Learning to Unlearn: Are the New Generation Teachers Ready for This Game Change?

By Shiny Davison
As I was
attending the 17th World Educational forum in Dubai, the common question that
triggered the audience was the need for teachers to Unlearn. Now, let’s see
what the thesaurus says, the meaning of the word UNLEARN is. This is what I
captured from the Thesaurus. UNLEARN means to discard an outdated information from
one’s memory. This is exactly what is required from the educators of today to
unlearn rigid rules for labelling and placing children in ranks and marks. This
may be very contradicting when I say, as we are latched to this system of
labelling and grading for generations and there isn’t any major revolution in
this pattern in our educational system. So, where will the change begin? Who
will be instrumental in initiating the change? Who are the benefactors? All
these questions are very crucial, and we need to equip ourselves with an
answer.
Now let’s get
deeper into the world of UNlearning. For me, it simply means to make sure learners are active
throughout a lesson, and that they participate in the various activities
offered. Learners need to be hooked
to whatever they are learning, students should participate in the process of
learning through discussions, technology and collaboration. There is no
humongous change in the pattern the major change is HOW we do it. The
word HOW is the essence of unlearning. So, it’s the facilitator who is
instrumental in making these changes inside a classroom. As an educator with
over 20 years, the best days in these two decades were when I was with the
textbook teaching a class of 30 students. But today, as a leader, I won’t like
my fellow teacher to do the same. So as leaders ,we change the platform and
train the faculty in UNLEARNING.
A simple phrase
explains it all: Times have changed so is the teaching pedagogy. I would like
to list down four major changes that need to be seen inside a classroom.
Adapting: Technology
inside classroom (This is the thumb rule)
Collaboration: Focus on
collaborative learning to enhance and captivate learners.
Communication: Clear focus on
the Idea
Modeling behaviour : Be the change !
Today’s children have a degree of expectation, that their teachers
will continue connecting personally to them and is not teaching a mass. The students
want a more relaxed learning environment and educators who provide this
approach will succeed. They have the mobility and access of technology
practically anywhere, so to them a classroom can be a lounge, a coffee shop, a
workplace, anywhere as long as minds can come together to be collaborative and
productive. If we apply this to our own teaching space as an educator, we
succeed. Students embrace teaching styles that involve less lecturing, more use
of technology, more interactions with other learners and real-world experiences
and applications.
How we teach, what we impart, and in what ways we choose to teach
our learners today will affect the future in ways that we can't imagine.
Practicing next-generation teaching habits by unlearning our traditional
methods is the best way to ensure that the road we pave is a positive and
constructive one. Our students are empowered. They know that social media is a
big hub of knowledge. We need to recreate this situation inside a classroom. In
a few years, some of our students will start to move into administrative
positions. They will bring a new perspective and better understanding of
working because they are a part of it. Until then, as teachers we have to be
the master of change starting from inside of a classroom. Essentially create
these learning hubs inside your staffrooms too, where teachers sit down to
discuss UNLEARNING.
As the saying goes: You leave old habits by starting with
a thought, I realize the need for this in my life now - WAYNE Dyer.
So, lets dive into this taught as educators of this century and
ensure that student learning is more powerful by our UNLEARNING.
Illustration by Gerd Altman, Pixabay.com
RECOMMENDED NEWS