Ashwini Subodh Pathak
Today’s young generation maybe learning the ropes of technology even as toddlers but they are losing a very basic human quality–the ability to communicate. This generation is so engrossed in themselves and in the virtual world they create that they have forgotten how to connect with human beings in real life. Let our children not slip away, let us help them ‘communicate’ with us and their peers outside their screens.
Category: Focus
Flexibility in assessment: the way ahead
Divya Kapoor
Can a flexible assessment system help students to be more engaged and enthusiastic and also benefit from the teaching-learning process? Today’s learners need to be given the freedom to choose their assessment in terms of the mode, time and medium of assessment. This article focuses on effective flexible assessment strategies that can be implemented in the curriculum and the role of the teacher in giving students the autonomy to choose their mode of assessment.
Future of work
Deepali Barapatre
The nature of work today is becoming fluid. Permanent roles and responsibilities are fast fading. As teachers we need to nurture students who can adapt to this kind of work culture. We need to ensure that our students develop a growth mindset.
Feel the magic
Sharmila Govande
Learning is no longer confined within the boundaries of a school. In fact, many today believe learning best happens outside of school. The Learning Societies UnConference or LSUC is an event that firmly believes that if you wish to learn, the world and its experiences are your teachers. An unconference that was started in 2002, LSUC strives to take out the school from its participants and open them up to real learning.
Nurturing the creative gene
Surekha Nayani
The problems facing the world today are not simple or small. Therefore, the solutions to these problems have to be creative and out-of-the-box. Apart from producing literate and knowledgeable young people, schools should also cultivate their students’ creativity.
Fighting the inner wars
G. Gautama
In today’s world, is there freedom for the individual to speak his/her mind, to ask questions, or even to express a different viewpoint? Should the teacher teach resilient participation and ownership to students so they can be effective citizens? Or should he/she teach them conformity, to obey commands and orders? This is the dilemma of a teacher.
Educational ecology of memorization
Kathan Shukla
How can students tap into their deeper levels of learning and not just indulge in rote- learning for the sake of exams? The author in this article points out to the need for more application- level questions in exams, and more higher quality teachers who are professionally competent.
Working from within their world
Snehal Vadher
Most cities, these days, are very much like one another. Therefore it is only when you teach in the rural areas, the hills and places faraway that you realize the mismatch between what students study in school and what they need to know to survive in their environment. This is when you realize the importance of indigenous knowledge and why it should be a part of what we are teaching children.
A whole-school plan to support student wellbeing
Shivani Mathur Gaiha, Sneh Verma, Yashu Kumar
A healthy mind is one of the necessary requirements for learning to take place. But this aspect is not really given the importance that it should be in schools in India. Schools are home to emotionally vulnerable adolescents and if we are to help them stay focused the entire school needs to work towards keeping our students emotionally healthy.
Taking stock of schooling systems
Sushama Yermal
The Indian education system is in a terrible shape and unless we do something about it immediately we won’t be able to rescue our children’s future. This is by now common knowledge. But despite several attempts why aren’t we able to do anything? Here’s analyzing Lant Prichett’s, American educationist, book, Rebirth of Education, which not only identifies the problems with education systems in developing countries but also proposes possible solutions.