The important thing is not to stop questioning; never lose a holy curiosity. — Albert Einstein Curiosity, that drives learning, critical thinking, and learning behaviours, is one of the key characteristics of a learner. Personality traits like curiosity are as significant as intelligence in determining students’ academic performance. Children often…
View More The power of curiosity
“I don’t read, I proofread” – this is a boon and bane I live with every day. Little details pop out to me and I feel compelled to correct or change them – not always a pleasant experience, in fact, quite the contrary. Everyone around me – family, friends, colleagues…
View More To spoon-feed or to allow flexibility?
Technology and Social Media have become essential parts of our lives. I recall the excitement when we bought our first TV followed by those Sunday serials. I often had to hear my parents saying, “don’t watch TV for long, it will spoil your eyes”, or “watch it from at least…
View More Social Media as Learning and Engagement Tool – A Perspective
Movie buff that I am, I always look for inspirational stories that make me think about my life choices. Be it Marvel’s Avengers for technology that could change class room teaching in the near future, or great biographies that tell us how holding on to what you believe makes all…
View More Am I mad enough?
Learning to read in their own pace helps to accelerate children’s learning. Children are natural learners. They take their own time to crawl, to walk and to talk. Some walk early, some talk late. And if given suitable autonomy and guidance, children will easily explore their world on their own…
View More Change of pace: Learning naturally!
Today learning is more challenging than ever. As the world becomes more digitally connected, we do not get to hear these so often. E.g.: Hey! how do yellow and blue make green? or how to build a tree house? Also, summer does not mean playing endless hours of old-school outdoor games…
View More Let them play: strategies to motivate your child to learn
‘My son/daughter doesn’t listen to me’ I hear this complaint from parents all the time. This is irrespective of whether the son/daughter is 2 years old or 42 years old. At least in the Indian setting, ‘listening to’ and ‘obeying’ parents is seen as a virtue of the highest order.…
View More Is obedience a virtue?
In the race of being unique, the current educational bodies have failed to define a standard curriculum, while being critiqued for wiping the creativity out from the individuals during the teaching process. In the light of this argument, a standardised curriculum has different layers. On the other hand, the decision…
View More Standardisation of curriculum: The good, the bad, and the ugly
I clearly remember my maths class, as a kid. My teacher would come one fine morning and ask us- “so students, what is 5 x 2?”. After a pause of about two seconds, we all would yell in unison- “taaann (10)!” She would then say- “vaaarry goood”. Little surprise, in…
View More Are you asking the right questions?
While the government, public authorities and private sectors have taken a few noticeable steps to bring more and more kids to school and increase academic participation, yet a quality in education and pedagogical developments have remained an elusive goal. A number of significant reasons such as poor infrastructure, inadequate number of teachers, student absenteeism, the high number of dropouts, gender disparities, and unsupportive environment have crippled our classrooms.
View More Education for all: A comprehensive blueprint for bringing the change that India needs