Methods of teaching
JP wants to shift the emphasis on formal academic education for intellectual development to a combination of formal, non-formal and informal education by multiple agencies for all-round personality development. This shift in perspective needed many modifications in teaching academic subjects in class-room environment. The modifications were first tried out in the JP school for intellectually gifted in Pune. These werefurther extended to rural and urban schools run by JP for the main-stream students in agricultural and industrial setting.
Gaining experience from these diverse backgrounds, JP has evolved a method of teaching which can be used for students selected for high intelligence or the undifferentiated student population. The method gives similar results albeit with different response times of different student populations.
Intended effects of teaching
The method of teaching has to suit the intended effect or result of teaching. Creation of knowledge and application of knowledge are the two guiding lights for devising a method of teaching. The students enter the classroom carrying some bits of information with them. They should not leave the classroom with only some more bits of information. The purpose of teaching should be to give them a perspective to use their information, and skills to use that information effectively. The purpose of teaching should be to give them insights to spot the
gaps in their information. Complete knowledge in a particular branch of study is impossible. It is better to teach a multidisciplinary approach where application of knowledge is necessary and an inter-disciplinary approach where creation of knowledge is the goal. The method of teaching has to be more skills and process-oriented and not content-oriented. But skills and processes cannot be taught without knowledge of minimum content. Knowledge of a basic quantum of content is a prerequisite for teaching of processes and skills.
Pre-requisites of teaching
In the preparation of students for the above modified method of teaching, the teacher has to remember that it is more worthwhile to memorize a few things with thorough understanding than storing tons of information without understanding. The students have to be exposed as much as possible to history, contemporary events, different sets of data memorable happenings and nuances in the personalities of different people.
If creation and application is not the purpose of teaching, many times, teaching gets entangled only in the foundation process of exposure to information. Many times it is still further restricted in scope to the events and information that have found place in the text books. Use of multiple text-books and reference books is possible only if there is the will, the resources and a purpose. Even teaching to gather information and to hunt for sources of information should be a pre-requisite of teaching.
Interviews, newspapers, periodicals, electronic media, working with masters, dialogue with masters, apprenticeship, internship and travelling are various ways by which students learn to use primary sources of information. In many schools, even shifting from rote learning or mere text-book teaching to the above pre-requisites will be a great change today. But this change will be effective if the purpose of all-round education is accepted. The teaching in a class-room where these prerequisites are fulfilled will make a vast difference.
Basic tenets of modified teaching
When a student can use maximum techniques of selfstudy and is confident that he or she can find or generate the information necessary for creating knowledge, then such a student can learn differently in the advanced class-room. The differences in the advanced class-room are mainly ——
- Finding answers to questions Why ? and How ? is more important than knowing the answers to questions What ? and When ? When curiosity goads a student to explore any new place or situation, then he starts searching answers to the questions Why ? and How Scanning, skimming, surfing, wandering without any specific aim is many a times responsible to ignite a spark which triggers curiosity.
- The curiosity is enhanced when a student starts searching answers to the questions which rise in his mind. This is real studying and not memorizing answers to expected questions in the exam.
- In day to day life there are many alternative solutions. None is flawless. We have to choose the least flawed solution. Teachers have to teach to weigh the odds and make a judicious choice and exercise the choice. Most of the current exams ar based on a single correct answer for each question. The answer has to be memorized and given when asked or to be chosen correctly from the given multiple choices. Education has to be geared towards teaching to produce multiple alternative choices which may be partially correct but feasible.
- Observation, understanding and memorization are basic skills which have to be learnt through self-study. Real teaching starts when the students who have mastered the basic three skills are taught to use their knowledge for application, selfexpression, problem-solving, creative thinking and decisionmaking. This has to be the objective of teaching academics for intellectual development.