Teaching and Learning – is there a trick?

One of the big mistakes that we as parents and teachers often make, and that could stifle the mental development of our children, is to treat them as just small adults! In fact, it is this attitude of grown-ups that could be leading our next generation to become stereotyped conformists rather than original thinkers and innovators. And if we intend to drive home health messages and inculcate healthy habits we need to tailor our efforts to their cognitive potential.

That children indeed think and discover the world differently was first noticed by a Swiss scientist Jean Piaget in the early 20th century. He studied his own three children grow and was intrigued by how they behaved, played games and learnt at different ages.

With further observations and experiments, he propounded the theory of ‘cognitive development’, placed great importance on the education of children and is hailed even today, 30 years after his death, as a pioneer of the constructive theory of knowing.

He noticed that logic and abstract thinking had no place in the first 3 stages of a child’s development that spanned from infancy to age 11. Therefore trying to explain concepts such as“ healthy living increaseslife-expectancy….” to them would be wasteful and boring.

Small children, aged 2 and 7, like to discovering the world through their senses and by their rapidly developing motor skills. Colourful toys, tasty food and lots of action, supplemented by instructions from parents, teachers and peers make the perfect recipe for their learning. They cannot ‘imagine’ invisible germs on their dirty hands for example, unless depicted by an animated cartoon.

Younger kids will wash their hands before meals only because “mother told me to”. But as they grow to 10 they love participating in large active group exercises of hand-washing, more as a fun game, that can then be turned into a regular habit through regular reinforcement by superiors.

When dealing with older children, the techniques need to be different, as imagination and logic start making their appearance between ages 11 and 16. Posters, games and quizzes work best but debates, which require logic, still remain beyond the fringes of their grasp.

But once logic and abstract thinking get into their heads, students between 11 and 16 begin to engage passionately in debates and discussions! The best way to get these youngsters to learn (let us avoid the word ‘teach’) is to them a contentious topic for debate around the chosen subject. As they search and discover evidence, articulate their opinions with conviction, get rebutted and challenged by the logic of their opponents, they begin a new journey of exploring the world with their newly acquired cognitive skills.  They learn better this way than what textbooks or teachers can teach them.

Promoting healthy habits in children is therefore not an easy job of simply sermonizing “do’s and don’ts”. HOPE Initiative has emerged as a “Centre of Excellence” for exploring such innovative ways to reach out to students.

As published in HT City ( Hindustan Times) dated 29th December, 2013.