The Need To Re-Invent The Curriculum

Education is the wholistic development of an individual; intellectually, morally, emotionally leading to an end result where the person becomes a socially responsible compassionate functional member of a society. Education is more than what any school can provide to the child, because education does not stop once the child steps out of the boundaries of the school. 

Yet, in Pakistan a peculiar and curious trend is catching up; keeping curriculum a secret from the parents/families. The teachers are given curriculum guidelines as set by Cambridge, however the parents are not allowed to review the syllabus under the pretext that sharing the curriculum feeds into the parental competition, causes unnecessary stress to the students as they are enrolled in extra tuition to get ahead and reduces the effectiveness of the teachers at school. While all these points are merely trying to treat the symptoms of a problem, it also takes away the ability of providing a more wholistic school experience as the children cannot be engaged at home for reinforcement of any concepts that are under discussion at the school.

Monotonous, Inflexible, Impersonal 

The curriculum guidelines themselves have set out some unrealistic expectations for the school management as well. Someone, who has never met the teachers, and has never meet the class of students, got to decide how long each topic should take, and how soon a class of 2nd graders for example, should master the art of multiplying, while also concluding that the concept of division is beyond the cognitive capacity of a 7 year old. The curriculum as followed by most of the schools do not take into account the varying capabilities, and the varying learning curves of each individual child, their different learning styles and intelligence and has yet to realize that each child has their own interests, and can only grasp a concept if they can see the relevance of it all in the bigger picture; in real life. The students are only at the receiving end of the curriculum and have no say or authority over the pace, mode of delivery and the content. 

Teacher's Friend or Nemesis?

The guidelines restrain the teachers as well to follow a predetermined and non-flexible path to teaching. A didactic approach, where they only have enough time to cram as much as they can to make sure that they are on track with the guidelines. It leaves little room for the children to interact, to discuss, to inquire and to explore. Our schools are still following a strict, 'Finger on your lips' mode of education, where the children are coerced into an acceptable behavioral model; a model that requires them to suppress their natural sense of wonder and curiosity and sit like a solider on a front to receive instructions. While it can be good aid for the non-experienced beginners, the tool itself should not become the leader in the classroom, instead it should grow and evolve with the tutor as well as the pupils. 

Parents + Teachers = Pedagogues

According to the Harvard Family Engagement Program for parents and schools, the child's success is largely governed by how the parents engage them in after-school activities. Parents and other family members are equally responsible to teach our children how to learn and become life-long learners on their own. As the old saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. Without involving the parents and families in the deliverance of the curriculum, the art of teaching cannot transform into that of a pedagogue, as each teacher only has limited time and cannot possibly do justice with each child's myriad of questions. The one-on-one tutoring has been proven by the research to greatly shorten the learning curve; and it can only be achieved by partnering with the caregivers of the students so that the learning can continue beyond the walls of the school. 

The Solution; Organic Curriculum

The solution to this problem of our stagnant and didactic curriculum approach is two-pronged. The power to create, curate and adapt the curriculum needs to be shifted to the people who are closest to the students, and have a deep understanding of their learning styles, capabilities and cognitive boundaries. These include the teachers, principals, the families (whoever is in a position to contribute owing to their own expertise and passion) and last but not the least the students themselves. 

The other part of the solution is ensuring that the curriculum itself is flexible and can be personalized to the needs of each student. Individually. The one-size-fits all approach to education (with the predetermined authoritarian approaches to setting the curriculum) are now losing ground. We need to give way to students and allow them to author their own learning, at their own pace and according to their own interests. Apart from the core skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, the children need to empowered with the ability to learn how they want to, and where they want to and when they want to. We need an organic curriculum that grows and adapts as per the teacher and the student's idiosyncratic requirements.