Aditi Mathur and Ratnesh Mathur
I am just a student in your class. But for me the most important person in your class is ME. But sometimes I feel I am not given this importance. Sometimes, the subject becomes more important, performance becomes more important, comparison becomes more important or the way something has to be learnt or done becomes more important.
While all of these might be important, what I think, what I feel, what my beliefs are, what I like – the ME – is still the most important to me. Also, since I am the one who has to learn, making me the center of learning would obviously make learning so much more exciting and meaningful for me.
Incorporating elements of self-intelligence in the ways of learning should be the pre-requisite of all schooling.
Here is a list of ideas that ‘me’ (as a student) wants to share with you, so that you can use my self-intelligence to make learning much more effective for ME!
Emotions
Perhaps the most important and the most missed aspect of self-intelligence are my feelings. Schools often operate as if feelings have no place in the class; that I can leave them outside the school gate. But I go through all kinds of emotions – and the ones that the teacher needs to take care of especially are anxiety, fear, helplessness, loneliness, etc.
The authors run Geniekids, a learning centre in Bangalore that works with children. To know more about their work visit www.geniekids.com.