Proactive learning

A collaborative project is enthusing children to learn with group activities

No fidgeting, no looking out of the window or chatting with mates. Sohail is all eyes and ears to the class teacher. Same is the case with his bench mate, Azhar, who used to doodle while the teacher is explaining.  Many schools in the city are witnessing a pleasant transformation in their class rooms with students evincing greater interest in what is being taught.

No, the teachers have not changed. There is no change in the books either. What has undergone change is the teaching methodology. Chalk and talk is out. And active multi-modal learning is in. By simply going for audio-visual and kinaesthetic learning, a significant improvement in attention span of children is being noticed. "I find the students more engaged and attentive now", says Nadia Pardiwala of Glendale School.

"Every child is smart in a different way. It is the responsibility of educators to keep them engaged by adopting innovative methods of teaching", says Rachael Dimond, English Language Fellow, US.  She has been holding teachers' training workshops in Hyderabad as part of the US Consulate and The Siasat Daily project.

Dimond's methodology is revolutionary. It is hands-on learning consisting of group based activities. To ensure greater participation, she goes for think, pair and share technique. The children are given 1-2 minute to think, 2-3 minutes to share with partner next to them and then they are randomly called to share their answer. Dimond also uses Total Physical Response (TPR) technique for associating words with action. Like a superior instructor she likes to demonstrate everything she teaches.

 She faults lecture based learning and thinks it is not the ultimate classroom strategy. The traditional stand-and-deliver lectures fail to enthuse many. "Humans have bodies and they are made to move. Educators should experiment with stimulating active learning methods as they help in better memory retention", she says and adds that this technique can be used at higher levels of learning too.

 "The class room management techniques shown by Dimond  are very useful and we are already seeing the change in our school. When we teach a child we have to be a child ourselves", says Ishrat Naheed, academic coordinator, Springfields School, Malakpet.  About 314 teachers from 223 schools from Hyderabad, Mumbai, Lucknow and Chhattisgarh took part in four workshop that concluded recently. This apart Dimond also taught English communication skills for employability to 573 candidates in 10 batches.

Dimond is not for corporal or verbal punishment of children. Rather she recommends operant behavioural conditioning. She suggests giving something to a child by way of positive reinforcement and taking away something as negative punishment. A good teacher, like a good entertainer, must first hold the audience attention. The American has a bagful of tips for classroom management like pebble party, finger codes, popsicle sticks, quiet commands and flip cards. But as a student, she admits, she was herself hyperactive, undisciplined and uninterested. "However my teacher believed in me and that brought about the transformation", she says.

Dimond is in Hyderabad as part of the US government programme to help educators across the world. She has taken a great liking to the city. "The food is excellent here but the traffic is horrible. In America it is the other way round", she giggles.

 J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Article published in The Hindu

Dated June 1,2018