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| The writer believes that a beautiful camaraderie makes life a wonderful journey. |
I refer to the article
by columnist Abdul Karim Abdullah, “Reforming education with student-centred
learning” (NST, June 5), and support his idea of prioritising the role of
learners to ensure effectiveness in the teaching and learning process.
Despite the advent of technology and recommendations made
by educationists-cum-researchers who have carried out empirical studies on the
importance of applying new techniques in educating the millennial generation of
students, some teachers still believe in traditional teaching
methods.
As a teacher who is passionate about making it right for
the sake of producing balanced individuals, students are my top priority. From my observation, students love to
talk, play and move around; this keeps them happy and energetic. While some
teachers perceive students as lazy, rambunctious, useless and
undisciplined, I realise that students need fun to keep them “alive”. This explains why teacher-centred lessons make students bored. I believe it is time for teachers to ditch
old-fashioned ways of teaching and try implementing new methods, as we support
the idea of 21st century learning.
The fact that some teachers compare between
advanced, intermediate and weak learners, and worse, develop a negative
perception towards slow learners, is frustrating, unprofessional and irrelevant.
Many teachers agree that it is easier to teach and carry out activities with good students than those in weak classes, considering the uncontrollable
behaviours of hyperactive students and those not interested in their studies but,
from my experience, that is usually because teachers plan the wrong
activities or lose their passion when teaching students with low proficiency.
Teachers should stop doubting the ability of learners.
Take group presentations, for example. Although many believe that this
student-centred teaching method is only for good students, it is
actually applicable to weak learners, too. They may mumble, lack confidence and be playful during their presentation, but with time, they will
improve and find the activity intriguing as they are given the opportunity to
share and shine. All they need is continued encouragement and motivation. Practice makes perfect.
Teachers need to realise that by applying a
student-centred approach, it will encourage independent learning, which gives
learners room and freedom to understand topics, interpret issues, solve
problems and suggest solutions, as they develop creative and higher-order
thinking skills. In fact, when students actively participate in classroom
activities, it benefits not only their intellectual wellness, but
also their physical, emotional and mental well-being, as teachers get out of the
box and carry out activities that activate students’ kinesthetic, musical,
interpersonal and verbal intelligence. As long as students are given clear
instructions about the task, teachers can take a role as helpful and friendly
facilitators, while learners dominate the learning session.
A student-centred approach should be the preference of teachers
who wish to stop making students sleep with their eyes open, as they need to be awake to make them think and learn.
Courtesy of New Straits Times,
9 June, 2015
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