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Mahesh

14/03/24 10:40 AM IST

Higher engagement, better learning

In News
  • The Annual Status of Education Report 2023 states that more than 86.8% individuals in the age group of 14-18 are enrolled in educational institutions, but one-fourth of them cannot read a Class 2-level text fluently in their regional languages.
A learning deficit
  • India has been struggling with a learning deficit for years now.
  • Attendance in public schools tends to be low, so despite children being enrolled in school, many of them don’t learn much.
  • This is largely because schools are unable to engage children.
  • Therefore, children and parents see little value in school.
  • Across classrooms, government school teachers attribute poor student learning outcomes to poor student attendance.
  • When students don’t show up, teachers lose their motivation and do little to increase the level of engagement with learners, which could in turn motivate students to show up.
  • Students learn when there is motivation to do so and that happens when classrooms are meaningful and psychologically safe spaces.
  • However, in classrooms across India, the teacher focuses only on the few students who sit in the front rows.
  • The teacher writes questions and often even the answers on the blackboard.
  • The students spend most of their learning hours copying off the board while the teacher leaves the room to do “more important” work.
  • The teacher asks questions, but only a few children generally answer.
  • India has a long tradition of rote learning.
  • Many have progressed in life learning this way, but this kind of learning does not serve all students.
  • In any case, with the world changing so fast, children need different skills.
Problems in education system
  • Unless the teacher participates, student engagement cannot happen. Classroom learning opportunities must be made available to everyone, irrespective of gender, caste, religion, special needs, or disability.
  • When teachers actively engage students in a lesson, learning outcomes improve. This seems like a simple premise. Why then is it so difficult to implement in the classroom?
  • The many problems that plague the education system, including inadequate teacher allocation, poor systemic governance, outdated teaching practices, lack of teacher support and coaching, all contribute to making this hard to implement at scale.
  • There are many teachers who teach with passion and dedication, despite the challenges. However, even when we have dedicated teachers teaching and good student attendance, children still do not always learn.
  • A part of the problem is that many of these teachers were themselves not taught in an engaging way.
  • So, very few of them worry about whether they are engaging the learner as they don’t see it as their responsibility.
  • Teaching is largely seen as a one-way communication with the teacher getting no feedback from the student during the lesson.
  • The teacher does not know what is going on in the learner’s mind and therefore cannot customise their teaching to suit the learner’s needs.
Teaching the teacher
  • Teachers have not seen how practices such as questioning are practiced. This is because teacher education and training in India tends to be theoretical.
  • It is conducted in seminar-style and tends to be a one-way communication.
  • There is little opportunity for practice provided to the participants.
  • We must see teachers as learners too and provide them with an engaging learning environment with 70% practice and 30% theory so that training serves a two-fold purpose: teachers get trained, but also experience learner engagement for themselves.
  • Additionally, there is no one in school to support teachers. All of us need coaching and hand-holding to support us in adopting new behaviour. Even though teaching is a vital job, teachers do not get help.
Way forward
  • Student engagement is the key to driving better learning, but this is missing from many classrooms.
  • Structured lessons, high quality teacher-student relationships, and student autonomy, i.e. allowing students choices in the classroom result in higher engagement and better learning outcomes.
  • Simple changes in classroom techniques can positively impact the learning environment.
  • In India, we have spent a few years discussing the Right to Education but this is a good time to shift the focus to the Right to Learning. Else, reading every ASER report will only lead to more disappointment.
Source- The Hindu

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