What Role Teachers Can Play to Bring Authenticity in Education?

When you send your children to school today, you know they are learning something different than what you learnt at that age. Education has evolved a lot over the last few years. Some schools still cling onto the conventional educational system whereas others have adopted new age learning and international focus in their curriculum, method of teaching and assessment framework. But the debate is still on. Which educational system is more authentic – the classroom learning or the experimental learning?

When we talk about authenticity in education, it does not simply mean the old versus new teaching methods. The underlying concept of authenticity in education is much deeper and thought provoking.  It signifies that irrespective of the educational system being followed, students should be encouraged to become creative learners and good human beings. And this is where teachers can become chief enablersin building a progressive educational eco system where learning becomes inspirational and experimental rather than by rote.

Sugata Mitra, professor of educational technology at Newcastle University, and the winner of the $1m TED Prize 2013 has demonstrated through his Hole in the Wall experiment how education can be reinvented by using innovative learning tools while still preserving the basic educational concepts. In his experiment, Sugata Mitra installed a computer in a slum for children to learn through self help and by challenging their abilities. The experiment was a huge success, pointing to the fact that young minds can be taught computers without formal training and thus education can be imparted in any form for the children.

Another example is of Arvind Gupta, a science teacher who being deeply concerned about the how science is taught in a bookish way, demonstrated how to build a toy motor from waste material in 10 minutes! His teaching projectToys from Trash implicated that students should given a free hand in exploring and learning things interactively.

 

 

 

 

Judging by above examples, it is quite evident that teachers can play a vital role in bringing authenticity in education bymaking the education system ingrained with lateral thought process, out-of-box thinking and designing processes relevant to modern times.  Instead of being simply providers of information or organizers of school activities, teachers can now become learning facilitators who support students becoming autonomous learners and also help them develop key life skills. 

Also with advent of interactive learning tools and online teaching methods, teachers may not be necessarily physically present to impart education. Rather they can collaborate and exchange best practices and interact with students beyond limitations of time and location.

Today’s teachers can also contribute in designing a futuristic curriculum that impart real world, critical thinking and problem solving skills to students and foster their holistic development.

Creating learning, building strong foundation of knowledge, imparting the right discipline, mentoring in the right path, making learning fun and above all, envisioning the right value system – these are the cornerstones of the  changing role of teachers in education. This is how teachers can really make learning meaningful for children and bring the true essence of authenticity in education.

 

 

Images Courtesy: egitimteknoloji and thehindu