THE CASE OF THE HORSE AND THE CART

The proverb goes, “You can take a horse to the water, but you cannot make it drink. Which got me thinking that this horse was, most likely, not thirsty in the first place. And if was adequately thirsty, all you need to do is to take it to the water rather than a bale of hay.

?When it comes to education, nothing could be truer than this.

?After having done numerous training / teaching assignments across several institutions, I have come to realize that only some ten percent of the class are genuinely thirsty for what you have to offer. Maybe another ten could be made to be thirsty by some presentation and engagement antics.

The other eighty are just not keen enough to engage with your subject. And this is quite likely because they are interested in some other subjects, just not yours. I have appreciated this emotion from close quarters. I have often wondered in my school years on the peculiarities of learning three-dimensional trigonometry when I was far more interested in geography.

Why is our education so centered around the needs of the institution? Why do we not think of the motivations of the learner while designing our curriculum??

This brings us to the subject of this article, on placing the proverbial horse before the cart. Imagine a world where the learner was at the center of the educational universe, willingly engaging with subjects of their liking.

To be fair, such learner-centered education is happening sporadically in some primary schooling systems like the IB and ICSE systems in India. But as soon as they reach graduation, every student is fitted into neat little boxes of degrees and certifications. And this situation only worsens when it comes to professional upskilling, where the institution trains further on subjects of its requirements.

Of late, edtech brands may have democratized subject selection. But such platforms continue to mimic current educational systems and pedagogies rather than use the technology opportunity to construct a system around the learner.

Then, what should the essential basic principles of a universe where learners drive the design of their own education? Put another way, imagine this as a bill of rights for the knowledge seeker.

In my conception, the constitution of a learner-centered educational system would have the following rights of a learner –

?i.??????????????Right to self-selection: The ability to choose subjects of the learner’s liking and pursue it to the depth that they may wish to (rather than being forced to learn something).

?ii.????????????Right to comprehension: The ability to learn the subject in a language and idiom of the learner’s comfort (rather than a foreign, unfamiliar idiom).

?iii.??????????Right to relevance: The ability to appreciate the subject in local contexts relevant to the learners’ circumstances (rather than an alien exotic context).

?iv.??????????Right to pertinence: ?The ability to have learning that can be used and applied in practical, everyday contexts (rather than obtuse, futile and, ultimately, useless learning).

?v.????????????Right to upliftment: The ability to have an enjoyable, interactive learning experience that engages and uplifts the learner (rather than a passive, fruitless, boring experience).

?Along with rights, come duties. What are the duties of a learner under such a constitution?

?i.??????????????Duty of commitment: The requirement of being present in body, mind, and spirit during the learning experience (rather than seeking ‘attendance’ scores).

?ii.????????????Duty of reciprocity: The requirement of actively engaging and meaningfully contributing to the coach and fellow learners (rather than just being a inert sponge of the proceedings).

?iii.??????????Duty of industriousness: The requirement of working diligently with and beyond provided material to make up one’s own point of view on the subject (rather than a passive recipient of the teacher’s material).

?The five rights and three duties enunciated above are at the heart of a learner-centered education system. A system that inverts the institutional certification complex to put the learner at an advantage. ?

?I think it was Confucius who said,” Do a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”. I propose an equivalent analogy. Learn something you love, and you will never have to study a day in your life.

?Any horses thirsty for learning marketing, branding or communications? Connect with me and we could search for water together.

This was first published by Shramy Learning Technologies in October 2022