THE ENVIRONMENT IS A LABORATORY OF LEARNING
JOEL G. OCAMPO
author is Teacher I
Books, internet sources, supplementary materials…. These are very vital weapons for us teachers in fulfilling our duties as educators. We do know that these things are important to deliver instruction and provide sufficient knowledge to our learners so that the lessons we teach to them are meaningful and relevant. Instructional materials, as we all know, are our bullets so that learning could happen. These things, when utilized, shall make learning worthwhile and interesting. Discussions would be meaty or information-rich and there will be a great chance that learning would happen because of the add-ons that we do for an enriching discussion to our learners. However, let us not forget that aside from the things that we prepare and present in our classroom, we do have available learning facility in a larger world. The environment, the nature and even the God-made things that we see around us, could be great tools in delivering instruction and could be part of the things that we could use to make learning happen. The different objects that we see around us could be good examples in lesson presentations and even in simulations. This just means that learning is indeed not confined in the four corners of the classroom. Given the opportunity, having children to explore the environment around them to discover and learn is one good avenue for learning. Let us also not forget that their own homes could be a good place where objects could serve as great examples that are relevant to a certain lesson. A skilled and creative teacher could make learning happen beyond the classroom. Illustrating situations, using resource persons, providing examples would be one way of making learners learn meaningfully through their actual experiences and engagement in the world around them. Thus, let us be creative and resourceful because indeed learning could happen in the environment because it is really a laboratory of learning!
-oOoThe author is ALS Teacher at SDO Mabalacat City