its nice article, which we can adopt some of the activities in our class rooms. Thank you sir
On Sep 7, 2017 10:31 AM, "Gurumurthy K" <itfc.stfk...@gmail.com> wrote: > Nice thought provoking article ... please read and share your thoughts > > regards > Guru > > > HANDS-ON, MINDS-ON LEARNING Indira Vijaysimha explains how teachers can > impart knowledge without becoming overly controlling and authoritarian > > One of the most frustrating experiences that teachers face in the > classroom is not being able to get children to pay attention to what they > are saying. Many teachers resort to threat and punishment routines in order > to establish their dominance over their children and proceed to teach their > lesson to a silent class. This seems to be an effective way to teach and > traditionally, trainee teachers have been encouraged to establish control > over the children so that they can proceed with their teaching without > interruptions. School inspectors, too, have typically appreciated > classrooms where the children are sitting quietly in orderly rows and the > teacher proceeds with the lesson. The effectiveness of this tradition of > teaching has been under question for several decades now, although it is > still followed. > > Let us take a quick look at the reasons why silencing children by threats > and punishment may not be a good teaching strategy. To begin with, it > should be rather obvious that just because children are silent in class > while the teacher is teaching it doesn’t mean that they are focused on what > the teacher is saying. If children are not allowed to speak in class and > are supposed to respond only to the questions asked by the teacher, then > the teacher has little opportunity to evaluate whether they have actually > understood what is being taught. Years of schooling where pupils have to > sit silently in class is likely to result in a population of adults who > unquestioningly accept authority. > > Although such an ‘obedient’ population may seem desirable to some, it has > other consequences that should have us deeply worried. Blind obedience to > authority is not the preferred end of education. > > Education is meant to develop creativity and critical thinking in order to > make progress and human flourishing possible. We also see that when some > children are coerced into submitting to teachers’ authority they become > rebellious and angry. In many cases, such children effectively dropping out > of learning by tuning out the teacher, being disruptive in class, playing > truant, or by actually dropping out of school itself. In addition to this > set of undesirable consequences, research studies indicate that getting > children to ‘shut up and listen’ is not an effective way to develop > conceptual understanding. > > Pointing out to some of the undesirable consequences of classes that > require children to sit quietly and listen does not of course, solve the > teacher’s problem of having to manage children’s attention. Recent > conversations with teachers indicate that the problem of attention may have > become worse due to children’s exposure to mobile phones and tablets. The > process of getting students’ attention without getting frustrated, shouting > or issuing threats is challenging. In fact, a 2014 study reveals that 40% > of teachers leave before completing one year of work. One of the top > reasons cited for quitting is difficulties in “coping with and responding > to student behavioural issues.” What can teachers do to find reasonably > satisfying ways to hold children’s attention? How can they get important > messages and instruction across without becoming overly controlling and > authoritarian? > > Build rapport > > In order to manage children’s attention, it is helpful to think of the > classroom from the child’s view point. A friendly approach will help > teachers build a rapport with students and this in turn can enable the > teacher to discuss some basic rules about classroom behaviour. Soft > conversation between students should be tolerated and there is no need for > a teacher to put an end to all forms of student talk in the classroom. > However, if on entering a class a teacher finds children talking loudly and > being boisterous it is not advisable to try and talk louder than the > students. Some other way of drawing the students’ attention can be tried — > things like writing or drawing on the blackboard, starting a clapping > rhythm, or simply standing quietly and waiting for children to notice them > are some ways that teachers have successfully tried. > > Have a plan > > It is important to have a plan about how to proceed once children’s > attention has been gained. After getting the children’s attention, the next > step would be to have an engaging activity, game task or story related to > the lesson that is to be taught. Sometimes an object or experiment can be > used to spark children’s curiosity and they can be encouraged to voice > their thoughts and questions. With a little patience, children can be > helped to understand that it is preferable to take turns while talking and > that it is important to listen to each other. > > Social learning theories in psychology indicate that teachers need to > model the behaviour that they expect from children. For example, by > listening carefully, without interrupting, to what an individual child has > to say, the teacher herself models the kind of behaviour that is expected > from children. > > Sometimes in the interest of proceeding with the lesson, the teacher may > have to stop a child from talking about something that is not related to > the topic being discussed. Rather than abruptly asking the child to stop > talking, the teacher could gently request the child to meet the teacher > later to continue that particular conversation. By doing this, the teacher > acknowledges the child’s need to communicate but is also being responsible > towards the learning needs of other children in the class. > > Make it interactive > > By making the class interesting and providing plenty of opportunities for > children to participate through games, problem solving, experimenting, > researching or exploring, teachers can retain children’s attention. If > classes are interesting for children, they are more likely to pay attention > and listen to the teacher and to each other. > > Nowadays, children have easy access to information and knowledge through > television and mobile phone. In this scenario, it no longer makes sense for > teachers to merely transmit information to children. They need to engage > with children’s thinking and help children reason and analyse information. > They need to do this in interesting ways or risk losing children’s > interest by boring them. > > Teachers too can use technology as aids to make the classroom more > interesting. With or without technology, teachers can keep children > interested if they make their lessons cognitively challenging by including > games, puzzles, case studies or problem-solving. This actually means that > teachers must see themselves as problem posers rather than answer > providers. In this age of information overload, teachers should take on the > role of getting children to think beyond smartly packaged information > capsules. Children need to be helped to see how data or evidence is > obtained and encouraged to develop the habit of reasoning and > interpretation based on data. > > This need not necessarily be a daunting exercise. Simple survey and > graphing exercises can form part of lessons. Children can challenge each > other’s interpretation of data in so doing develop reasoning skills. They > can relate their class work with newspaper or media surveys and think about > the evidence presented. > > This is just one example of how classroom teaching can be made meaningful > and relevant to children. If lessons are interesting, teachers will not > have to use coercive methods to make children study. Indeed, children will > become eager and excited about their school work and so will the teachers. > All this does require planning and preparation on part of the teachers and > a genuine interest in the subject that they are teaching. > > (The author is with Azim Premji University, Bengaluru) > > source- http://www.deccanherald.com/content/631769/engaging-young- > minds-meaningfully.html > > > > IT for Change, Bengaluru > www.ITforChange.net > > -- > ----------- > 1.ವಿಷಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ವೇದಿಕೆಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಲು ಈ ಅರ್ಜಿಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿರಿ. > - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevqRdFngjbDtOF8YxgeXeL > 8xF62rdXuLpGJIhK6qzMaJ_Dcw/viewform > 2. ಇಮೇಲ್ ಕಳುಹಿಸುವಾಗ ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿ. > -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/index.php/ವಿಷಯಶಿಕ್ > ಷಕರವೇದಿಕೆ_ಸದಸ್ಯರ_ಇಮೇಲ್_ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿ > 3. ಐ.ಸಿ.ಟಿ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತೆ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ರೀತಿಯ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಪುಟಕ್ಕೆ ಭೇಟಿ > ನೀಡಿ - > http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Portal:ICT_Literacy > 4.ನೀವು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ ಬಳಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಾ ? ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ > ತಿಳಿಯಲು -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/ > Public_Software > ----------- > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "EnglishSTF" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to englishstf+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to englishstf@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- ----------- 1.ವಿಷಯ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರ ವೇದಿಕೆಗೆ ಶಿಕ್ಷಕರನ್ನು ಸೇರಿಸಲು ಈ ಅರ್ಜಿಯನ್ನು ತುಂಬಿರಿ. - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevqRdFngjbDtOF8YxgeXeL8xF62rdXuLpGJIhK6qzMaJ_Dcw/viewform 2. ಇಮೇಲ್ ಕಳುಹಿಸುವಾಗ ಗಮನಿಸಬೇಕಾದ ಕೆಲವು ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿಗಳನ್ನು ಇಲ್ಲಿ ನೋಡಿ. -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/index.php/ವಿಷಯಶಿಕ್ಷಕರವೇದಿಕೆ_ಸದಸ್ಯರ_ಇಮೇಲ್_ಮಾರ್ಗಸೂಚಿ 3. ಐ.ಸಿ.ಟಿ ಸಾಕ್ಷರತೆ ಬಗೆಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ರೀತಿಯ ಪ್ರಶ್ನೆಗಳಿದ್ದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಪುಟಕ್ಕೆ ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡಿ - http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Portal:ICT_Literacy 4.ನೀವು ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ ಬಳಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರಾ ? ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿಯಲು -http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Public_Software ----------- --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "EnglishSTF" group. 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