Why teaching isn't the best methodology for learning

As everyone celebrated Children's Day in India on November 14th, it took me back in time when I was in middle school. I distinctly recollect that mathematics wasn't exactly my strong suit. Pursuing the search for ‘X’ didn't appeal to me while I greatly enjoyed my time in the science lab and playing throwball on the school ground.

Fear of Mathematics

But surprisingly, all this changed in high school when Geometry and Algebra became my favourite subjects to the point that I scored full marks in two consecutive exams and loved solving tougher problems and puzzles even after school. The biggest factor contributing to this change was the new teacher- Motwyn Sir, the teacher who started teaching us math. The theorems and corollaries that earlier appeared dry and difficult were now fun to learn. Even today you will find a strong correlation between a student’s favourite teacher and subject; the contrary is true as well.

What did the teacher do to change things? Surprising, he didn't teach us much, I recollect. Yes, you read it right.

He did NOT believe in teaching students but rather helping them to understand, to communicate their findings, and to learn from each other. The impetus in the classroom was not to give us notes and solve the sum but to talk to us about the ways we thought the problem could be tackled and encourage all students to participate in the discussion. We never moved forward until every doubt was solved.

Unfortunately, in most schools, the focus is still on teaching, memorising, and rote-learning. Very few institutions appreciate the benefits of allowing the student to develop an original thinking, reasoning, and analysis. This problem is not only found in our Indian schools but also in higher academic institutes.

The question we need to ask is – Do we want to create crammers or innovators?

But if cramming gets you 90% marks on that school report card, parents and the school really don’t bother to reflect on this. This gains importance only in later life when young college students or graduates are compelled to debate, give their opinion, and solve real-life problems and those who can’t think critically suffer.

Today, I am on the other side of the classroom. Teaching students myself as a CACR volunteer and project head for computer literacy project that aims to bridge the technology divide in India. When I interact with students from municipal (inner city) schools in Mumbai, I keep the same principle in mind – not to merely teach students but listen to them and encourage them to ask questions and think.

Having taught students under this project for the past 2 years, I can say for sure that the students are more capable of learning new things on their own and from each other than we can imagine. For instance- Despite coming from low-income households that don’t have access to computers, these students picked up the content pretty quickly for children who were exposed to technology the first time. When we returned to take sessions after vacations, the quick learners had already taught a thing or two to their classmates and brought them up to speed.

Now with the advent of self-learning software, virtual education, and free e-learning materials widely available on the web, the teacher’s role in classrooms has changed from teaching the students to motivating them to learn new skills and encourage experimentation.

A teacher plays a pivotal role in a student’s life to lay a robust foundation for future tasks and challenges she/he will face. It is about time all the stakeholders -the education system, parents, students and teachers recognise this and pave the way to give society thought leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, risk-takers, artists, sportsmen and the like. Together let us create a system of innovative learning, not just teaching.

Education should mould minds

The article first appeared Here on LinkedIn Pulse and has been reproduced by author's permission. 
+Richa Singh is member of CACR a Non-profit working in areas of education and healthcare in government schools of Mumbai 

Image: http://www.mcny.edu/student_serv/lecblog/math-phobia

Global Handwashing Day celebrated by 150 municipal school students on 15 October

3.7 Million. That is a HUGE number indeed. 

No,it is not the bank balance of a millionaire OR the budget of a company or institute BUT is sadly the number of children aged from one month to 4 years who DIED globally in 2013, due to bad hygiene practices.

Students wash their hands with soap

 Imagine, millions of lives can have been saved by adopting small sanitation and cleanliness measures. In developing countries, child mortality rates related to respiratory and diarrheal diseases can be reduced by introducing simple behavioural changes. This simple and seemingly trivial action "HWWS- Hand washing with soap" can reduce the rate of mortality from these diseases by almost 50 per cent.

With the goal of spreading awareness about the importance of this low cost and easy intervention in mind, WHO (World Health Organisation) designated October 15th as the Global Hand Washing Day in 2008. For the last 9 years, different organisations worldwide have been celebrating it by planning unique programs. 

How did we at CACR celebrate? - View this 30-second video to get the gist

NGO Citizens Association for Child Rights(CACR), organised an activity based programme at Nityanand Municipal School, Andheri East , Mumbai.

Students participate in Q&A

I am very happy to share that more than 150 children participated very enthusiastically in The Global Hand Washing day celebrations and communicated their hand wash messages via painting bed sheets and singing the hand wash songs popularised by Sachin Tendulkar. 


There was a discussion followed by a Q and A session with UNICEF consultant Bharathy and Former Deputy Education officer Manasi Apte. Soaps and pamphlets with the correct hand washing steps and the importance of making washing of hands with soap a habit were provided to all the participating children. 

CACR has been implementing the hand wash behaviour change program in 11 MCGM schools with 683 students for the past 2 months. This project is a behavioural change program aimed at students from class 3 to 8.
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Students painting their handwash messages on a bedsheet

Bharathy Tahiliani, State consultant UNICEF India said "The 12-week programme, is implemented for the first time in Urban India. We are providing close guidance to CACR to put in place behaviour change activities so children can adopt appropriate hygiene and sanitation behaviour for a lifetime" 

CACR Founder Director Mr Nitin Wadhwani shared that "NGO CACR has initiated this important programme in 5 locations from Andheri to Bandra and it also comprises of a 3 Star Assessment of School Infrastructure on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene based on Swachh Bharat Swachh Vidyalaya (Clean India Mission) guidelines"

A Marathi newspaper Janashakti carried the details of the OCT 15 event as seen below 

Global Handwashing Day event published in a Marathi Daily

PPH website featured CACR

The Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing, which is a coalition of international stakeholders who work explicitly to promote handwashing with soap and recognise hygiene as a pillar of international development and public health featured CACR on its website 

As Seen HERE on the RHS image 

I sincerely hope to keep the GHD momentum going by scaling up this project to more schools and new locations. But I need your good wishes and volunteers to make this happen. If this project interests you then volunteers with us  http://www.ngocacr.com/be-a-volunteer/ 

Hope you join us to make lives healthy. 

By +Richa Singh  loves to work in the public health space and  is the Projects Director with CACR, a section 8 nonprofit working in public schools in Mumbai from past 3 years.

Edited by +Vidya Vaidya , Artist & Director, CACR