Teach Students to Think

Many suggestions are coming forward for revamping the curriculum of our educational institutions. Apart from improving the standard of books being taught, efforts are also needed to improve the teaching culture prevalent in our classrooms. I believe the biggest dilemma we face today is the suppression of our bright minds.

Students are not encouraged to question old concepts, they are told to take things as they are. Teaching is a one sided activity. Discussions are rare. Rote learning is the norm. Good grades are given to students who copy to the material of the book. Exam questions are repeated time and time again. For example essay topics such as “The House on Fire” have been done to death.

Usually book contents are either read out in class or copied word to word on the blackboard. Students offer a fresh perspective. They see things in a different light. This natural zeal of the young mind should be taught to look for new dimensions in their course topics, research them and share their findings. If a book states that building dams is beneficial, students should also be told/ asked to read about the situations when the reverse is true.

Rote learning should be eliminated. We are forced to learn the dates Wars were fought by heart, but the reason why they started in the first place are never discussed. If repeating facts without insight helped, parrots would rule the world.

Teachers should look beyond the questions given at the end of each chapter and come up with exercises, which challenge students to read in addition to the prescribed text. Answers, which are photocopies of the course book, should not get higher credit. Originality should be endorsed.

There should be an environment where students can question and discuss openly. Students don’t question or speak up in class for many reasons, the major ones being, discouraging attitude of teachers, ridicule from fellow students for asking questions they wrongly think are stupid. I believe an academic question is never stupid as in its essence it is a step towards gaining more knowledge. Brainstorming/ discussions always result in ideas/ solutions, which a single mind cannot imagine.

Teachers should adopt an approach of mutual learning. It can prove beneficial for both them and their students. In fact teaching is a learning exercise in itself. To be prepared to face the student questions, one has to be a step ahead of them. They should encourage questions. They might not be able to answer everything at that instant only. So there should be no qualms in going back and researching to satisfy a query. This will revise/ add to the teacher’s existing knowledge. After all learning is a continuous process.

A culture of respect should be established in our classrooms. Mockery/ scorn should be dissuaded immediately. Once students see the benefits of open discussion they will discontinue their negative attitude and be active participants.

More emphasis is laid on quantity then quality. Reports/ Assignments are lengthy which are usually ripped off from the Internet and never reviewed in their entirety by teachers. Even students themselves don’t read what they submit. Shorter/ more precise concept papers should be supported. It is more difficult and challenging to express the core of a topic in say a paragraph.

Time and again it has been said that we have extremely brilliant minds amongst us. The need is to nurture this creativity and intelligence rather then starving our intellect. The road to improvement might seem long and arduous but it’s the first step, which is most difficult. Agreed that teachers will have to put in extra efforts but the end result will be well worth the effort.