Are We Ready For a New Paradigm?

Every morning we see new developments happening in the field of education. Some researcher talks about the need for sight words, while the other talks about phonics, some advocate the need to promote thinking skills, some stand for memorizing skills and the list goes on and on. These things show that there is good amount of awareness on the need for ‘good’ education. I also think that the people around the globe have started believing in the power of educated mass. While I am glad as an enthusiastic learner, I am left with lots of questions and wonderments. School brochures are filled with attractive lines like Multiple Intelligence enabled classrooms, World class curriculum, Teachers catering to emotional intelligence, activity based classrooms, child centered curriculum, result oriented coaching, etc. Parents get attracted to those captions and admit their children. School managements adopt such kind of frameworks, strategies and techniques with all good intentions but how is it ensured that their classrooms are geared up to meet the respective requirements. Are there are some benchmarks set in those areas by the schools with clear timelines? How do such frameworks, strategies or techniques reflect in the school’s vision and philosophy?  A school is comprised of various stakeholders that include management, parents, teachers and students. Every stakeholder is important and plays a significant role in the development of the child. It doesn’t stop there. It is important that the stakeholders develop themselves as well. More importantly what about the teachers who play a key role in the development of children?

How many school managements think about teacher empowerment? No doubts some schools focus on training teachers. What kind of follow ups are done after the training? How many school managements ensure that the practices brought in as a result of training gets sustained? What measures are taken to do so?  Above all do schools see this as an intellectual investment than a training fund for the staff which has to be spent in some way? While such things could help managements to review and refine their approach, there are also some aspects which the teachers could look into?

Teachers are provided with an opportunity to get themselves empowered with. Do teachers realize the need to get empowered with? Do they see such opportunities as doors that could keep them abreast of the latest developments in their profession than looking at it as extra workload? How many teachers visualize the power of their influence among children?

I believe such kind of questions could help schools and teachers to self- reflect. Such kind of reflections and subsequent realizations could lead to actions which in turn could pave way to a new paradigm in education.

Are we ready for a new paradigm?