Innovation for superior learning outcomes

Everytime i observe a classroom from a distance or closer, many thoughts
cross my imagination. How it used to be for me in the classroom, my favourite
subject, my favourite teacher.And then i realise that how it's so coincidental that
my favourite subject was always the one taught by my favourite teacher.May be, its not so coincidental afterall. I then thought of asking some friends about this and got the same answer, their favourite subject was the one taught by their favourite teacher.

The role of teacher is often thought in a set framework, but then is it really enough to operate in these set coordinates, that of syllabus, assessment, observation & so on. Perhaps these are very important parameters for effective teaching, but then, isn't it about the child, about learning. If we keep learning ahead of teaching, an imaginative teacher, is may be, more important in the classromm than anything else she may be. No formal grounding, degree or training can compensate for this crucial quality in a teacher.

If i was to be a child again i would like to be taught all my subjects by Sir. Eric, M'am. Manjula, & Thomas sir. They helped me learn different subjects in different classes, right from an early age to senior schooling. Now, when i look back and think, i realise that the biggest common virtue among them was "Imagination & Innovation". More than anything, they always used to introduce concepts in a new way every single time, answer a query with some great examples and on the spot innovation to build basic and lasting understanding. None of them ever seemed to have had a fix notion.

Among many such thoughts, three broad thoughts perhaps are the keystones which differentiate a good and an exceptional teacher.

1. Innovation while preparing for a class
Have noticed that this is most critical while introducing a new concept in the classroom. Difficulty levels go up inversely with the age of a child. Younger the child, the more difficult it is to effectively introduce a new concept. Imagine, introducing the concept of "wild animals" to a 2 year old. I remember observing the class of this young teacher and the experience left me stunned. This young girl welcomed the class & started by uncovering the cloth over a hand made forest, she called it "wild". Soon after, she started telling a story about the "wild" and one by one introduced a wild animal to children, with puppets, sounds, music, & pictures.Not only did she create some handmade props but also crafted a story carefully and prepared for hours to get best results in those 20 minutes of concept introduction. Innovation in advance while preparing for that crucial "concept introduction" adds immensly to learning effectiveness.

2. Innovation in the classroom
Got to read this wonderful mail recently from Calicut XSEED Preschool mentor, shamima. She's shared one of her class innovation in this mail.Am pasting the mail copy as it is here.

"we at XSEED Preschool calicut are happy to see the way our kids write. They try their level best to write in their own way n they manage to write it well, our only concern is their formation and handwriting which we are working on.
I would like to share with you that when we do the word wall we play a small game called ...Find who is hiding in...This happened when i was introducing the word bone and and i just told them hey there is a number name hiding there, and all of a sudden the kids got very excited and said its 'one' and one of them said its so easy just put a 'b' in front of one and we can write bone and since then whichever word we introduce the kids try to find who is hiding in, last week when we introduced the word machine a child said 'chin' is hiding in and now every single child in the class knows to write the word 'machine' without any mistake. This technique has helped us a lot in implementing word wall and sight reading has become much easier and a lot more fun for mentors and kids :)"

This is a classic case of impromptu innovation in the classroom. Some may argue that this is a matter of chance and may happen to any mentor anywhere. True perhaps, but then i believe that only when a mentor is alert about these opportunities and believes in continious improvement would she be able to exercise impromptu innovation in the classroom, makes all the difference.

3. Sharing & monitoring effective innovation
It's one thing to imagine & innovate and another to make it a habit. If shamima didn't share and document her innovation of "find who is hiding", none of us could have benefitted, including her ownself. Imagine to have a repository of "innovation for effective learning", with some detailed case studies like the one from shamim. I can't stop thinking of the power of such shared repository of effective innovation across XSEED preschool mentors. It would enable each mentor to "prepare" so much better for each new concept, each day & hence improve learning outcomes for each child. Keeping child at the centre of this innovation for effecive learning will ensure best experiences for each learner & mentor.

Look forward to your views on this.