Help students learn faster with the concept of Intentional Growth
Even before COVID-19 emerged, the world of stable lifetime employment ending in retirement had faded, as we adults know very well. The pandemic introduced a skilling emergency. Employees had to improve on skills they had or pick up new ones, and they had to do it fast. This was true for all sectors. Individually, and as companies, thinking about skills and aligning them with the need of the hour is a necessity to survive this world order.
What can you do as parent to prepare your kids for it? Yes, by introducing them to intentional growth, a learning method to accelerate things.
What is intentional learning?
Intentional learners embrace their need to learn, it’s not a separate activity, but a consciously chosen behaviour that comes naturally. They pick up lessons from class, conversations, peer interaction, even from nature, and apply the learning with equal ease. While it sounds complicated, it can actually be picked up by kids of any age.
How to get your child started on intentional learning?
It all starts with encouraging the right mindset. A growth mindset will help kids survive more than a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset tells them they have to get a certain percentage in Maths to learn coding. A growth mindset teaches them that perhaps coding will help them do better at Maths. Being open to new ideas, accepting change and thinking out of the box are marks of growth. The second weapon is a curious mindset. A student wants to know about a dynasty because he or she is curious to find out what life was like at that time, not because they have been told to mug up a chapter in History.
An intentional learner faces and acknowledges hurdles
Sometimes students are forced to score at a subject without addressing a genuine learning difficulty around basic concepts. Discourage this strongly. If your child is consistently bad at something, whether it is cooking or grammar, do a root cause analysis. Let them acknowledge the hurdle and work consciously and willingly to overcome it.
Intentional learners are eager about new experiences
New environments, new experiences, and exposure to new groups of people spark curiosity and eagerness to learn. Allow your kids to explore beyond the syllabus to pick up lessons. Visits to historical monuments, watching movies and reading books from other countries, learning about plant and animal life can all get them into the life-ling learning mode, without any lecturing.