Though 3 idiots is a good movie…I was always a bit uneasy about it. Couldn’t figure out why?
Met up with a professor friend of mine…who made an important remark, “School teachers are professionally qualified to teach…but University/College teachers are not. In fact school teachers use a huge variety of methods to teach... in B.ed. These methods are talked about. for a College teacher…there are no such inputs to help him/her become a teacher
That’s very much true. A college lecturer appointee just walks into the classroom, without any exposure to pedagogy or teaching methods. Our country only requires the person to qualify NET examination, which has no component on teaching methods.
That’s precisely the reason why University teaching in India is so drab. College professors and University seniors literally bore their students. Only a few whom the students consider good are nothing but good orators…who make their lectures interesting with anecdotes and examples.
On the other hand…though not very prevalent but most of us know of a huge number of examples where school teachers have used innovative methods to teach using activities. Teachers have shown the way to teach even though most conferences on pedagogy are filled with University Education Professors, who talk about using innovative techniques in school classrooms and bore their students doing the exact opposite in College classrooms.
Funny! But this is true and that’s where the link to 3 idiots comes from. 3 idiots is a story based on poor teaching methodologies in Colleges. And the answer it gives is in the form of an innovative school somewhere in Ladakh. Again the answer to a non-productive college teaching is a school…why not a college which has an innovative teaching style.
Its high time we make a specialized ‘B.ed.’ course…god knows what we will call it..for university and college teachers. Though this course isn’t an answer to the basic flaws of university teaching but it would be a start.
I hope it doesn’t get as boring as a ‘B.ed.’ is but I would certainly like to see more college teachers innovating with their teaching styles.
That’s very much true. A college lecturer appointee just walks into the classroom, without any exposure to pedagogy or teaching methods. Our country only requires the person to qualify NET examination, which has no component on teaching methods.
That’s precisely the reason why University teaching in India is so drab. College professors and University seniors literally bore their students. Only a few whom the students consider good are nothing but good orators…who make their lectures interesting with anecdotes and examples.
On the other hand…though not very prevalent but most of us know of a huge number of examples where school teachers have used innovative methods to teach using activities. Teachers have shown the way to teach even though most conferences on pedagogy are filled with University Education Professors, who talk about using innovative techniques in school classrooms and bore their students doing the exact opposite in College classrooms.
Funny! But this is true and that’s where the link to 3 idiots comes from. 3 idiots is a story based on poor teaching methodologies in Colleges. And the answer it gives is in the form of an innovative school somewhere in Ladakh. Again the answer to a non-productive college teaching is a school…why not a college which has an innovative teaching style.
Its high time we make a specialized ‘B.ed.’ course…god knows what we will call it..for university and college teachers. Though this course isn’t an answer to the basic flaws of university teaching but it would be a start.
I hope it doesn’t get as boring as a ‘B.ed.’ is but I would certainly like to see more college teachers innovating with their teaching styles.
3 comments:
yap, very true there should be some changes in the teaching style in colleges, maybe this not so interesting way of teaching makes the college student bunk most of the classes.A different way of teaching can be seen at Shantiniketan - VisvaBharati, classes amidst the nature is quite a change from the brick walls..........
i feel that 3 idiots is an exaggeration and even if the movie and amir khan had good intentions, they didn't put their message across very well. i'm at a loss to understand why the movie became so popular with so few people understanding that the concept was not aimed at reforming education, but to bring large crowds into theatres.
My View on this is (even for the school teachers) We as trainers and teachers focus on knowledge i.e. what we think a child need and the way WE think that the child would learn the best OR we know that "this" is the best method! And think how do we know what's the best for them... Simple - we do what we think did not happen with us and our wish that had that happened it would have been better!!! - isnt it the same CYCLE which our predecessors followed?
What about asking the child - how does he want?
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