Thursday, 6 August 2020

RETHINKING THE WAYS CHILDREN LEARN

To quote Howard Gardner

"Wouldn't it be sad if there was only one way to learn and only one way to be assessed and that was the  end of Education?''


Assessment is an integral part of the teaching-learning process. There are several forms of assessment, the individual teacher should be left to decide about the ways to access the children. School is considered to be a miniature society where students spent a significant part of their lives. Education aims at bringing out the best in the child. As I say every flower is beautiful, it has to bloom in its own way. There cannot be only one single way of assessing the child. Gardner gave the concept of Multiple Intelligence. The eight different types of intelligence introduced by Gardner are-Logical/Mathematical, Linguistic, Musical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Naturalist, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. There are different ways in which synaptic connections are built in the brain and add to the existing schemas of knowledge. According to Gardner human intelligence are of multiple types and there are several ways in which processing of information takes place. Some students may be good at analyzing information, yet others can be best at identifying different categories of plants and naming them. It is essential that we recognize the ability of our students and make necessary changes in the way content is delivered in our classrooms.  Students in a diverse country like India come from different sections of society. This diversity adds to the beauty of Indian classrooms. Diversity is seen in terms of food habits, culture, religion, and many more. When we as teacher educators and teachers consider having a one -size- fits -all approach for our children it will invariably lead to differences in the classroom and will leave many students behind. Rather we should be more flexible in the delivery of instruction material and pedagogic practices. This would lead to equity and inclusion in classrooms. As educators, it is essential that we think about the varying ways in which we deliver instruction to young minds.

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