The Innovative Educator !!!

The New Age Teacher Requisites for all. . . by Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra

The Innovative Educator

 

A Teacher, who is now a FACILITATOR in this generation encapsulates a new order of delivery with extension of a knowledge society and not a content delivery or an interpretation of book knowledge in real life. The innovation is the ultimate to generate interest of learning for the kids today. It mounts a lot of energy and thoughts to be an innovative educator who is of certain requisite to deliver the knowledge to the cyber society of today.

The mantra is Engage Me or Enrage Me, from the side of the students at large.

As a matter of fact it is true to the world that the teachers are no longer the sole imparters of knowledge but they need to empower the students to learn at pace and at their leisure through personal learning networks keeping their special traits of  talents and interests. The teachers just don’t end up after the class is over but on the jolt for 24 hours around the cyber linkage or social networks further. There is no wall now or the boundary of learning. The innovative educator has to evolve a personal learning network for his or her improvement first. Not only this, it has to reach to the students as well where in there is no boundary of limitation in a big way. It is a way to build ones’ own classroom and one’s own network of learning. The change or the shift here is that we can connect around and share ideas which is not so in the one to many mode of classroom learning.

The fact lies in the Teacher being an Innovator of traits and essence to explore the attention in the classroom. The priority of taking Education and technology as a means to go together and it laminates with the questions in our minds viz. Should we do more, less? What about virtual schools? Interactive white boards? Cell phones? Facebook and Twitter? Should we let kids be out there on the ‘net? Should we post their pictures? These are legitimate conversations, and each person has to make these kinds of decisions based on their own comfort levels and according to the needs of the individual child. To my knowledge and interest they must be given an opportunity only when required but as a  habbit.

The innovative learning is not limited to a physical space but an open learning scenario with preface to one’s comfort at his reading home at home or a TV room at large. It is very much unlike the class room learning with a same group all days, all the time. Here the community is different and the learning is more spectacular further. Here the teacher concerned is the one who has to be engaged and involved in the conversations as a leader or a facilitator further.

What is a priority for the Educators, policy makers and the private sector is the need to strive together  and make India a global super power by 2020.

As per the demands and researches, the challenge is to create an integrated education system that:

§  Provides access to quality education that is practical, relevant, customised and effective

§  Can adopt innovative ways (tech-based) to provide faster expansion of opportunities of education to all

§  Looks for bridging the gap between education and employability

§  Promotes social equality/economic viability

It is evident that one policy is not going to help all. The need of the hour is to have specific policies for various levels and areas of education, and also specific to various regions.

As an academician, I do feel that ‎"Everyone is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." as do one of the inventors of past years.

 

To be innovative one must go by the fable:

Once upon a time the animals decided they must do something heroic to meet the problems of a “new world” so they organized a school. They had adopted an activity curriculum consisting of running, climbing, swimming and flying. To make it easier to administer the curriculum, all the animals took all the subjects.

 

The duck was excellent in swimming. In fact, better than his instructor. But he made only passing grades in flying and was very poor in running. Since he was slow in running, he had to stay after school and also drop swimming in order to practice running. This was kept up until his webbed feet were badly worn and he was only average in swimming. But average was acceptable in school so nobody worried about that, except the duck.

 

The rabbit started at the top of the class in running but had a nervous breakdown because of so much makeup work in swimming.

 

The squirrel was excellent in climbing until he developed frustration in the flying class where his teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop down. He also developed a “charlie horse” from overexertion and then got a C in climbing and D in running.

 

The eagle was a problem child and was disciplined severely. In the climbing class, he beat all the others to the top of the tree but insisted on using his own way to get there.

 

At the end of the year, an abnormal eel that could swim exceeding well and also run, climb and fly a little had the highest average and was valedictorian.

The prairie dogs stayed out of school and fought the tax levy because the administration would not add digging and burrowing to the curriculum. They apprenticed their children to a badger and later joined the groundhogs and gophers to start a successful private school.

 

But remember the quote:

 

NEVER TO JUDGE A FISH WITH ITS ABILITY TO CLIMB THE TREE ! ! !

 

 

 

Cheers and Happy Learning…..

Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra

VP Academics, Next Education India Pvt. Ltd (INDIA)

www.nexteducation.in

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