The Progressive School Vol 02 Issue 04

mentors perpetually work with the same
students for a continual period of time
thus acquainting themselves with each
child’s learning style. This proves to be
of great advantage when mentors moil in
raising their (students) level of performance
in order to procure remarkable results.
In other words, informal teacher is child
oriented and not teacher centered.
For instance, if a lesson is to be
delivered in class, the facilitator may cite
some videos o be watched on the eve of
the presentation. This takes the form of
pre-learning as students get acclimatized
to some main concepts pertinent to the
assigned topic. During the course of the
presentation, students could query their
peers and elicit varied responses from
them to check their previous knowledge.
This eventually progresses into fruitful
group discussion where the focal point is
student learning than teacher teaching.
Thus students become sensitized to the
allotted topic much prior to the teaching
of the same.
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?
Prof Abubaker: Schools promote rote
learning because the Indian system of
education places thrust on high percentage
marks. Entry into the competitive medical
field or engineering course demand for
soaring scores without probing into the
positive and negative effects
of learning on the learner.
India is single-mindedly
striving to become a
well equipped nation in
terms of infrastructure,
business and
Prof M Abubaker
literacy, for which we need to have an
adept and apt workforce. Children who
learn through the rote method are doomed
to flunk at the very beginning. Therefore it
has to be made mandatory that students
in every nook and corner of the country
have an exposure to both comprehensive
and constructive education, which should
enable them to apply all that they learn in
their daily lines and this would certainly
add value and meaning to what was learnt.
TPS: Many schools believe that
provision of informal supports to
learning for extended and impactful
learning comes with a cost which
parents cannot afford and hence find
it convenient to marginalize them.
Is there a scope for integrating such
learning experiences with curricular
architecture and how do you think
this can be done?
Prof Abubaker: Formal
teaching often takes place
solely in the classroom where students
work through prepared material over the
course of an academic year. Moreover,
projects may be assigned that require
students to interact with the real outside
world and its people.
TPS: “Learning Beyond” is
fundamental to “Learning Always”
and “Lifelong learning.” It is
development of a mindset and attitude
to learning which is required for a
vibrant knowledge society and a
global learning environment. How
can this idea be seeded in the young
minds which would trigger them to be
powerful ‘self-learners’?
Prof Abubaker: Self-learning can be
as diverse as simply discovering new
information and thinking critically about
it or actively participating and contributing
to a learning community, or designing
one’s own learning path and selecting
resources, guides and information.
TPS: In a world haunted by technology,
most learners spend their time with
the instruments of technology for
further and extended learning. What
are its advantages and shortfalls?
How do you think this mindset
can be changed to a positive and
personalized interactive social
learning culture?
Prof Abubaker: Technology is a man
made creation and not vice versa. The use
of technology would be purposeful and a
boon to the society only if students are
guided in its proper sense. Technology
and its use should be rightly targeted, so
that this man made creation turns out
to be beneficial and nifty not only
to the existing generation but
also for the generations
to come.
www.progressiveschool.in
JUL-AUG-SEP 2018
THE PROGRESSIVE SCHOOL
33