The Changing Facet of Education: Past, Present, and Future
- 26 July 2022
In 1984 when David Kolb drafted the Kolb Learning Style Model, laying a heavy emphasis on experiential learning theory, he didn’t know the way this theory would engulf every classroom like a blanket. It is indeed remarkable to witness the swift transition of classrooms. We have far moved from the traditional setup and transformed it into a very versatile way of teaching and learning. The educators are now aiming to hone the budding minds into future-ready leaders. It is a strong belief in the current learning environment that a seed sown in a life of a child will one day root up into a strong and fruitful tree. Let’s look at different ways in which the realm of education has changed:
The environment of learning plays a key role in a child’s life. It’s not merely the walls or the ambiance that influences the child but rather the bonding and the warmth of a teacher. Resources also play a major role where the students connect, extend, and challenge their learning and build upon various skills in nature.
Whereas, the methods of teaching have also taken a big leap. The teachers facilitate in-depth knowledge of every concept. Especially for the Early Years of learning, methods like sensory understanding, experiential learning, and active experimentation take up a primal importance.
From a closed classroom to an open environment, from notebooks to digital notepads, from a set traditional syllabus to hands-on experience, from exams to interactive presentations and projects- the realm of learning has majorly changed in the present times. Students are given a platform to showcase their learning confidently. The teachers as facilitators are teaching in a way that enhances the child’s experiences and connects them to the real world. Gone are the days of linear career graphs, students are now exposed to novel opportunities for growth.
Resources and learning aids are the best way to tingle the imagination and the creativity of learners. These aids have changed, wherein multimedia modes are playing a vital role to engage, foster, and create a child’s thinking and imagination. There is no barrier for a child to research a topic. It can be through interviews, research, field visits, audio/visual learning, etc. Children have found various means to get knowledge about a topic however the right amount of guidance is required. The right environment and the right resources in the classroom sustain the child’s learning.
Conducting timely assessments of the learner’s progress remains a vital step, but this step doesn’t need to be traumatic. The students are now assessed according to multiple parameters that take into account their hard and soft skills. Ultimately the teacher checks for knowledge of the child keeping in mind the desired learning outcome. Grades or report cards are no longer the aspect where a child is judged.
Allowing the children to question, giving constructive feedback, facilitating ways to showcase their knowledge, and enhancing their true potential are the major practices that dominate the present-day classroom. The era of developing great ideas, great mindsets, and imaginations has already begun. Here is to witnessing new beginnings!
Ms. Rini Emmanuel
PYP Grade 2, Homeroom Teacher
