigned based on child-centred principles, which can ensure the safety and comfort of the children. To start with, the school building should be built in such a way that children enjoy being in it. A good playground, well-ventilated classrooms, sufficient space for children, proper drinking water and toilet facilities, enough play materials, a good library and many such other facilities keep kids happy in the school. Why, even a colourfully-painted wall can enliven a classroom.
When it comes to the seating arrangement, the old method of linear seating needs to be looked upon. This type of rigid traditional seating arrangement, which doesn’t allow a teacher to walk around in her class flexibly and interact with children, hinders the effective communication between the teacher and students. The concept of ‘front-bench children’ and ‘back-bench children’ comes into picture here, wherein the back bench students are considered as naughty and disobedient mostly because they are not easily accessible to teacher.
If the children are made to sit in a circular or semicircular shape, it can enhance the levels of interaction between teacher and students, and students with their peers. In fact, research studies have revealed that flexible and dynamic type of seating arrangement is beneficial for academic and behavioural outcomes of children.
Then comes the learning techniques employed by teachers. Today’s complex world calls for active learning techniques to enable students to experiment with ideas, develop concepts, and to integrate concepts into systems. In this connection, seminars on specific themes can be assigned to individual student or a small group of students. In such seminars, students definitely participate with great interest and enthusiasm which can ensure better learning.
Projects aren’t only about reproducing information off the Internet. If the projects are properly guided by teachers, opportunities for collaborative learning along with instilling confidence among children are created. It would greatly benefit the teachers if they invest time and effort to create low-cost teaching materials to teach difficult subjects. Teachers can also guide children to prepare certain simple scientific models which will help them understand the scientific principle behind each model.
As one can see, child-centred learning not only makes teaching easier, but also greatly expands the minds of young ones, perhaps even leads them to greater heights in their lives.
(The author is assistant director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan-Karnataka,
Bengaluru)