I have set out on `missions impossible' hundreds of times. For me, my pursuits are too pristine to be given away - as my pursuits evolve I too evolve. Those who fit into this evolving stay others just drift away. That's why I have been a loner most of the time.
Yet there are many who have stayed on me for years and years - in the hope or maybe their belief that it would be better to stay then drift away. My responsibility to them has grown proportionate to the length they have been with me. For them, if I were to delegate any authority to anyone, it would be catastrophic. Good or bad, their desire to stay put is my greatest happiness - in a way it makes me feel important.
As I set out to re-write the SPORTS HISTORY of this country - my fellow travellers look after me fondly - they worry too! But then the gigantic task that I have taken upon me must be `ONLY ME - NO ONE ELSE'.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
NETWORK TEACHING
A single teacher for a single subject is like drinking water from one stream and trying to undrstand the taste of all rivers of the world. A better alternative would be to allow different teachers to interact with the students. The learning would be multi-dimensional.
Every teacher has excellence and blind spots in patches. The students must suffer both. Providing a second teacher and probably a third teacher [for the same subject] would enhance sieving action in the minds of the students. They would develop the ability to decipher the `blind spots' much easily. Network teaching would enhance learning, indirectly it would help both teachers as also the students.
At times a teacher feel that he hasnot been able to explain a particular `point' to a certain group within the class. He can suggest the next `network teacher' to take up that point again. Almost always there is success.
Mobile teachers doing network teaching would have less pressure as they can enhance their `excellent' spots to the best and allow their `blind spots' to be cleared by other teachers. The students would respond to this `excellence' by allowing churning of diverse knowledge to take place. Tangential learning leading to innovative thought processes would unleash questioning of networking teachers. The learners would demand knowledge and not that the teachers have to force-feed.
But the question is - is network teaching possible. Especially with teachers having OVERSIZED egos which keep becoming bigger and bigger. NETWORK COUPLE OF SCHOOLS - YOU MAY BE SURPRISED AT THE SUCCESS!
PS : The heading of this was to be NETWORK COACHING - as during a visit to a residential school some of my basketball students attended `chemistry' & `maths' classes and compared their own teachers - the idea of NETWORK TEACHING was born. Even coaches should allow their players to `learn' from others so that a multi-dimension in learning is developed, rather than hanging on to players because of their personal egos.
Every teacher has excellence and blind spots in patches. The students must suffer both. Providing a second teacher and probably a third teacher [for the same subject] would enhance sieving action in the minds of the students. They would develop the ability to decipher the `blind spots' much easily. Network teaching would enhance learning, indirectly it would help both teachers as also the students.
At times a teacher feel that he hasnot been able to explain a particular `point' to a certain group within the class. He can suggest the next `network teacher' to take up that point again. Almost always there is success.
Mobile teachers doing network teaching would have less pressure as they can enhance their `excellent' spots to the best and allow their `blind spots' to be cleared by other teachers. The students would respond to this `excellence' by allowing churning of diverse knowledge to take place. Tangential learning leading to innovative thought processes would unleash questioning of networking teachers. The learners would demand knowledge and not that the teachers have to force-feed.
But the question is - is network teaching possible. Especially with teachers having OVERSIZED egos which keep becoming bigger and bigger. NETWORK COUPLE OF SCHOOLS - YOU MAY BE SURPRISED AT THE SUCCESS!
PS : The heading of this was to be NETWORK COACHING - as during a visit to a residential school some of my basketball students attended `chemistry' & `maths' classes and compared their own teachers - the idea of NETWORK TEACHING was born. Even coaches should allow their players to `learn' from others so that a multi-dimension in learning is developed, rather than hanging on to players because of their personal egos.
THE SELF LEARNING PROCESS
Learning is a forgotten art these days. There is so much `teaching' for the young children that there is a tendency on everyone's part to think that without teaching there is no learning. I submit that when there is no teaching the learning process is must faster.
Environmental interaction is a powerful tool in the self learning process. Climbing up a hill or getting down can rarely be taught because every `hand-hold' or a `foot hold' on the rock is a unique process of `self learning'. The younger children {assumption is that they have not been `taught'} learn swimming much faster when there is no teaching.
But self learning doesn't mean the absence of the teacher. His role is that of a co-ordinator or a motivator. He can show unknow vistas - fire the imagination to much greater heights. This is totally absent in todays' teachers. They hardly inspire.
For the motivaor to inside the LEARNERS - he himself should be ready to self learn at all times. It is surprising how most of the teachers stop `learning' and just repeat their lessons like audio cassettes. They donot allow you to interrupt - they donot allow you to question - they are so dull - its often good to sleep in their classes.
The self learning process is a vibrant force in which everyone learns - no one teaches. The lesson is never the same. As individuals change the direction of the lesson also changes. The questions are different and occassionally strange answers are found. Innovation comes naturally in the process of self learning. Indeed the arraival of man from the jungle to today's super cities has been a process of self learning and innovation. Today's teachers would have advised the cae dwellers to stay in the caves and not venture out at all. They do it today only the shape of the cave is slightly different.
Self learning begets complete understanding. Once begun - the process of self learning is a constant source of knowledge - it moves in all the dimensions to give a clearer perspective. There is no ambiguity in thinking.
Clear thoughts help determine positive action. There is no confusion. Positive action is a promise of achievement. The synergised mental and physical achievements is the `nirvana' that is the culmination of all living beings.
Environmental interaction is a powerful tool in the self learning process. Climbing up a hill or getting down can rarely be taught because every `hand-hold' or a `foot hold' on the rock is a unique process of `self learning'. The younger children {assumption is that they have not been `taught'} learn swimming much faster when there is no teaching.
But self learning doesn't mean the absence of the teacher. His role is that of a co-ordinator or a motivator. He can show unknow vistas - fire the imagination to much greater heights. This is totally absent in todays' teachers. They hardly inspire.
For the motivaor to inside the LEARNERS - he himself should be ready to self learn at all times. It is surprising how most of the teachers stop `learning' and just repeat their lessons like audio cassettes. They donot allow you to interrupt - they donot allow you to question - they are so dull - its often good to sleep in their classes.
The self learning process is a vibrant force in which everyone learns - no one teaches. The lesson is never the same. As individuals change the direction of the lesson also changes. The questions are different and occassionally strange answers are found. Innovation comes naturally in the process of self learning. Indeed the arraival of man from the jungle to today's super cities has been a process of self learning and innovation. Today's teachers would have advised the cae dwellers to stay in the caves and not venture out at all. They do it today only the shape of the cave is slightly different.
Self learning begets complete understanding. Once begun - the process of self learning is a constant source of knowledge - it moves in all the dimensions to give a clearer perspective. There is no ambiguity in thinking.
Clear thoughts help determine positive action. There is no confusion. Positive action is a promise of achievement. The synergised mental and physical achievements is the `nirvana' that is the culmination of all living beings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)