New lessons

It is a definite no to these styles of teaching and learning under the second cycle of the education reforms that have been implemented this year.

The time when a teacher stood before a class of students and attempted to drill in the concepts of a particular subject through talk and chalk or pour her knowledge to children like the jug and mug is gone and gone forever.

Learning through interaction is the focus, where the teacher acts as a resource person or facilitator guiding the students to gather and acquire knowledge through individual or group work, says the Director-General of the National Institute of Education, Prof. J.W. Wickramasinghe. Sri Lanka, like most developed and developing countries, has realised the need for competency-based education, he says, explaining however that this is a revolutionary change for teachers.

Without dictating notes, the teacher now has to guide the child and be his/her mentor, The Sunday Times learns. “For this, the teacher must know each child well and promote her strengths while attempting to minimize her weaknesses,” says Prof. Wickramasinghe.

Not only should teachers understand the philosophy of the education reforms but also their vision, he stresses adding that they in turn should be prepared to change.

What is the second cycle of the education reforms?

The reforms implemented in January 2007 targeted the junior secondary (Grades 6-9) and senior secondary (Grades 10-13) while the very first cycle introduced in 1999 focused mainly on primary education, explained NIE’s Assistant Director-General Dr. (Mrs.) I.L. Ginige who handles curriculum development in the Faculty for Science and Technology.

Under the second cycle of reforms, subject combinations have changed and new subjects have been introduced. “Components within a subject have been changed while the content that has been kept has been updated,” she says, adding that the biggest change is in the learning-teaching method.

Earlier there was a wide gap between the Ordinary Level and the Advanced Level but under the reforms the vision is to have a seamless transition. Recalling the traditional methods of teaching, Dr. Ginige points out that those days the teacher was either transmitting knowledge (lecture-based talking) and later transacting (a little discussion and interaction) while the latest role of the teacher is to take on the “transformation” of the student. She explains that now the students have to learn for themselves through exploration but under the guidance of the teacher. The Sunday Times understands that in the first cycle for primary students, the transaction role of the teacher was introduced. “With the 2007 reforms we are taking it to higher levels. The students will be guided but the knowledge is generated by the students themselves. It is learning by doing,” she says.

Explaining the need for such a drastic change from the traditional one, Dr. Ginige says it is well-known that the students are facing many problems because the education system has not been good. “When the general education is good, the youth have a solid foundation to be successful. Some students may go to university, others may go for jobs, while still others may opt for self-employment or to become housewives. Whatever path they select, a good general education will help them be successful. Unfortunately, our education system has been more geared towards university admission with cramming for examinations being the order of the day. Most of the students cannot identify the opportunities around them, they lack self awareness, they are unable to take calculated risks in a rational manner.”

Acknowledging that the curriculum was too heavy for those not academically inclined, she explains that bringing in entrepreneurial studies would help ease the situation where only 5.5% of those who sit the ALs have the chance to enter university.

The vision of the reforms is to have child-friendly schools and classrooms, where ultimately the children will study only four subjects a day (cutting out the need to carry such heavy book bags), seated around one table, moving and working with different groups. As the child learns through a series of activities, the teacher would have five criteria for assessment and evaluation.

=Three of the criteria would be based on whether the child has acquired the required subject competency, with the correct attitude, knowledge and skill.

=The other two criteria would be on life competencies such as ability to work in a group, ability to listen, ability to learn from others, ability to enrich others and work ethically such as cleaning up after finishing the work.

The teacher would gently push the child to the proficiency level until she sees the light. Competency is not mere knowledge, it is an integration of knowledge, attitude and skills which would last a lifetime. What we are trying to do is develop competency in every subject, she stresses pointing out that the first cycle included the five basic competencies: communication; environmental competency; religion and ethics; play and leisure; and learning to learn.

Under the second cycle, each subject has a list of competencies, and what relevance concepts and principles learnt under that particular subject has in daily life. The example cited by Dr. Ginige is simple – earlier, in mathematics students learnt how to calculate area, by multiplying the length by the width.

Now the teacher would lead them further, by guiding them to think why they need to calculate the area – if they have a room, how best can they use the space, how furniture can fit into that space. Such learning would give them subject competency.

The child’s attention will be “engaged” through song, dialogue, showing a picture etc., then the child would be put into a group and asked to “explore” the topic, with the teacher guiding them and thereafter the child “encouraged” to present her findings, developing communication skills. Only finally would there be a small lecturette as a wrap-up session, she says.

Dr. Ginige paints a picture how questions would be formulated at future exams. Two friends go to the market to buy fish. The fish-seller shows them a large fish and they request him to cut it up so that each gets an equal weight. He then keeps the fish on the slab and cuts it in half with one part having the head and the other the tail, with the weight being equal in both parts. The students would be asked whether both friends would be satisfied. If not why? How could it have been done differently?

She adds: “Situations would be created where children will be made to think, not memorize notes and tuition would become redundant. The reforms hope to create an integrated person with a fine blend of thinking skills, social skills and intrapersonal skills.”

The moulding of a person with a rounded personality who would not only enrich society but also be an asset is the vision of the education reforms.