Introduction
As we know, learning is an endless process, and everything
makes us learn something or other in our daily life. Learning can be accidental
or intentional. The focus of my paper here is active learning with reference to
‘Learning by Teaching’ which usually takes place in our schools. Hence, all the
discussions included and situations mentioned here in the paper are concern to
school education only.
A new term which emerged in the last decade in the field
of classroom teaching is ‘Active Learning’.
To be frank, many of us working in the field of education are still not
clear about the meaning of ‘Active Learning’. Many think that ‘Active Learning’
is not other than ‘Activity-Based Learning’. Hence, my intention in writing this
paper is to clear this confusion in the context of ‘Learning by Teaching’.
The most common method of teaching that teachers
have adopted for so many decades is lecturing and still we find teachers using this method even in primary classes. Further, we had the belief
that listening can imply more learning, and examples of which are seen in
religious gatherings where guruji speaks non-stop, and followers listen patiently.
However, guruji cannot say how many of his followers are actually
listening to him and understanding what he is saying OR how much learning is
taking place among learners from his lecture. The condition of the teacher
who uses the lecture method in classroom teaching would be the same as Guruji, and
these types of teachers always need tests or exams to label the level of learning
among learners by their teaching. Moreover, the lecture method hardly promotes
long-term retention of information in learners, which is an essential characteristic
of effective teaching. The amount of
information retained by students declines substantially after ten minutes. [i]
It is expected that effective teaching for the
children attending schools should include the following:
a)
Inclusive or collaborative learning (leaves no scope for any learner to
fall behind)
b)
Higher-order learning
c)
Higher-order thinking and imaginations
d)
Instil reading habits (stimulate learners’ passion for learning), and
e)
Shape attitudes and viewpoints.
All the above outcomes are included in Active Learning.
How do pupils learn?
‘How a child learns?’ is a core question for a
teacher. The teacher should know the answer to this question before he enters his class. The teacher also should know that the answer to this question
is always situational, and the strategies designed to teach the learners of last
year may not be fit for the learners of this year even if the class and the subject
contents are the same. Because of this, a good teacher always feels awkward when he
hears any teacher saying – “I have been teaching this subject in this class for the last many years, so I don’t have a problem teaching this subject.”
As a teacher, we have the experience of learners’ heterogeneity
in a classroom - the heterogeneity in respect to family background, personal
behaviour, personal health, and most importantly, learning pace. The difference in
learning pace among learners never lets a teacher take all the children of a class along at the same pace of learning. As a result, the children who
learn slowly in comparison with the fellow learners fall behind. Advanced countries like the United States of America have made an Act called ‘No Child Left Behind Act of 2001’[ii] to avoid this. In the context of Sikkim, till
recent years (pre-RTE years), we used to hold back a child (system of making
failed) in a class intentionally who did not perform satisfactorily in the
year-end examination.
The teaching-learning process has always been an experiment
for an educator/teacher since time immemorial. There is no full-proof teaching
process which can ensure one hundred per cent learning among the learners. The main
weapon that a teacher always relies on is the textbook, though it has been
considered as teaching materials like charts, globes, maps, etc. It is seen
that many of the teachers hardly start scholastic activities without textbooks
in the school. Thus, we can say our teachers are habituated to teaching
through textbooks or the content incorporated in the textbooks or teachers are
habituated to working on pre-packed assignments followed by the text in the
textbooks. Due to this, hardly any teachers conduct learning exercises without
using textbooks. This we call the ‘Content-centered Teaching’ which is guided
by the contents and ignores the learners’ learning moods and learning
styles.
[Now what are learners’ learning moods and learning
styles? Is it necessary for a teacher to teach according to the learners’ moods
or the styles preferred by them?]
It is always a priority for a teacher to understand
the mood of the learners before actually starting the teaching activity in the
classroom. Normally, the learners have the hangover of previous activities in
which they were engaged or made engaged. So a teacher needs to wipe out the
earlier events from the mind of the learners and make them ready to engage in
the new activity. Further, different learners have different styles of learning
guided by their way of living, their surroundings, and their family backgrounds. As
such, the style of teaching should be such that it suits the learners’ styles
of learning. Students learn what they care about and
remember what they understand. [iii] The chances of higher-order learning
will be higher if the teaching style provides the scope for the involvement of
learners in the teaching-learning process. We shall discuss in detail how a
teacher can involve the learners in the teaching-learning process in the
subheading ‘Active Learning’.
Active Learning
We have seen a
normal class at a school. Readers who are not teachers may recall their own class when they were students. The major activity in a
classroom, generally what we have seen till date, is ‘teacher talks and students listen '. It is known to
all that the classroom processes in our schools are still not fully democratic.
Still, there is a lot of space for maintaining proximity between teachers and
pupils in learning processes. Only brighter students, who are given access by
teachers, are seen speaking with teachers (asking questions, sharing, and
expressing themselves). There is discrimination between high and low achievers.
On the other hand, it is expected that the school should make a child capable
of becoming a responsible, productive, and useful member of society. The
performance of a child is nothing but the demonstration of different skills inculcated
by her school. The skills may not be only cognitive or academic, as we say
education aims at all-round development of a child. Till date, it is seen that
every key player of the education system is giving undue focus on academic
competencies only.
The situations
described above are all conflicting with the conditions which promote active
learning. Active Learning is a process wherein students are actively
engaged in building understanding of facts, ideas, and skills through the
completion of instructor-directed tasks and activities. It is any type of
activity that gets students involved in the learning process. [iv] This
means that the Active Learning can be possible only through Active
Pedagogy, which
demands a democratic environment in the classroom where every child speaks with teachers, asks questions, and shares their
ideas, and even teachers respond to them with warmth, love, and positive attitudes.
The low achievers and slow learners, in any case, do not feel ostracized and neglected. Every child enjoys coming to school. They feel every moment
spent in school is the most joyful moment, meaning no place is more enjoyable than
the school. Teachers inspire and appreciate children’s activities. Classroom
walls are full of colourful charts generally made by students with clearly
visible teachers’ (rational) comments. The school campus visually depicts the
centre of learning (Knowledge – Gyana). A sense of piousness seizes everyone’s
heart while entering the school campus.
The classroom processes are more stimulating, making
the children work together in groups or individually. Children are working together, cooperating, and
talking without being afraid. They are laughing, clapping, reading, doing
various activities, including cultural activities. Students can ask questions
any time and are eager both to answer questions and ask questions, as well as
answer each other’s questions. Teachers are attending all the children, smiling. Students are so engrossed in activities that they hardly bother the
happenings outside classroom. The buzz of activity overrules the whole
environment; even the class is being held outside the classroom in the open. Neither student nor teacher is bothered by
the visit of someone from outside.
No students are memorizing notes or contents from the textbooks. All
teachers keep records of students’ learning (maintaining detailed records
of students’ performance using different descriptive indicators) covering
various aspects of a child’s holistic development. Teachers respect the potentialities of children, their efforts and hard work. Subject teachers
share their views on the development of skills in an individual child and their
weaknesses and strengths using specific checklists for different skills. No
students are made inferior/discouraged on the basis of poor grades. "Active
Learning" is, in short, anything that students do in a classroom other
than merely passively listening to an instructor's lecture.[v]
The treatment
and involvement of learners in the way described above in the learning process need
various pedagogical strategies. Active Pedagogy aims at the learning of
individual students in its process. Thus, the strategies require meticulous
design, keeping in view learners’ styles of learning. Charles C. Bonwell, while writing about ‘Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom’ has given some of the major characteristics associated with
active learning strategies [vi]:
a) Students are involved in more than passive listening.
b) Students are engaged in activities (e.g., reading, discussing,
writing).
c) There is less emphasis placed on information transmission and
greater emphasis placed on developing student skills.
d) There is greater emphasis placed on the exploration of attitudes
and values.
e) Student motivation is increased (especially for adult learners).
f) Students can receive immediate feedback from their instructor.
g)
Students are involved in higher-order thinking (analysis, synthesis, evaluation)
Obstacle
Our past has experiences that every new change or
reform has to face obstacles. As such, this process also may face the obstacles.
The probable obstacles can be the following:
a) The teacher thinks he is an expert in teaching and is unwilling to switch over
his teaching towards active learning
b) The teacher may not be capable/qualified enough to devise active learning activities
c)
Both teachers and students need time to adapt themselves in new
environment of class
d)
Initially (because of sl. No. b & c) the process seems time-consuming, and the teacher may feel the risk of non-completion of the prescribed course or syllabus
e)
Devising active learning strategies takes too
much pre-class preparation.
f)
Large class size may restrict certain active
learning strategies.
g)
Lack or shortage of materials/resources in
the school demanded by devised active learning strategies
h)
Lack or shortage of conducive spaces to
conduct active learning activities
Risks
There is little risk from the pupils' side if the
strategies are devised to suit their learning situations. However, from the teachers’ side, the following risks may be seen:
a) The teacher may not be confident enough to conduct an active learning activity.
b) The teacher may not possess the appropriate skills to control the class
while conducting an active learning activity in the class.
c)
The teacher may devise faulty active learning strategies, resulting in a negative
impact on learners.
Conclusion
In the conclusion we can say that Active Learning is the
process that targets higher-order learning in the learners by means of various
teaching methodologies. It is rightly said that Active learning is an umbrella term that refers to
several models of instruction that focus the responsibility of learning on learners. [vii]
‘Activity-based Learning’ is only a strategy of active learning.
Right now, Active Learning is the best alternative for the
teachers of our country, especially those who are teaching at the elementary level, to cope
with the situations created by the RTE Act. However, switching over from the
present pedagogical stage to the active learning stage is easier said than done. It needs time for all of us to change our mindset to accept it, adopt it and adapt to it.
[i]
Thomus, 1972
[ii] The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) is a United States Act
of Congress that is a re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act, which included Title
I, the government's flagship aid program for disadvantaged
students.
[iii]
Ericksen, 1984, p. 51
[vii]
Wikipedia – Active Learning
nice,Surinder Singh
ReplyDeletev informative ....nice. Thnx n congrats sir
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr. Surinder and Ms. Luxmi.
ReplyDeleteThank you Mr. Surinder and Ms. Luxmi.
ReplyDeleteCorrect
ReplyDelete