New Teaching and Learning Approaches

Brewing Knowledge Friday

Exploring innovative teaching and learning approaches through collaborative book reading and reflection, aiming to transform school culture and improve student outcomes.

Key Takeaways

• The 5-Step Change Creation System is essential for schools to innovate and improve learning outcomes.

• Teachers need time, freedom, and professional autonomy to research, reflect, and develop modern teaching practices.

• Traditional school models may become obsolete; emphasis must shift to teacher development and student-centred learning.

• Reading, reflection, and relationships are foundational for developing a personalised "school of thought."

Discussion Topics

New Teaching and Learning Approaches

• Teachers must be given time to explore and implement change creation systems.

• Limit teacher workload (e.g., maximum 24 out of 36 periods) to allow for meaningful professional development.

• Understand learning theory—how learners absorb, process, and retain knowledge.

• Encourage teachers to become professional learners through research, collaboration, and reflection.

• Technology is not a standalone solution; the teacher's role as a learner and facilitator is key.

Change Creation System in Schools

1. Identify learning needs and form action teams.

2. Develop action plans focused on teacher training and student needs.

3. Implement inquiry-based practices to improve teaching and learning.

4. Evaluate the impact on teaching practices and student outcomes.

5. Share learnings and scale effective practices across the school.

Freedom to Perform

• Education should offer independence and choice in learning styles, subjects, and collaborators.

• Current systems often restrict innovation and performance.

• Genius thrives in environments that support intellectual ability, creativity, and originality.

• Support for passion-driven learning is growing among parents and educators.

Future of Education

• With widespread access to information, conventional schooling may lose relevance.

• Focus must shift to reading, reflection, and building meaningful relationships.

• Teachers must adapt to stay relevant, embracing continuous learning.

• Learning is multifaceted, occurring beyond classrooms through diverse media and platforms.

Next Steps

• Read the assigned chapter: "New Teaching and Learning Approaches".

• Reflect on the content and share insights with Manisha for discussion.

• Consider purchasing the "My Good School" book for deeper engagement.

• Join the upcoming sessions:

  • Saturday Masterclass

  • Sunday My Good School Session

• Explore the My Good School YouTube channel for past sessions.

• Begin implementing reflective and innovative teaching practices in classrooms.

Back To The Future: Masterclass Saturday April 5, 2025

📚 Masterclass  📚

An insightful Masterclass Session where we delve into Chapters 23, 24 and 25, completing the last section of the book with a Deschool the Roadmap, and reading the reflections of Raj and Naga from Shomie Das The Man Who Saw Tomorrow by Naga Tummala

📅 Date: April 5, 2025

🕠 Time: 5:30 - 6:15 PM

📍 Venue: The Teachers Academy

Partake in our engaging discussion to explore how we can rethink traditional education and create meaningful learning experiences. #LearningForwardIndia #BookDiscussion #ShomieDas #DeschoolTheRoadmap 🚀

The questions:

Q1. Suppose traditional schooling were to be redesigned from the ground up. What would your ideal learning ecosystem look like—spaces, roles, routines, and relationships—that foster curiosity, collaboration, and academic growth?
(You may choose to illustrate your ideas by sketching your vision of the "Future Classroom.")

Q2. How can schools foster a culture where parents and teachers collaborate effectively to support a child's holistic development rather than just academic success?

Q3. How can schools integrate humanities subjects effectively into a predominantly science-oriented curriculum to ensure students develop a well-rounded understanding of the world?

Q4. As an educator, what teaching strategies would you use to balance structured instruction with experiential, self-directed learning while ensuring students still develop foundational academic skills?

National Drawing Day - Kusum Sharma

National Drawing Day is celebrated on May 16 of every year. Drawing is a form of visual art in which the individual uses several drawing instruments to mark the paper or another two-dimensional medium. Tools like graphite pencils, pen, ink, inked brushes, wax colour pencils, charcoal, pastel, chalk and other kinds of erasers, markers, styluses and much more will be used. National Drawing Day tells you that everything inside you is valuable and deserving to be shared with the world. The day is also there to bring much-needed appreciation and awareness to artists and illustrators.

Drawing is one of the important forms of expression within the visual arts. It is concerned with marking lines and areas of tone onto any material where the accurate representation of the visual world is expressed upon a plane surface. Traditional drawings were monochrome, while modern coloured-pencil drawings may cross a boundary between drawing and painting.

Celebrating the day is quite easy and very simple to remember. The annual event will be conducted every year, and it will encourage the people to try drawing and sketching in the inspiring and beautiful environment of the country. You can invite families, children and friends to come and help to create a large-scale drawing. Or simply draw a picture that you loved most and then show them to friends and family members.

 

Courtesy- https://happydays365.org/drawing-day/national-drawing-day-may-16/

Kusum Sharma

ksa@fabindiaschools.in

The Fabindia School

Play, Curiosity and Enthusiasm : Sharmila Vijayvargi

The classroom is a second home for a teacher as well as for a child. The classroom should be developed into traditional playtime or exploration centres. These developmental learning centres promote a child to learn effectively.

The physical environment in a preschool classroom should be set up in such a way that it promotes self-learning and direction to the children. The environment provided to the children should be organized, stimulating and comfortable in order to learn effectively.

Preschoolers are full of energy, enthusiasm and determination to explore and learn,  hence the environment that we provide should be challenging, interesting and  foster independence and creativity. Phonemic awareness is the knowledge that each word is made up of specific sounds and, phonological awareness is the ability to manipulate the sounds of language.

For children to develop these skills, they need repeated opportunities to listen to and play with language. Children in the ABC and  word work centre practice alphabet, play with letter and sound associations learn words that are common and important in their lives and begin to and begin to create unawareness of high-frequency words in a relaxed risk -3 atmosphere through  games, songs and fun activities.

Sharmila Vijayvargi

The Fabindia School, Bali

svi4fab@gmail.com