Active Learning is Future Proof -

Active Learning is Future Proof

Simon Lind, Professional Development Manager, Cambridge University Press International Education, who is in India to conduct a series of workshops for CIE school teachers, tells us why learner-engagement matters

What are the most important active learning principles? 

Complete teacher and student engagement is crucial. If students are actively engaged, they will learn with pleasure. There’s an old saying that I keep in mind, ‘Tell me and I forget; show me and I remember; involve me and I understand’. Once you understand it, you can apply it; you’ll realise that it benefits not just students, but teachers too. 

We need to move away from the teacher- at-the-front scenario to a more interactive learning space. We need to apply the principles of guided learning, so that students can learn things by themselves and from each other. Experiential learning is important. I apply these principles in my own teaching. I engage the teachers in my workshops the way I expect the teachers to involve the students in their classes. That way they become actively immersed. In one workshop, we had the teachers out in the open pretending to be dinosaurs.

What are the three most important lessons that you hope these teachers will walk away with? 

I hope the teachers walk away with a state of mind where they can

a) be creative

b) try something new

c) be unafraid to fail; if something doesn’t work, it doesn’t matter, it’s not the end of the world.

Is there a philosophy that you live and teach by? 

I live the way I conduct a workshop. I tailor each workshop to suit my audience and I do it slightly differently each time. I’m enthusiastic and unbounded and won’t hesitate to try new stuff.

How would you say the teaching landscape has changed? 

I’ve been in the education arena for round about 30 years and have been actively involved in publication for 40 years. The teaching landscape has changed drastically. The single biggest change is moving away from the teacher-at-front approach to what we now call blended learning – drawing inspiration and ideas from traditional paper products as well as technology products. YouTube for instance has dramatically informed the way that teachers teach.

What do you think is essential for teachers to keep in mind when teaching future generations?

It’s absolutely essential for teachers to retain their sense of creativity whilst blending in the technology we now have at hand. It’s also important for teachers to tap into their own experience. We need to be creative and encourage our students to be creative too, lest we produce students who have no interest in life and nothing to contribute to society. 

What techniques would promote learner engagement? 

Language teachers in particular have always used learner engagement to get students to respond. Math teaching on the other hand tends to happen the traditional way—‘I’m going to teach, now sit down and write some sums’. We have to work collaboratively and get learners to say what they are doing and have understood. 

Where do the current modes of education fall short? What practices do we need to implement, in order to be future ready?

I think education has to move on from the teacher-led mode to a more active mode. Active learning is one of the best practices that is already in use. What’s more, it’s future ready.

Source | Daily News Analysis | 25 November 2015

Regards

Pralhad Jadhav

Khaitan & Co