FREEDOM TO LEARN

During my last visit to the US, I had the opportunity of visiting some primary schools.  As the Head of the school was leading me through chosen corridors meant for visitors, I saw a student of grade 3 running around in an open area with a paper windmill. I just stopped him for a conversation and asked “Is it your games period?”

He smiled and politely replied “No sir... it is my lab time.. “ I continued.. “lab?  What are you doing?” The student replied “I am experimenting.. I am trying to convert wind energy into mechanical energy...” and the discourse went on .. the boy trying to explain me the various forms of renewable and non-renewable sources  of energy.

On a second incident, i saw a student of grade one, collecting a few leaves and sand in a small container and putting some water and examining.. I checked with him about the nature of his work.. the reply was “ I am researching.. on the habitat of this insect..”  The reply was mind boggling..

Leaving aside, the outcome of what they do, I think the process of letting the student learn in a non-orchestrated manner appears important. While the curriculum (oftentimes people don’t differentiate between the terms syllabus and the curriculum!) can be the broadbased, the freedom to learn will certainly open an innovative, researching and enterprising mind.

Some of the challenges in our delivery systems is “Know what you should” or “Learn what you are expected to” or “Follow my knowledge delivery line”! The learner is haunted with the fear of “doing a mistake” or “going wrong” in his pursuit of knowledge.  Unfortunately this linearity of approach has been established from Kindergarten to the University levels of education!

“Error analysis” has been one of the fundamentals for many researches and their outstanding outcomes.. as these ‘errors’ have opened up to newer visions, newer interpretations or to new approaches. We have never considered error analysis as a part of the learning process. The fear of “errors” or branding those with incompatible results as ‘non-performers’ or ‘failures’ is possibly stamping a packaged product as ‘unusable’ even before knowing what is indeed inside !

I eagerly look for the day when my primary teachers will tell their students as they enter their classrooms “Close your books” instead of “Open your books”!  - a passionate dream to enable more and better engagement with the learners in the classroom!