A chance to change & create a curriculum

Welcome the move taken by #MHRD# to reduce the syllabus for CBSE 10th and 12th, 2020-21. ( CBSE –Central board of Secondary Education, India)

#BeingEmphathetic#

On the similar lines I hope and trust all school leaders irrespective of the board can rationalize the syllabus for next year and even the following year for grades 1 to 8.

There was a buzz going on around training workshop on How to conduct online class; which platform is the best? What sites can be used and what tools can be used to keep students involved in class. To name a few platform Skype, zoom, Google classroom, G meet, M teams and many more…

Few apps that helped teachers Ed puzzle, quiz let, mentimeter, jam board and a lot more.

All the above said were addressing and helping teachers to seamlessly conduct class using the same syllabus and topics of printed framework that was given at the beginning of the year.

When some teachers gave tips that my lesson plans goes to trash. It does not work anymore in this sudden change to online learning mode. They were absolutely right! So where should the change be?

How about a New Covid Curriculum design at this stage! 

It should be in the syllabus, in the designing of curriculum, in framing of newer objectives for learning and teaching. The focus on apps, platform and training on online teaching comes later.

Keeping in mind, the skill development as focus area and planning lessons around that will be a welcome move in the interest of students.

Lessons that weave around skill development can be transacted. A collaborative effort volunteered by the leaders in school will be the prime factor behind this move. And, education has always been a collaborative space.

Another way could be PBL-Project Based Learning which is highly flexible yet engaging. Yet another learning model that will aptly suit these times… Theme based learning.

When we as adults and as educators know that actual life is dynamic and we seldom can be rigid in all our operations and planning, Can’t the curriculum that we design wean off this rigidity at least now, using COVID as an opportunity?

These thoughts aroused when I heard and saw that the subjects based, content driven time tabled sessions are given precedence by and large everywhere at this juncture. Unit test and cycle tests scheduled!

Agreeable that face to face sessions cannot be replaced by the online/virtual sessions, when it comes to effectiveness and measuring the learning outcomes.

We cannot equate the online session’s model with face to face in all aspects and neither can we equate it to Distance learning module’s effectiveness. There is a difference between Emergency Remote learning and Distance learning modules which are curated and produced with enough time spent on them.

Given this scenario, what is adopted now is in the vested interest of students, mainly to keep their mind engaged in acquisition of new learning as well as recapitulation of long term memory data on whatever was learnt so far.

Entire education theories are research based and I am sure there will be yet another theory gearing up for the generations coming up… Theory based on Emergency Remote learning- The Pros and Cons, the model for ERT.

Can there be lessons and learning where the previous instances of history similar to this situation are researched upon and learning outcomes derived out of that?

Will any school be working on creating contents based on Spanish flu, lessons from that, contents about ancestors who worked in alternate medicines, lessons on pros and cons of Globalization, Is technology a boon?  Et al

Will there be special focus on lessons on vaccinations, successful eradication of polio In India, What were the government strategies in doing so?

Will there be more focus on Data analysis and evaluation in Math? Will social science lessons focus on Technology and medical advancements? Hope there are value based sessions on hospitality and resilience. There is lot more we can transact in class in the name of content and still be sensible.

Can there be a total shift for students until middle school, to learn in context to local community and country.

Can we think of cashing in the current situation?  I am aware that there are pockets of schools and institutions that are trying to evolve in their pattern of conducting these online classes open minded and ready to take the feedback.

While there are many more who are ignorant or overwhelmed with this unprecedented outburst of pandemic. It will be great to hear if many schools have thought on similar lines and are doing so.

Any new approach in teaching space that was not done before but has shown visible engagement and growth is an innovative approach. Forums and school groups must come forward to share with one another.

Educators are always appreciated for farsightedness. We have been steering it successfully so far. No doubts!

Can the school leaders pioneer such move, use the Covid- lockdown as a platform, put a stop to usual structures of compartmental studies and take a different perspective of how learning and education must take place.

Make students feel we have an edge over all other batches. We learnt differently. We learnt skills, we moved away from our pre-printed text books and fixed topics of that particular grade, but we learnt.

We are the COVID BATCH of students! We did not simulate problems for design thinking projects but we lived through it! We ideated solutions.

And last, but not the least, Parent communities must allow the schools and leaders to try and experiment newer approaches and models. Trust them when the school attempts to shift and recreate the success recipe for students.

Acknowledgements: Google pics