Why do schools need to go beyond syllabus
Schools need to design a special curriculum that looks beyond the books and offers holistic education to a child, writes Neerja Birla
16.12.2019
The true purpose of education is to make minds not careers, says a popular proverb. One of the epiphanies that one has as an adult is that being a good student in the school has nothing to do with success or happiness in life. We find that our education has not prepared us for daunting challenges, difficult emotional or social experiences. Book learning – that is the official term for what we get in schools. Not a practical education, and by no means a holistic education that focuses on developing all the aspects of a human being and not just the academic prowess.
Mahatma Gandhi believed that education is the process of training the head (learning to know), hand (learning to do things for a livelihood), and heart (learning to be). This would be the kind of education that informs the mind, imparts practical life skills, opens the mind to independent and creative thought, puts the students in touch with their emotions and motivations, and teaches them how to be empathetically human. The goal of such an education would be to shape a good human being and citizen who can handle the challenges of life in healthy and responsible ways.
If we truly want to prepare students for the future that awaits them, schools must look at going beyond the books and designing a curriculum that offers holistic education to the child.
LEARN ABOUT THE SELF
Every human being goes about his/ her life trying to figure out who am I, what is my purpose? Right from the early years in school, we must be able to support and augment this journey of discovery so that children develop a keen sense of self, self esteem and self respect. Mental health education in this context can help children understand their feelings, motivations and their fears. This understanding of the self will be the much-needed bedrock of confidence that stays with the child their whole life.
LEARN ABOUT OTHERS
From the self, the journey moves towards understanding the people around us. The classroom experience needs to evolve from students competing for grades to students working together so they can learn to form friendships and deal with complex social interactions. How do my actions affect others? How do I process, deal with and get along with the actions of others? Teaching children about the feelings of others lays the foundation for strong interpersonal skills that will be invaluable in their professional and personal lives. It will give them a lifelong ability to build cohesive social units, excel at managing relationships and social challenges.
LEARN ABOUT THE UNKNOWN
How will our children react when they will face the new ideologies, technologies and opinions? We live in a time when everything is being redefined – from what childhood is to what it means to be human. The advantages of all our inventions are diverse but so are the possible risks – a greater stage for success implies a greater risk of failure. The most significant measure of a human being is how he/she responds to things that are unknown – how does one face the uncertainties of life while being true to ourselves and our values? No textbook can teach that.
We have all heard about the three R’s of education – reading, ‘riting and ‘rthimetic. With holistic education, we would be able to further enhance it with a few more R’s – relationships, resilience, responsibility and respect for life. When we educate the whole child, we can rest assured that we have moulded a human being who has the knowledge, life skills, and the strength of mind and character to face any challenges that the future might bring. That is why there is nothing more important than making sure we do just that in our schools today.
(The author is founder and chairperson of The Aditya Birla Education Trust)
Schools need to design a special curriculum that looks beyond the books and offers holistic education to a child, writes Neerja Birla
16.12.2019
The true purpose of education is to make minds not careers, says a popular proverb. One of the epiphanies that one has as an adult is that being a good student in the school has nothing to do with success or happiness in life. We find that our education has not prepared us for daunting challenges, difficult emotional or social experiences. Book learning – that is the official term for what we get in schools. Not a practical education, and by no means a holistic education that focuses on developing all the aspects of a human being and not just the academic prowess.
Mahatma Gandhi believed that education is the process of training the head (learning to know), hand (learning to do things for a livelihood), and heart (learning to be). This would be the kind of education that informs the mind, imparts practical life skills, opens the mind to independent and creative thought, puts the students in touch with their emotions and motivations, and teaches them how to be empathetically human. The goal of such an education would be to shape a good human being and citizen who can handle the challenges of life in healthy and responsible ways.
If we truly want to prepare students for the future that awaits them, schools must look at going beyond the books and designing a curriculum that offers holistic education to the child.
LEARN ABOUT THE SELF
Every human being goes about his/ her life trying to figure out who am I, what is my purpose? Right from the early years in school, we must be able to support and augment this journey of discovery so that children develop a keen sense of self, self esteem and self respect. Mental health education in this context can help children understand their feelings, motivations and their fears. This understanding of the self will be the much-needed bedrock of confidence that stays with the child their whole life.
LEARN ABOUT OTHERS
From the self, the journey moves towards understanding the people around us. The classroom experience needs to evolve from students competing for grades to students working together so they can learn to form friendships and deal with complex social interactions. How do my actions affect others? How do I process, deal with and get along with the actions of others? Teaching children about the feelings of others lays the foundation for strong interpersonal skills that will be invaluable in their professional and personal lives. It will give them a lifelong ability to build cohesive social units, excel at managing relationships and social challenges.
LEARN ABOUT THE UNKNOWN
How will our children react when they will face the new ideologies, technologies and opinions? We live in a time when everything is being redefined – from what childhood is to what it means to be human. The advantages of all our inventions are diverse but so are the possible risks – a greater stage for success implies a greater risk of failure. The most significant measure of a human being is how he/she responds to things that are unknown – how does one face the uncertainties of life while being true to ourselves and our values? No textbook can teach that.
We have all heard about the three R’s of education – reading, ‘riting and ‘rthimetic. With holistic education, we would be able to further enhance it with a few more R’s – relationships, resilience, responsibility and respect for life. When we educate the whole child, we can rest assured that we have moulded a human being who has the knowledge, life skills, and the strength of mind and character to face any challenges that the future might bring. That is why there is nothing more important than making sure we do just that in our schools today.
(The author is founder and chairperson of The Aditya Birla Education Trust)
LEARN ABOUT THE WORLD
There are many things that we learn in schools, many of which we rarely use in real life. One wonders if we were given training in life skills such as decision making, time management, negotiation, critical thinking, leadership, or even parenting, it would have helped us more. Without a practical knowledge of how the world works and the things we need to know to operate successfully in it, it does not matter how talented one is
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