Once upon a time there was a
thirsty crow. He flew here and there in search of water and at last he saw a pot
in the garden. The crow flew down to drink some water but unluckily the water
was very low. To raise the water, he saw here and there and at last found some
pebbles. He put pebbles one by one. His efforts paid and the water rose up. He
drunk the water and flew away. This is a story that my mother read, memorized
and wrote in school life and the same story my child is reading, memorizing and
writing. If again the education sector showed ignorance my grandchildren will
read the same story and so forth.
Still the crow in twenty-first century use pebble to raise water in Pakistan.
Resultantly, he is unable to use his mind and find alternates to raise the water
and fulfil his need. He still fails to nurture his inner potential and unleash
his abilities.
If we put student in place of crow we will see the clear picture of our
education system. The students in our schools are still engaged in memorizing
the facts without reflecting on. Schools with such attitude, block the learning
process, and produce confused educated people who till end do not know who they
are, why they are, where they are, where they want to go and how can they reach
their destination. Every year our education system produces a huge number of
graduates who fails to contribute in the development of this country. The main
reason behind that is the provided environment. We do not encourage the students
to reflect, solve and contribute. We still do not know the meaning of
Intelligence. Still we measure the student intelligence with IQ tests and loose
thousands of contributors every year with such mind set.
The scenario of Pakistan in 21st century is same since its inception. According
to UNESCO annual report published in 2016, Pakistan in education is moving 50
years back which is alarming and needs joint hands for change.
The research findings show that 1 out of 3 school children in Asia lives in
Pakistan and have children retention issues. Still schools fail to provide a
favorable teaching learning environment. We waste our students’ curiosity and
hinder the self-exploration and development process.
John Dewy says, students do not learn from experiences but reflecting on
experiences. Through reflecting on experiences students assimilate, associate,
accommodate and build on their learning. I believe and my personal experiences
as a teacher depicts that learners driven learning always give a promising
result. As it not only develops confidence in students but enhance their problem
solving and life skills too.
Teaching is a psychological game played with minds. Therefore, the teacher
should know the rules before starting the game. I believe the role of teacher is
critical in developing students into productive human being. To play a positive
role the teachers and management needs to change their approach and find ways to
engage students actively in their learning process. To do that teachers will
have to change their lenses of teacher into reflective practitioner in order to
create a conducive learning environment and foster autonomy and self-reflection
and exploration. They should find ways to challenge the students think
critically and logically. They should take a passive position and let their
students take the active role in learning.
Creating such environment is a challenge for the teachers. Hence proper planning
is the key. Planning provides teachers’ opportunity to think out of the box and
find different teaching strategies that can ignite students critical thinking
and help them learn best.
Jean Ruddock at all (1995) suggested the practitioners and policy makers to
review the taking for granted perceptions and practices and change it with a
reflective practitioner who reflect on his/her own practices, attitude and
modify them for the benefit of the students.
There is a dire need to change the organizational structure, teaching practices
and provide the students with an opportunity to explore their sense of self and
sense of purpose in learning by challenging the learners intellectually in a
fair and encouraging setup Jean Ruddock at all (1995). To do so teacher has to
change their practices and enter in class with full preparation. They should be
able to make use of any learning moment in class or outside. That will help them
to focus on school work, environment and encourage the students to achieve the
milestones without hurting their self-esteem and confidence.
Twenty-first century demands innovation in education system and put heavy
responsibility on teachers’ shoulders. To fulfill the demand the teacher will
have to transform the classrooms from passive to active learning as a change
agent. They should find methods that inspires and inculcate critical thinking,
problem solving and improve life skills.