Changing trends in imparting and consuming education

It is always about keeping the desired outcome in mind, and then planning and implementing it accordingly. The same rule applies to formal education as well! The entire design of the education system revolves around what it finally wants to give to the aspirant who’s seeking a foothold in the opportunities available.

In the second half of the 21st century, for those not inheriting a family business, the penultimate choice, after the white collar occupations, was to get a clerical job, in the public and private sectors, with the former being the most preferred.

It was this era that saw the upsurge of the Essentialism, where education believed in imparting basic skills. The epicentre of teaching–learning was always books that were essentially designed essentially to deliver rote learning. The classrooms used to be a roaring ground owing to the reading out of lessons by the teachers and students.

Then the shift in era happened, where the need for education was no longer merely jobs! It was about nurturing and sensitising children and instilling in them the life skills, because of which they do not need to depend on opportunities. Rather, they create their own world.

The two factors that compounded this change were the Flynn effect and then the shift of the paradigm that was brought by some revolutionary leaders. While the former is more a biological component, changing the level of comprehension, the latter played a bigger role in transforming education by those who design it, and in the outlook of those who receive it.

The emphasis is now on the inside–outside theory. Hence, what was once considered an extracurricular activity, have now fallen into the ambit of mainstream education. Schools are completely aware of the fact that sports gives a naturally-aggressive child a productive direction, thereby improving his/ hers academic performance. Learning through drama is a very common phenomenon adapted for effective communication.

Now classrooms are buzzing with creativity, innovation, hands-on learning, reasoning, questioning, rationalising, project-based assessments etc. to name a few. All the learning that a child gets outside the classroom, through Internet, social media, televisions, adventure -exposure etc. throws a challenge to the teachers, for them to be ahead of the students, which again breeds newer teaching–learningmethodologies!

The advent of digitisation in education also dramatically changed the sight of the classrooms. All the images that a child used to create in mind while reading a book changed to visual delights that are being impeccably crafted through animation and live action videos. This further paved way for more curiosity among learners, who thereby set out to create the non- existent.

Through digitisation and other human effort, classrooms in many schools have started to look like the mecca of opportunities, where the child can showcase his/her creative intelligence. The actual meaning of education is quite prominent – helping children realise their true potential and giving them an opportunity to leverage on the natural unique ability that they are born with, rather than subduing them through exhaustive ‘Mug-up’. Talent, in today’s education system, is being encouraged – this will for sure change the shape of the world!

By Mr. Darpan Vasudev VP, Next Education India Pvt. Ltd.