Hina Khan
Personalized learning, leveraging recent technological developments and advancements, is an intriguing and glistening avenue for promoting learning experiences and improving learning. 21st century is the epoch of multi-dimensional and robust technological advancements, not only in rest of the fields but particularly in education sector around the globe as well. It will take careful planning and great deal of work to develop appropriate comprehension of technology, potentially building on existing online learning platforms, and to create systems that are actively responsive to students’ performance and abilities and adjust the level of their arduous workload accordingly.
Student’s learning process is highly dependent on different strategies and methods, which affects students’ learning, one of which is the methods being applied by the teachers in classroom set-up, especially while learning a second language. Generally speaking, there are almost eight strategies that are globally used in this regard.
Knocking the Doorsills of Strategies
The quest of furtherance never stopped in the history of mankind, and so in the history of teaching. The very first strategy used to teach children was the Grammar-Translation Method (GTM). In which the use of native language had a high frequency and was thought to be appreciating foreign literature. Consequently, helping students to grow intellectually.
Lamentably, with the passage of time, since GTM was not proven to be very effective due to various reasons, Direct Method (DM) became popular with one very basic rule i.e. “No translation is allowed”. The reason was to just connect the students’ target language. But as we all know, there is always a room for improvement, linguists were on the way to bring new teaching strategies under the auspices of expediency of competitive era. So, as time went by, more novel strategies were introduced to meet the ends of the learning.
Despondently, in Pakistan, only the two aforementioned methods are used in the majority of the classrooms. These methods provide more leverage to teachers and students are given less chance to participate or share their ideas. In other words, these are teacher-authoritative systems. This obviously affects students’ learning progress. However, other methods such as Suggestopedia and Community Language Learning are more student-centered. Additionally, methods, such as Total Physical Response and The Communicative Approach includes mutual decision-making technique.
Wandering in the Maze
Societies change when they invest in teachers and their development. According to UNDP’s Human Development Report 2018, Pakistan is ranked 150th out of 189 countries. In the context of intra-regional comparison, only Afghanistan lags behind Pakistan.
The country with half of its population still illiterate is definitely far away from developing sophisticated and refined learning environments that are already adopted in scores of nations around the globe. These are considered to be pivotal catalysts in polishing the generations for effective and efficient members of society and their country. Pakistan, being the developing country, is struggling to make notable progress in its conventional educational system. However, in most developed cities of Pakistan, many educational institutes and universities have adopted and started practicing newly implemented learning processes that complies the modern world needs.
The BUTS
Now the question arises, that if modern teaching methods are practiced in our classrooms, why the students are still facing many psychological barriers, particularly pertaining to lack of confidence and hence the ability to question? Why are they unable to extenuate the fear of being mocked during learning and participating in or outside the classroom? Are they being provided ample exposure, at all levels, in all institutions, and most importantly, are we providing them these opportunities equally; to stand out among peers with cultural diversities? Or can they easily communicate or perform with other students in group learning without getting cold feet? Are we lacking the required equipment which aids in students’ way to progress?
It is a matter of great concern that in Pakistan, to this day, only GTM and DM are in vogue in the majority of the educational institutions. If other novel methods are being applied in classrooms, it should be focused on whether the students are overcoming the problems they usually face in conventional system, or are we just obliviously wandering in the maze of futile attempts?
Teachers being Managers
The best-managed classrooms are those in which, besides disciplining and controlling students, each learner is effectively engaged in constructing knowledge and connecting his learning to the real world, outside the classroom. The 03 Cs are undeniably imperial for designing an effectual learning environment. Curiosity, Creativity and Confidence are important for successful educational attainment. In this regard, the teacher plays a vital role; one of the teacher’s roles is of a classroom manager. To serve the purpose, teachers’ training is of critical significance. It should be figured out that teachers’ training is at par with students’ and era’s needs.
Usefulness and effectiveness of learning methods to be applied in the teaching-learning process are to achieve better results, particularly at all levels of education. Furthermore, it is always suggested to follow an eclectic approach while teaching. It will help the teachers to function these strategies in a much better way and will also help both the teachers and students to acquire the desired education standards in Pakistan and to upgrade its level in ranking index.
Chance Our Arms
In a nutshell, to upgrade our teaching-learning standards, teachers should be trained in applying new methods in classrooms as done in Switzerland, Finland and other countries with a top-quality education system. A sense of belongingness must be developed among students to achieve a common goal and to feel comfortable to share their ideas and knowledge before the audience, in or outside the classroom. It is the moment to realize that what kind of citizens we want to raise and to serve the purpose. we need to invest in teachers, students, and their development, for they are the one, who will take Pakistan out from the house of orthodox and show us the School of Modernization.
The author Hina Khan is a graduate of National University of Modern Languages (Islamabad) with a versatile insight on national and international education systems, along with analyzing its dynamics within the socio-economic domain. She tweets @aichkaey
