Reflections on Engaged Learning Environment

After reading through Barbara Means' seven classroom variables that must be present for an engaged learning to take place, i agree and advocate for it. In retrospect, the education system back then was pretty teacher-centered. The teacher gave inputs while the student received and regurgitated back onto the test papers. That was education! I agree during the process, there would be some forms of learning taking place and if the retention value is high for such information, then effective learning may take place. However, such unilateral learning impedes the creativity in a child. There is no room to leverage the child's capacity in learning. Furthermore, there is no innovation in teaching and learning becomes boring. Can you imagine attending a History lesson by reading lines after lines in a History textbook? This is NOT learning but rather it is a punishment of a highly intellectual being!We have been through that kind of education and we certainly do not want our next generations to follow suit. In fact, with the MOE initiatives of creative and innovative learning through experiential education, most schools are already aligned with such culture. For instance, schools are using interdisciplinary project work as a platform to engage students learning in multidisciplinary mode. For instance, students are learning the nutritional facts of food and its association with different muscular growth in a human body. Student should participate interactively in or out of classroom situation. Nowadays, teachers are using pod casting to teach concepts online. This promotes independent learning and home learning. Tests and examinations are no longer the only modes of assessment; the students are using the non-paper and pen assessment too. Learning has indeed become exploratory in nature, beyond classroom experience like learning Geography through overseas field trips, learning mathematics or accountings through running a stall in school during carnival day or learning physical properties in pet rockets. In such an engaging learning environment, teachers are only facilitating them to learn further.