HT Dialogues: The Big Shift to Bridge the Learning Gap
A week after the grand success of Annual Teachers’ Meet 2022, Hindustan Times is back with the second edition of HT Dialogues series that kicked off from 29th March. HT Dialogues happens to be a one-of-a-kind initiative in which monthly panel discussions are held that emphasises upon the teaching and learning challenges, especially in this post-pandemic world. The panellists of Episode 1 included some of the notable educationists from the NCR region, including school principals and teachers as well as other dignitaries from the education field. The speakers were: Dr. Ameeta Mulla Wattal, Chairperson and Executive Director of the DLF Foundation, Gurugram and former Principal of Springdales School, Pusa Road; Richa Agnihotri, Principal of Sanskriti School, who has formulated the CBSE CCE Handbook for teachers and the CBSE Curriculum for Science; and Dr. Susmita Ram, Associate Professor, Department of Elementary Education, Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi. The session was moderated by Ms. Roopali Dhawan, Head, HT Education. Click here to watch the full episode.
Learning gap for students returning to school is a major cause of concern for parents, and students. In fact, according to a survey conducted by Azim Premji University at the end of 2021, around 92 percent students studying in classes II to VI had suffered a specific language ability during the extended closure of schools. The research also reveals that more than 80 per cent of them incurred a loss of mathematical ability. Keeping these issues in mind, the opening episode of HT Dialogues Season 2 focussed on the topic “The Big Shift to Bridge the Learning Gap.”
The wide range of issues that were covered during this session were: the visible learning gaps among students as they’re going back to school and how schools are trying to find ways to tackle the issue, students’ socio-emotional and motivational loss due to the pandemic and how online education has affected students in the long run.
There were multiple reforms proposed by experts on Tuesday such as a faster, smarter and efficient transformation of mindsets, methodologies and pedagogies. Suggestions were also made that teachers assume the roles of co-parents to help students nourish both their academic and emotional needs. Here are excerpts from what the panellists said.
Dr. Ameeta Mulla Wattal, Chairperson and Executive Director of the DLF Foundation, Gurugram and former Principal of Springdales School, Pusa Road
Dr. Wattal began by saying that as an active practitioner in the field of education, she now understands the importance of addressing the prolonged pause in learning and pressing the reset button. “Each child has a very deep, personalised learning threshold that have so long been neglected,” she said. For her, the way to take things forward, is to make the learning experience much more individualised. This, however, is only possible in a physical classroom setup, not in an online regime. “The biggest aspiration right now is to move from academic excellence to ensuring that children thrive in certain areas of learning,” she observed. Wattal also noted that fostering imagination among students to help them move forward is the need of the hour. “The more imaginative our children will become, the more creative and innovative they will be,” said Wattal. She also added that the annual grade assessments need to be immediately replaced by two to three stages of assessments, as mentioned in the NEP 2020. “This, in turn, will help us (teachers) to identify individual children when they lag behind,” Wattal noted.
Richa Agnihotri, Principal of Sanskriti School
Welcoming students back to school after a hiatus of two years was a delight for Agnihotri. “Their fine motor skills are intact, but their cross-motor skills are scanty,” she observed. The routine of sitting down in front of screens for a long period of time has not only affected their concentration span but also made them much more restless. Students now also struggle while paying attention to details, she further noted. “Their writing skills have taken a toll alongside their ability to interact with peers and teachers. Their team spirits as well as conflict management, have been affected as well,” Agnihotri said. This is seen across all age groups and students are now anxious to come to schools, she observed. However, she was hopeful that if students would continue to go to school for the next two to three months, without any interruptions, these issues would be taken care of.
Dr. Susmita Ram, Associate Professor, Department of Elementary Education, Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi
According to Dr. Ram, not much research has been undertaken to take care of the developing learning gaps among students. However, having said that, she assured that, things are in process wherein teachers are adopting new and useful techniques to counter the crisis. On a lighter note, she said, “The pandemic, it seems, has made us a lot more aware about the learning losses, which have been there for quite some time now, even before this extended closure of schools.” She expressed concerns about the drastic learning losses for children living in remote areas and those who belong to the marginalised sections of the society. “The good part is that both the governments and the schools are now trying very hard to find proper methods and strategies to address the learning gaps, across separate disciplines and age groups,” she noted.