School of tomorrow

Updated on: Friday, December 02, 2011

School education in the 21st Century needs more than just simple teaching and learning within the confines of the classroom. With the dynamics of education undergoing a radical change, educators have to learn how to deal with the changes that affect both teachers and students.

We have to deal with realities like globalisation, digitalisation, and how our brain works, which requires us to move out of our comfort zone, try different techniques while teaching, and more importantly, understand that risk-taking, decision making and problem-solving are as important for children as is the curriculum. The CBSEs curriculum is just a benchmark, a tool that can be used to go beyond the curriculum, opines Gowri Ishwaran, Padma Shri recipient and CEO, The Global Education and Leadership Foundation, who was a participant in the XSeed School of Tomorrow conference, held recently.

Stressing on the fact that a curriculum should not be the only guiding factor in the classroom, Ishwaran says that teachers hold the future of children in the way they teach. Teachers should not be restricted by the curriculum but see it as a tool to facilitate the teaching and learning process. We always blame private schools as they dont take underprivileged children; but they constitute eight percent of all schools in India. It is the rest 92% of the schools that have to make a difference. The role of teachers has changed from the traditional chalk-and-talk to enablers.

Teachers need to mould students into global citizens, and the way the curriculum is modernised across the board will help shaping this global citizen. Interdisciplinary teaching that is age appropriate is important. For example, if students get to know about the Himalayas in India, what stops them from exploring and finding out about other mountains in the world, their culture, etc? We are lucky because we live in a country where people of different cultures live together; but that aspect has to be broadened on an international scale. In terms of the curriculum, I feel students can learn about different countries and not be marked on it. It depends on how the curriculum is modernised, explains Ishwaran.

There is a need to be aware of the challenges of our education system in order to deal with the shortcomings. The CBSEs Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) is a noble idea, but not much attention is being paid when it comes to execution. Just printing books isnt enough. Proactive measures need to be taken. Principals in government schools dont know what CCE is. Unless they know the system, how can they implement it? Many schools are not ready to move out of their comfort zone because it requires energy and money. Private partners have commercial interests. Unless the government does something about policy while promoting a partnership between public-private partnerships, the problem will not be addressed, she says.

Times of India

School of tomorrow

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