Rashid Chandio

Fundamentally, we human beings are inclined and destined to learn everything, explore universe, search truths, find out realities, stretch out all sorts of boundaries, discover hidden treasures, admire external beauties of the world, unravel our internal capabilities, serve creator’s creations, engineer new thoughts, meditate for beyond limits, think out of  the box, make world a peaceful place, play respective roles to keep going the system of societies, understand principles of cosmos, open gates of mind to attract learning, lurk heart to pump with other creation, paint soul to make clear clean picture of ourselves, leave body to cherish all the blessings of God, value other fellows regardless of looking their other man-made traits such as caste, sect, religion, creed, color of skin, logo of a nation, tag of superiority inferiority etc. Al these things ultimately make only one sense to me that human beings are more important than anything else in this universe and to comprehend that definition, one has to sink in the ocean of universality where everything promotes and supports equality, integrity, unity, acceptability, harmony regardless of bringing unnatural division and demarcation that has been made and imposed by one person on another.

However, presently, this seems like a dream- like vision, a hypothetical demand, unreal task, and an abstruse idea to achieve such a goal where everyone respects other’s freedom of speech, basic rights of human beings, respecting dignity of humans, valuing and including the oppressed class of the world. To relate this concept with the concept of teaching and learning process that prevails in our educational system, I personally believe that a healthy relationship between teacher and student can perpetuate to obtain such high goals because teacher and student are the real torch bearers and actual ambassadors of change that everybody is looking for. The question arises that does our current educational system support this idea of making an ideal connection between teacher and student and go hand in hand without taking care of the system and external environments? My observation and little experience says NO.

The reasons I have to say no are many. Firstly, teachers have been focusing on their own development without thinking and valuing students’ learning and growth. Secondly, there is very weak communication between teacher and student in terms of teaching and learning. Thirdly, the students have been caught in the web of grading system leaving out real purpose of education which is learning multiple things, growing mentally, developing personality, furnishing hidden talent, shining, approaching the world as it looks, sinking into the various colors of universe, inventing something different, creating balance in life, holding balanced approach towards everything around them, helping needy, valuing people, knowing mysteries, and simply avoiding to running after score card every time.

Fourthly, the government and management have not been providing sufficient facilities and instruments so that students can test themselves and their skills by doing all kinds of experiments which could help them to realize their highs and lows, strength and weaknesses. Fifthly, capital market has trapped and compromised actual learning of the learners systematically in such way the they are just demanding and requiring servants not the originators, true creators, pioneers, scientists, thinkers and this system has been infused with great care so that people do not realize for a friction of second that how they are being enslaved and trapped in the global capital market. Sixthly, parents have seriously stopped thinking to know the real talent of their offspring and to show them proper direction to excel in their careers. Resultantly, the students become part of disciplines which do not match with their interest and choice then at the end of the day, students unwillingly and without having any choice of their own lead them to suffer throughout their careers in their lives.

Who is victim and most affected? Undoubtedly the students. To avoid such loss of the students, we all have to take this matter seriously, especially the teachers who are in direct contact with them inside the classrooms. Teachers must not be limited to the content delivery and revolves around the syllabus but they have to take everything into account like lifting the academic, social, professional, mental, physical, cognitive, behavioral skills of the students so that the learners must excel in all the fields of life. It is true that the students are the most vulnerable prospect when it comes to teaching and learning process therefore, teacher has to be very careful in dealing, tackling, handling the students in the class or out of the class because sometimes a single word by a teacher is enough to cease the learning enthusiasm and motivation of the student.

It is rightly said that when it comes to influencing and boosting motivation among the students then teachers play a significant role. Good teachers and effective schools of thought are those who always set goals, design beliefs, drive attitudes, shape behaviors among the learners which hold long-term sustainability and untouchable involvement of the students as far as learning is concerned. Broadly speaking, the teacher does not only teach and impart knowledge, transfer information but the teacher shapes life and fills the gaps which disturb the students to cross line and achieve their goals of life.

Therefore, I personally believe that teaching is a very tough profession as compared to other professions because it keeps the teacher on its toes every time and thinks beyond her/his desires. One of the tipping problems that has spoiled our teaching-learning process is the induction of the grading system in which the learning and talent has been under-covered and measured on the basis of grades that the learners achieve in their study. For instance, I talk here up to the undergraduate level students. When the students enter into the university to pursue their graduation degrees they do not have sufficient prior knowledge to earn good grades in the beginning but the big disadvantage of these lower grades in the initial days stay with the students forever and they pretend that they are incapable and unable to improve and on other hand some students who do much better and bring healthy grades from the beginning then they take it for granted that they are very excellent and will continue to excel throughout the process. I am not against such a grading system but students must be told and informed clearly in the beginning of their classes that grades are not everything but learning is something that matters a lot which will give you a way to fulfil your dreams. So, here begins the role of teacher to keep the students relaxed regarding grades and help them to enhance their learning, knowledge, and skills.

To conclude, I would like to say that students must be taken out from the tyranny of the grades and shift their focus on learning. There are all kinds of students who come from different backgrounds, have different schooling, and enter university. It is a painful duty of the teacher to understand the situations of each student and to mold their mind towards learning new things, gaining knowledge, and developing skills regardless of pondering over the grades which are just the part of the documents. The real learning lies in heads not on the piece of paper. There is dire need to do this act on an immediate basis because students are being imprisoned in the circle of grades. Meanwhile, the learning has been fading away slowly and gradually from our institutions. Consequently, our institutions have stopped producing the scientists, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, and skillful people who could help the crashing economy rise and develop the infrastructure of the society.

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The writer is English faculty member at Benazir Bhutto Shaheed University Lyari Karachi.

The post The Concept of Teaching and Learning Process first appeared on Sindh Courier.

Nothing motivates learners as much as fun does because it comes from genuine interest from within instead of pressure from others. Students are much more likely to invest extra time in the learning process if they enjoy it.

By Nazarul Islam

Some years ago, I had observed in one rural tutorial center—that young children were gossiping in low voices among themselves sitting on the mat as their teacher prepared to teach them about the germination of seeds and growth of plants, equipped with pictures of life cycle of plants.

Outside the classroom, there was a garden harboring many flower and vegetable plants. Curious children pointed to this garden and tried to draw the attention of teacher. But the teacher drew their attention back to his lecture so that children would perform well in the examination.

Once, a student of Grade 8 had raised his hand to ask if there were any places in the world where there was no plant. The teacher stopped him bluntly, in his mid-sentence: “No questions now, please; it is time for learning”. This method of teaching forces children to miss how to sow seeds followed by the joy of their germination in the garden. It could be a scene in almost any school. Children, full of questions about things that interest them, are learning not to ask them at school. It is not the fault of teachers. They have so many targets to meet.

Against a background of tests and targets, unscripted queries go mainly unanswered and learning opportunities are lost. Children are born curious. The number of questions a toddler asks can seem infinite – it is one of the critical methods humans adopt to learn.

According to researchers, children ask an average of 107 questions an hour. One child is generally asking three questions a minute at his peak. Unfortunately during learning, teachers do not encourage questions being asked in the classroom and thereby a child’s creativity and conversational skills do not increase. But promoting curiosity is a foundation for early learning that we should be emphasizing when we look at academic achievement.

When teachers tell young children not to ask questions during their lecture, high-performing students are found to be less curious, because they see curiosity as a risk to their results whereas curious students who ask lots of questions get better results by understanding a topic more deeply.

But unfortunately, questioning drops like a stone once children start school. The youngest children hardly ask two or three questions in a two-hour period. Even worse, as they get older the children give up asking altogether. As soon as they are at primary school, they have to shut up and learn. It is true that children have inherent curiosity to ask questions at any time on any topic that interests them.

Ultimately it is our education system that kills curiosity. Many people in educational communities give emphasis on the behavior of the children while learning and their performance in the examination. Often educational bureaucracies have shunted curiosity to the side.

Many of us as guardians, educators, students or politicians forget that education does more than just impart literacy – it empowers students to take risks and face the world with confidence. One silver lining is that all efforts are expected to inspire a shift— from rote learning to in-depth understanding.

The curriculum content will be reduced to core essentials and create more space for critical thinking, discussion and analysis. Teaching and learning will be more interactive, exploratory, collaborative, and experiential. Age group of 3-6 years under the school curriculum has been recognized globally as the crucial stage for the development of mental faculties of a child.

Education is not just learning how to be a problem solver, but a blazer of trails, a setter of bars, and a raiser of stakes. Researchers gauged levels of curiosity when the children were babies, toddlers and preschoolers, using parent visits and questionnaires.

Reading, math and behavior were then checked in kindergarten (the first year of school), where they found that the most curious children performed best. In a finding critical to tackling the stubborn achievement gap between poorer and richer children, disadvantaged children had the strongest connection between curiosity and performance.

When I started to discuss the anomalies with a group of students, I realized that It would become increasingly difficult to hold their attention through a full day of learning. So the best possible option is to present the required curriculum to the students in an interesting and relatable way, because there was one thing in common among all the children – they did not like reading textbooks.

Students were found to be most receptive when I could make analogies that they could relate to their enjoyment. This applies to all subjects.

Now, every alternate day, I had made sure that at least one experiment would carried out to make them understand that science is fun. Gradually, students gained an interest in science and started consulting their text book on certain scientific topics and other events in their daily life. Even the quiet students who did not like to read have started to discuss the experiments with their guardians when they went back to the homes.

While teaching math at the elementary level, I once sat up late with the concerned teacher quite late in the night, to make up examples that would likely help students to understand better. Instead of asking them to divide 20 imaginary apples, I asked them to put their 20 friends in teams and they visualized the problem and understood what operation to use.

Most students enjoy hearing stories to which they can relate, and tend to remember the lessons associated with an experience. In biology, mutualism is an equal relationship while parasitism is like the friend who keeps eating your food but never brings any to share. This is why it is very important for us to make the process of learning as easy to absorb as possible.

Nothing motivates learners as much as fun does because it comes from genuine interest from within instead of pressure from others. Students are much more likely to invest extra time in the learning process if they enjoy it.

Let us help our children create their own structure or timetable for the day, combining their ideas and home learning. Now it is high time to encourage children to research something that is of interest to them and show their learning with a creative project. This could be making something with play-dough, junk modelling, papier-mache or a presentation.

Also positive constructive praise that targets effort, behavior and specific aspects of a child’s work is much more powerful than just saying “well done, for completing your monotonous home task”. Movement breaks – such as dancing to music, performing animal walks or playing Simon Says – provide children with sensory feedback and offers them a chance to “reset”. We must remember that learning should be fun.

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About the Author

The Bengal-born writer is a senior educationist based in USA. He writes for Sindh Courier and the newspapers of Bangladesh, India and America.

The post Let’s ensure learning is fun! first appeared on Sindh Courier.