Why the Indian education system needs to re-haul its learning approaches

The skills that our children need to flourish in the 21st century and successfully navigate this transformation are starkly different from those needed by the earlier generations.

Written by Guest

September 3, 2023 13:30 IST

While we integrate a progressive approach to learning, training the teachers should become a top priority.

By Devyani Jaipuria

There couldn’t be a more crucial time to emphasise the importance of critical thinking in the Indian education system than right now. We are more globally connected than we ever were, we are in an era of perennial information as well as mis-information, we are witnessing more changes in how we work than we did in the last deacde, the technology acceleration is unprecedented and the need for sustainable development at an all-time high.

The skills that our children need to flourish in the 21^st century and successfully navigate this transformation are starkly different from those needed by the earlier generations. This also means that what they are taught at schools, and more importantly, how they are taught, needs to be aligned to the learning outcomes they we envisage for them. Which is why critical thinking gains utmost importance. Why? Because, to foster learners who are prepared to take on unforeseen challenges, who are able to leverage new technologies to their advantage, who are active, engaged citizens, they need to learn to think in ways which involve innovative and critical approaches to problem solving and decision making. Critical Thinking, in fact, has been called a key competency for this century in a study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and important for success in life, work, and active citizenship. Interestingly, researchers believe that mere high IQ does not necessarily equate to satisfaction or success because it fails to capture real-world decision making. The ability to think critically, has been shown to be associated with wellness and longevity.

Today, education is no longer about replicating the content knowledge that we learn; it is about applying that knowledge to situations in today’s fast evolving world. Traditional teaching methods and a linear teacher-student dynamic which we have seen for decades are no longer relevant. The Indian education system, although in the midst of a progressive transformation, is still not witnessing the transition to this modern learning approach in entirety. The system has been notorious for encouraging rote-learning, which I feel is ironic, considering our ancient Indian ‘Gurukul’ system was a progressive institution, focused on practical learning. A few months ago, Indian IT doyen Narayan Murthy, raised concerns over IITs, the most prestigious technology training institutions in the country, becoming a ‘victim of rote’. The government has surely been committed to changing this approach; the New Education Policy 2020 is testament to this intent. But are we doing enough? How do we ensure that the policy translates to impact on-ground?

For true reform, I believe we need to work on changing the mindset of all stakeholders – students, teachers and the parents. We have been conditioned to learn by memory, reproduce the answers in a standardised exam and move forward, and we have believed this to be the best way to learn for far too long. As we slowly realize the need for an evolved learning approach, we are also apprehensive about its integration and uptake.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not completely against memorisation; of course, we need to memorize the basics, the formulas, the information, but we need to understand that it is only a means to aid higher analytical thinking. In the traditional Bloom hierarchy, developed by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom in 1956 as a framework to help educators classify their goals for teaching students, psychologists have replaced ‘synthesis’ at the top of the pyramid to ‘creation’ and ‘evaluation’ – which includes critical thinking and innovative ideation as key components.

Many skeptics argue that critical thinking modules are difficult to integrate in curriculums and that teacher training for the same is another uphill task. However, it is not as difficult as it seems, as is also agreed by worldwide studies. Research by Indiana university explores innovative, inexpensive and scalable ways to teach critical thinking skills that is even easy to implement across a diverse group of students. This becomes important, especially in the Indian context, where we are continuedly trying to achieve similar learning outcomes across all strata of students. A shared consensus on the approach could, I firmly believe, contribute to equitable teaching and uniform learning outcomes across public and private schools.

By means of varied approaches such as forum like discussions, group activities, practical assignments, critical thinking can be integrated even when teaching thematic subjects. Teachers can also connect information to cultural experiences, to region or community specific tasks and encourage them to reason and make evidence-based incisive decisions and take an analytical problem solving approach. If I were to put it simply, teachers need to ask the students what they think rather than what the textbook says.

We also need to ensure that critical learning is fostered early in schools. A 2018 study published in the journal “Frontiers in Psychology” found that critical thinking skills in children begin to develop around age 4 and continue to develop throughout adolescence. In primary classes, play and game based learning can prove to be an important tool to instil critical thinking.

While we integrate a progressive approach to learning, training the teachers should become a top priority. They need to be confident about teaching in a way that encourages questioning, cross-questioning and open-minded discissions rather than a straightforward question and textbook answer scenario. This will not just lead to an effective instruction but better prepared students.