Post Covid, innovation in education vital
We are passing through some of the most critical and stressful times in human history. The present pandemic has impacted almost every sector of human life, including education. The prolonged lockdown badly affected teaching and learning in schools, putting the academic session 2020- 21 almost in a zero year mode. But then our teachers and students have shown tremendous resilience and have ensured that there is no vacuum in the learning process.
Everyone eagerly waited for 2021 to bring new hopes and new aspirations. No doubt the schools will fully reopen in a few months. The new academic session 2021-22 will start almost in time – maybe delayed for some days. When schools reopen, it will naturally be the most awaited school opening of all time. But the question is: what will happen when schools reopen? How the activities will be prioritised?
The present pandemic has given two important lessons to our children – one, self-discipline and second, selflearning. This has to be continued in the future academic process. The children are taking control of their own learning and there will be significant reduction on teacher dependency or coaching institutions.
The present situation has given an opportunity to do things in a new and novel way. The restriction and repetition, which were earlier dominating, must give way to creative thinking and innovative pedagogies in the classroom.
So, when the schools reopen in 2021, we should not have ‘business as usual’ approach – teachers rushing to complete the courses. Let the children be allowed to breathe in the open, to reconnect with their friends and be allowed to enjoy the environment. Teachers need to find the current status of the children and help them to build their emotional intelligence, besides helping them academically.
Thus, from 2021, schools need to make transformational changes in four distinct areas.
First, some structural changes about safety and security of the children and ensuring hygiene on the campus. Let the classroom size be manageable and classes run, as and where possible, in open spaces. Second, constant content modifications. We have to come out from “one size fits all” syndrome and textbook oriented learning.
The pandemic has forced us to move from structured process of learning to an unstructured process, which is good. Children need to be given latest knowledge inputs and cross-curricular components so that they remain updated. Third, changes in transactional approach. The teachers no longer need to focus on the whole syllabus. They need to make weekly teaching plan, identify the hard spots in each subject and cover the syllabus through classroom approach, digital platform and project mode. So, besides the bag load, we need to reduce the transactional load.
And fourthly, we need to modify the assessment system. We can no longer depend on summative test. We need to place formative assessment across the entire spectrum of school of school education from 2021. Surely, 2020 was not a year to achieve the desired learning targets. But we need to emerge strong from this and must be ready to welcome 2021-22 academic session with new mindsets, new strategies and new processes.
SURELY, 2020 WAS NOT A YEAR TO ACHIEVE THE DESIRED LEARNING TARGETS. BUT WE NEED TO EMERGE STRONG FROM THIS AND MUST BE READY TO WELCOME 2021-22 ACADEMIC SESSION WITH NEW MINDSETS, NEW STRATEGIES AND NEW PROCESSES.