RECALIBRATING PEDAGOGY AFTER LOCKDOWN

 

 

 

 

         RECALIBRATING PEDAGOGY AFTER LOCKDOWN

The famous axiom states," Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow."

 

How true this statement is in today's scenario! The excessive use of technology for our young generation has always been a hotly-debated and burgeoning topic in the school curriculum and students had always been advised to keep themselves away from these harmful gadgets as they not only waste their invaluable time but cause severe damage to their concentration level and cerebral arteries also. Ironically this technology such as laptops, smartphones,tabs has proved to be a boon during this precarious situation of Coronavirus Pandemic - 19 and has always been at the beck and call of the students, parents, and all the stakeholders. 

 

Each one of us has witnessed that adversity both strengthens our innate potential and equip us with innumerable opportunities. During the lockdown period, there had been tremendous changes in our style of living, thoughts, perceptions, outlook, and finally the approach to see our lives from a different angle.

 

Undoubtedly the pedagogy in education has shown such an upward plunge that could never ever have been expected of our education system earlier. In a nation like India, where is inadequate accessibility to internet and its speed; where the technology has not reached to the doorstep of the poor strata of society; where training the teaching faculty about the know-how of technology, is an enormous project with fingers crossed; where using internet beyond a limited data becomes very expensive affair; where a number of restrictions and instructions are imposed on children before using mobiles keeping in mind its hazardous repercussions; in such scenario, providing ONLINE CLASSES to the young minds means allowing them to make use of such device for more than four hours at a stretch.

 

Now the question arises how could such massive change be accepted in the education system during the lockdown period and what kind of measures are further expected to take place after the lockdown period.

 

There is no denying the fact that no one might have ever given it a thought that shutting down of the schools and colleges to stop the outbreak of COVID-19, would pave the way for emerging new trends in the educational sector. It took hardly any time to train the teachers of private schools to commence ONLINE CLASSES for the students. Teachers who had never been tech-savvy, became familiar with the system very fast and set the example that learning with an objective in mind, during adverse moments prove to be a boon as they force us to perceive the situation from all the possible angles, reflect to find the solution, assimilate and synthesize the information and finally apply the data in real-life situations. Hence impossibilities can easily be transmuted into possibilities with determination, grit, and conviction. 

 

Needless to say that earnest endeavours of the stakeholders and educators in the form of making slide shares, assignments, ppts, videos, podcasts worked like wonders for the students and parents. Furthermore, it provided them ample time to explore various strategies and ways to make our teaching interesting, interactive, and informative.

 

We should keep in mind that the phase of education will certainly undergo a considerable change after the lockdown period. Mind it, the next generation is being nurtured in a truly globalized world where their lifestyle will be intertwined with technology. They are supposed to transcend the barriers of provinces, nations as their approach will be global, collaborative, and mutual. They would never prefer to work in alienation as they are aware of the fact that an integrated approach based on partnership brings productive results. Moreover, this period has clearly and precisely clarified one fact that whatever troubles one nation has its impact directly or indirectly certainly on all the nations of the world too. Therefore we have not disassociated parts of the world rather a unified unit. 

 

A new style of teaching-learning methodology coupled with adaptability and resilience would be the dire need of the hour. These complex and intricate moments of struggle have taught us irrefutable lessons. This is the highest evolving time that has trained us to respond constructively to the situation instead of reacting eccentrically. This is the time to introspect deeply, to reflect on the areas of concern, and to work indefatigably on our weaknesses and ultimately come out of them triumphantly. The teaching mechanism has undergone a drastic change. We have shifted our perceptions to a holistic, integrated approach based on partnership. This difficult period has reshaped our education to the grass-root level and led us to astonishing innovations. The unpredictable and uncertain period of lockdown has made us believe in this dictum, "The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible."Arthur c Clark.

 

It is the appropriate time to bring coordination between our speech and actions. It is time to bring constructive changes in the education system in such a way that each and every segment of society should be benefitted. We should not forget the unfortunate fact that during this lockdown period, the students of public schools, villages, and remote areas have suffered a lot due to the inaccessibility of internet networks and lack of infrastructure. 

 

Needless to say, the post lockdown period would take long strides with new innovative and revolutionary changes in the educational system. The role of technology would become an integral, inseparable, an indistinguishable part of our system. So it would be mandatory for each one of us to train ourselves thoroughly in the usage of technology. It would be difficult for those to survive in the world of digitalization who are not adept and tech-savvy. So the role of educators would undergo a drastic change. They would play the role of facilitators as the subsequent lockdown might have far-reaching impacts on each and every segment of society. There might not be any isolated issues as the solution to the global problems would be worked upon mutually and interdependently. 

A developing country like India, equitable opportunities for quality learning should be ensured. The current crisis has triggered the need of digitalizing our schools. There is a serious requirement to change the traditional modes of teaching and digitalize the system by experiencing and exploring new possibilities with greater flexibility. It is said that NOTHING CHANGES IF NOTHING CHANGES. Although changes are welcomed with protests, discomfort, fear, and anxiety yet they are for the betterment of the society. 

 

Hence the educationists must initiate a debate that would help in redefining the role of education and finding the solution to provide application-based knowledge to the young generation of today that believes in experiential learning programmes. These days of struggle and hardships have made the students, and teachers independent too as they tried to find out the solutions to many of their problems themselves irrespective of the fact that they were taking the help of YouTube, Google, or any other sites to get their work done. They have certainly realized the significance of optimum utilization of the sources in hand. An increasing trend of audiobooks, online books, articles, Tedtalks in the present generation speaks high of the forthcoming change in the mindsets. Believe it or not, humanitarian values have transcended all the barriers of caste, creed, religion in all the walks of life and the educational system has not remained untouched. People made all the apps such as Byjus, Scholastic app, Any books, Audiobooks, Storytel, Mentor, etc free for the children so that students might take the maximum benefit from them in order to improve their learning skills better. This indicates that a new trend in the education sector with new innovations and possibilities is awaited. 

 

Therefore my opinion is that the post lockdown period will be brimming with a new ray of optimism, enthusiasm, and vitality which is going to compensate all our previous losses; be it in the field of education, economy, business, share market, etc. This is the high time when educationalists, intellectuals, parents, teaching faculty should join their hands and get ready to accept the challenges collectively as CHALK and TALK methodology would be replaced with digital education. We should tighten our belts to tackle the self-driven and self-motivated students who need simple directions, encouragement, and reinforcement to reach the pinnacle of success. Gone are those days of spoon-feeding, mugging up of content, using kunjeez (guides).

Here the role of the teachers will be to capacitate our young generations who are tech-savvy, sharp, creative, and ready to tackle all kinds of challenges. The major concerns that would engage the teaching faculty are to spread awareness amongst the students regarding cybercrimes. These criminals intentionally target the students and hurt them emotionally and psychologically. This may cause a prime stumbling block on the way of digital education. 

 

Simultaneously we should understand that handling such kind of issues is no longer a big problem when media has proved its worth by playing a progressive and dynamic role in the spreading of the awareness about Coronavirus, its impacts, and preventive measures in each and every corner of the nation. Undoubtedly media can play the same responsible role in spreading awareness against cybercrimes amongst the young generation when their lives would be at stake. We should teach our children to navigate in the rough waters cautiously. It is the time to join our hands to better prepare our young children for a bright, challenging, and promising future. It is possible when the right steps in the right direction are taken by the right people. Let’s enter the portals of the new world of technology and digitalization by holding the hands of our young learners with infinite enthusiasm, unflinching faith in our potentialities, and never-ending vigour.