Are You In The Driver's Seat?

 

Learning comes naturally when you are motivated to learn. A child learns how to sit, walk, move around, and talk. Although we know these are gradual progressions which any individual makes in his life, as growth and survival instincts, it is also a motivation to learn, grow and engage in that new action.

We learn so many things in our life time due to this drive within us. Hunger teaches us the understanding of food and at times how to cook. The need to remain connected has taught us how to use new technology, applications and devices which offer that connectivity.

Wonder if the schools offer that kind of motivation to learn! In my times, I had not faced any strong desire to learn new subjects, know about different topics as the curiousity was not generated by the education system itself. With the New Education Policy 2019 in India promising a major reform in the learning culture of schools, it is just a matter of time that the claims are proven correct.

The hindrance to implement the same came in picture due to the pandemic situation. Motivation to learn for children also depends on the social interaction which they have at schools. With online learning coming into picture, classroom interaction is almost nill, especially for the toddler group, who are in the formative years of life. If at that age they get interested in learning, then they will get a hold on their basics.

In his book, Schools That Learn, Senge states that teachers tend to be less innovative and feel less competitive as compared to professionals in the corporate sector. One reason to that, he states, is schools have less competitive pressure and drive to learn as compared to the drive and competition in the corporate world. This, however is changing gradually with the changing demands the society has from the education system and the parental preasure.

I was recently discussing the demands of online education with a researcher in the filed of education. She threw light on how chaotic an online class can be for a young child who has barely or never attended school, who has little knowledge of the social world, and who will want a much higher amount of engagement than a child much older. Schools, in such cases, must bear additional responsibility of having to engage an online class of toddlers in innovative ways.

I got the opportunity to get the first hand opinion of parents, who are also my friends, they have mixed views about online classroom. Few teachers have taken the extra efforts for making children learn practically and involving them in learning, whereas few others are still struggling to get attention of the children who prefer to switch off the webcams and put themselves on mute.

Although online education is a boon to our modern world in such times when we cannot leave our children to physically attend schools, whether this newly adopted way of life, is truly adapted to, is the question. Does this new way of learning offer us, and our new generation, enough motivation to engage them, fan their curiosity and make them have a thirst for learning. For being engaged in learning any new thing, you need to take ownership and take the driver's seat. Your thoughts??