SHUT UP! YOU ARE IN THE CLASS. SHOULD THEY REALLY?

There are times when I have stood facing a class of young teenagers desperately trying to please them, but to no efficacy. This happens mostly after I realize that my meticulous planning and facile execution has failed to produce the desired result.

Why does this happen?

The easiest explanation to this phenomenon can be found in the principle of connectionism proposed by Edward L. Thorndike. In his view, ‘Learning is the process of forming associations or bonds, which he defined as the connection of a certain act with a certain situation and resultant pleasure’. (Note that: you learn best when learning leads to something that gives you pleasure.)

Of the three laws of learning he put forward, I fall back upon the law of readiness in order to satisfactorily explain why some of my ambitious lessons fail. He says, and I quote: “ For a conduction unit ready to conduct to do so is satisfying, and for it not to do so is annoying.”

For learning to happen, one need not “teach” (in the usual sense of the term). Standing infront of a class and shouting the data fixed in one’s brain over to a diverse class is as futile as teaching to drive sitting in a coffee shop or swim where there is no water.

80% of the learning is done if the ‘conduction unit’ is ready to learn. If not, however hard you may try, not more than 20% of your teaching will be driven home.

So a teacher’s first job is to connect to the class at a personal level. Make them want to learn and give them opportunities to learn through activity based learning methods while you (the teacher) remain readily available at any point to intervene.

It is high time that school leaders who insist on “class control” (What they mean is silence) realized that it is not in a child’s nature to be silent. A little bit of noise in the class has two advantages: helps the teacher make learning fun, and accelerates learning by avoiding monotonous one man show in the class.