The Progressive School Vol 02 Issue 04

FACE-TO-FACE
NURTURING LEARNERS FOR LIFE!
Uma Ramesh
Head Curriculum – Lakshmi Vidya Sangham
The schools should ensure that young adults leave the school with the motivation and capacity to
continue learning throughout life. To do this the school should establish the goals, persevere, monitor
their learning progress, adjust the learning strategies as necessary and overcome difficulties in
learning in the big picture of the curriculum map.
The schooling process should
reflect each student’s interests,
readiness and personal investment.
The pedagogy needs to be changed
to make the learner to communicate
and collaborate and not to be a passive
listener, shares Uma Ramesh.
TPS: There is a long standing view
that only a limited quantity of
learning is obtained through formal
institutions of learning and informal
learning plays a significant role in
the empowerment of individual. This
view has been further strengthened
by cognitive psychologist. How do you
think schools can cope with situations
Uma Ramesh, Head Curriculum
– Lakshmi Vidya Sangham, a young
spirited fresher, entered the LVS
institution three decades ago as a
teacher of the primary level. Now she is
a confident and promising leader of all
the LVS schools.
Her passion for teaching Maths
is boundless and is proven across the
student community. She gained the
ability to handle teachers and share her
subject competency through the post of
the Academic Supervisor of the middle
level of TVSMHSS. Active participation
in Quality Circles has enabled her to
travel across nations and be a part of
international conventions.
As the Principal of TVS Matric
School, she took the school to great
heights through her open attitude for
learning and her love for children. As the
Project Team Head she has been able to
spread her learning to the outside world.
Heading the LVS Schools as the Head of
the Curriculum department, she strives
to enhance the learning climate of the
LVS institutions and ensure 21st century
learning and skills for each and every
child of all schools.
by synergizing formal and informal
learning modes?
Uma: I have had my eyes open to the
world of schooling that happens beyond
the walls of the traditional brick and
mortar education. The stimulating
environments like park, libraries, living
rooms, play ground and toys plays vital
role in the learning. Self directed learning
from the environment through the senses
teaches the essential understanding of the
concepts. A lot of time invested in doing
something promotes the responsibility
for a child on what and how to learn.
This learning changes everything and
empowers students with the opportunity
of holistic learning and supports them
to uncover the concepts hidden in the
manipulative/products. Incorporating or
expanding upon at least a few of this gives
a trust that students can be masters of
their own learning. The schooling process
should reflect each student’s interests,
readiness and personal investment.
TPS: Can you suggest a few informal
instruments of learning provided by
schools that helps in the process of
empowerment of the individual and
how do they play a scaffolding role
in learning?
Uma: Field trips, activity areas, Science
corners, projects, labs, manipulative
puzzles, group discussions, think pair
shares activities, role plays, nature walk,
debates are the few instruments that
promote informal learning. The first is the
pedagogical perspective that deals with
scaffolding self-regulated learning and
supports the completion of tasks creating
a shared understanding of the task. In the
pedagogical perspective, a self-regulated
learner enters into interactions with the
more capable peer. Through grounding the
two negotiate a common understanding of
the task and the more capable peer then
uses support structure to adapt the support
to the learner, transferring more and more
responsibility to the learner. In this process
of learning, a network is created providing
opportunity to each individual to teach as
well as learn from peer.
TPS: With a high thrust on competitive
learning, most schools appear to
have neglected or marginalized such
vital requirements and appear to be
promoting rote learning preparing the
students for a rat race. In this context
what do you think are the future
challenges and how do you think
schools can cope with them?
Uma: Understanding concepts in depth,
to think critically, solve problems and draw
decisions, the ability to analyze, apply,
synthesize and create, work creatively
and able to communicate and collaborate
are the essential skills that form the heart
of the curriculum as these are essential
14 THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
www.progressiveschool.in