The outside world? What about it? It’s a beautiful world out there! Alright, but are you ready and confident to tackle and handle whatever situations come your way? Are you prepared to follow a chain of interests that might lead you in other directions, quite different from what you have learnt or what you have in mind?
Even today, as we look back to the bygone days of schooling and the way learning was structured, we wonder about all the things we learnt and that which turned out to be useful knowledge but not quite beneficial to tackle the outside world!
The problem was neither with the schools nor the teachers. Schools were great and so were the teachers. School days were fun too! It was all to do with the educational system of those days. Indeed, we are proud of our conventional teaching style, however, there needed to be a blend of this, as well as an eye into the future world.
In school, there was always one right answer, and the authority figure at the front of the classroom knew what it was. It was up to us to figure it out. On the other hand, in the outside world, often there is no right answer, other times there are lots of right answers and still at other times there are lots of partially right answers.
Today, it’s the thinker who has the benefit and who stands out, instead of those who just fit in and move along with the flow. In the outside world one discovers that most good work is done in teams, and collaboration is a necessary key skill. Hence, activities conducted in schools now are concentrated on collaboration and teamwork.
In school, we learnt from our teachers, but beyond school we learn by interacting with each other. Other times we learn by trying out things, learning from our experiences. Examinations were a key measurement of achievement in schools but on the outside one is graded based on what one can do with what one has learnt.
It is quite tempting to talk about school and the ‘real world’. School too, is the real world, just that it is a different real world from the one you discover when you step outside.
With changing times, the educational scenario has also changed and now the focus is on experiential learning connected to the real world outside.
Today’s educational scenario prepares students through a curriculum that addresses current and likely future issues head on, ensuring the content is relevant to the outside world to ensure that the next generation learners are ready and resilient. Ready for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead!