Perfect learning environment and functioning of school tribunal - Essay Example

? Perfect learning environment and functioning of school tribunal Introduction Some people define learning as a product while others consider it as aprocess. In any case, learning can be considered as the modification of behaviour for the attainment of some specific goals. At the same time it is the process by which an individual acquires and develops knowledge, understanding, skills, interests, and attitudes that are necessary to meet life situations. The effect of learning can be witnessed in the behaviour of an individual at various instances. Human has been able to progress just because of his capacity to make profit out of his and other’s experiences. His customs, manners, etc are the product of his learning. “Learning is the cognitive process of acquiring skills and knowledge”(Learning, n. d). It causes behavioural changes in ones’ life because of the constant interaction with the environment and the extra knowledge acquired about the environment. It is a continuous process which starts from the birth and ends only at the time of death of a person. It is a complex process which depends on many individual characteristics like socioeconomic background, attitude, philosophy of life, intelligence, physical and mental health, the environment in which learning occurs, genetic traits etc. Because of the dependability of various factors, it is difficult to have two persons with same learning abilities. School is a place where the teaching and learning process formally begins in one’s life. It is not necessary that all the schools provide same type of learning environment to the students. Some schools may have better infrastructure facilities and better teachers whereas some other schools may have poor infrastructure facilities and teachers. As explained earlier, learning depends on so many factors other than the individual and hence the controlling of the various learning parameters is essential to prepare a proper learning environment. Because of the absence of proper learning environment, some students may become problematic and the school authorities may force to take disciplinary action upon such students. A school tribunal normally hear the aces related to the student problems. This paper briefly analyses the topics such as what makes a perfect learning environment and the functioning of a school tribunal. What makes the prefect learning environment? “Curriculum, instruction and assessment are the major means for effective learning. In the curriculum area, educators must place emphasis on intuition, feeling, sensing, and imagination, in addition to the traditional skills of analysis, reason, and sequential problem solving”(Learning styles, 2008). It is impossible for a teacher to teach everything related to a specific topic. On the other hand if the teacher was able to develop interest among the students about that particular topic, the students will do the rest part of the learning process by themselves. In other words, developing positive feeling, imagination, intuition etc can make the learning process easy. Curriculum plays an important role in preparing proper learning environment. As mentioned earlier, learning is a complex task and hence it is necessary to control the parameters which affects the learning judiciously. For example, it is difficult to stimulate learning in a noisy environment. Learning is a process which requires the combined efforts of the teachers and the students. The transfer of learning takes place from the teacher to the students only if the teacher was able to deliver his/her lecture in an appropriate manner. In order to help the teacher to deliver the lessons in an organized manner, students required to observe strict silence in the class. In other words, discipline is the primary requirement for preparing a proper learning environment. If the teacher keeps on delivering the lectures and the students keep on doing something else, learning will never take place. The students should follow the teacher with utmost care in order to learn the topics properly. Whenever, the teacher presents a problem (stimulus), the students should respond adequately. In short, discipline is the primary requirement for the learning process. Proper infrastructure facilities are another requirement for effective learning. Even if the students and the teacher are smarter, in the absence of proper learning materials or infrastructure facilities, effective learning may not take place. For example, computer assisted education is common nowadays in most of the schools. Computers and overhead projectors are using in most of the classrooms at present in order to give the student clear picture about a particular topic. In other words, apart from the basic infrastructure facilities like spacious classrooms and adequate furniture, modern teaching aids like computers, overhead projectors etc are also necessary in the modern classrooms. “Teachers should design their instruction methods to connect with all learning styles, using various combinations of experience, reflection, conceptualization, and experimentation. They can utilize variety of experiential elements into the classroom, such as sound, music, visuals, movement, experience, and even talking” (Learning styles, 2008). Sounds and visuals can catch the attraction of all students especially the young ones. In order to obtain proper interaction between the subject and the student, these mediums will help the teacher immensely. Parent teacher associations are necessary in schools in order to ensure discipline in schools and also to assist the learning process. Parents have a vital role in the learning process of their children. School is only a temporary place for the students whereas as the home is the permanent place for them. In other words, students spend more time in their home rather than the schools and hence the supervision of the parents is important in the learning process. Parents should make sure that their children attending the schools regularly and they are doing the home works adequately. In order to ensure all these things, proper communication between the teacher and the parents are necessary and for that purpose, parent teacher associations will be helpful. The teacher should be able to command the respect of the students. For that purpose, the students should feel that the teacher is friendly in nature and is ready to help them always. The teacher should be a person who is able to come down to the levels of the students while taking classes. If the teacher delivers master level topics to the school students, learning will never takes place. The teacher should realise the academic levels of the students and deliver the lecture strictly in accordance with that. According to Schrager (2005), the modern trends in teaching and learning can be summarized as follows; Research and teaching are perceived as mutually enhancing. Course time is devoted to discovery based learning. Teaching emphasise has moved away from memorising facts towards findings, evaluating, and using information. Teach less learn more policy is adopted. Teaching and learning extend beyond the classrooms. Instructor is perceived as a partner. More and more technology is incorporated (Schrager, 2005, p.1) As per the modern trends in teaching the teacher is only a guide or facilitator to the student. At present, the teachers are giving problems to the students and they help them in solving it. Earlier, both the problems and the solutions were given by the teacher. The modern method is intended to stimulate the critical thinking and problems solving skills among the students. Old lecture methods made the children passive in the process of learning whereas in the new method, student’s participation is more in solving problems. The volume of assignments and projects works has been increased a lot in the modern method of teaching. The parents and teachers should make sure that the assignments and project works given to the students were completed in time. The training given to solve a problem independently at an early age itself, may help the students to become self sufficient in their future life. Any kind of learning depends upon three factors; Nature of the learner, nature of the learning material or task and the nature of the learning situation or method. These are known as variables in learning. The conditions influencing nature of the learner are age, sex, maturation, readiness, motivation, previous experiences, socio economic status, personality traits, physical handicaps etc. While preparing classrooms or selecting teachers, the school authorities should make sure that the requirements or the needs of the students were given top priority. Environmental factors also can affect learning. A child studying in a good environment will learn more than a child studying in a poor or average environment. For example children can be addicted to liquors or drugs if his environment supplies opportunities to that and thereby he can lose his interest in studies. In other words, the trading of liquors, drugs and arms should be strictly prohibited in the immediate vicinity of the school compound. “There is a self motivated eager learner in every child. Avoid compulsion and let early education be a matter of amusement”(Willis and Hodson, 1999, p.1). Compulsory learning would never help the children to develop a passion towards their learning process. For example, many students have difficulty in learning Mathematics. If a teacher adopts compulsive teaching strategies in order to teach mathematics, the student may develop a harsh feeling towards Mathematics. On the other hand, instead of using compulsion, if the teacher was able to simplify the tasks of learning Mathematics, the student may develop passion towards it. But in some cases, compulsion is necessary to motivate lazy students. In other words, the teacher must adopt differentiation in his teaching strategies, considering the diversity of students in the class as far as learning needs is concerned. “The process of differentiation offering students multiple ways of information, begins with educators examining four areas; content, process, product and environment” (Sprenger, 2008, p.2) Motivation is another major thing required for proper learning. In the absence of motivation, no students will learn the topics properly. Motivation can be both intrinsic and extrinsic. Learning without motivation may not be permanent. The teacher should motivate student to a particular topic and for that purpose, he should adopt different strategies. Incorporating examples from daily life situations to the lessons may help the student to listen the lessons with curiosity. Readiness of the learner brings attention in the learning process. Social and cultural backgrounds also affect the learning. A child coming from a happy family learns more quickly than one coming from a problematic family. The first one will have peace of mind and can concentrate more on what he is learning. In short, it is the duty of the teacher and the parents to provide enough motivation and proper learning environment in order to ensure proper learning of the students. The development of self esteem is another major requirement for the learning process. The students should feel that they are capable of learning the topics discussed in the class. In order to develop self esteem among students, the teacher should explain the topic from simple to complex. If the teacher starts from the complex things, the students may feel that the topic is beyond their grasp and they will demonstrate indiscipline in the class. Solving different problems without much help from the teacher will increase the confidence level or the self esteem of the students. The expectation about a student certainly affects the learning process. If the student comes to know that the teacher or the parents expects little from him then he may develop a tendency to neglect his studies. He will think that he is not capable of reaching the levels of others and will not take his learning process seriously. How does a school tribunal work? A school police officer generally prosecutes the case on behalf of the school system, and a school board attorney advises the tribunal. Tribunal guidelines allow the school board attorney to prosecute the cases. The hearings are normally held in a back room of the school board's central offices. Participants are sworn in, evidence is presented and the tribunal issues a sentence, including punishments as severe as expelling a student permanently. School tribunals have a lower legal threshold than juvenile or adult court proceedings (Gelpi, 2009) In most of the schools, a school tribunal is functioning in order to deal with the problems created by the students. For minor student crimes, the school tribunal normally issues some penalty or temporary suspensions whereas for serious student crimes, sometimes dismissals and imprisonment can also be given by the school tribunal. In most of the school tribunals, rotating panel of three or more educators hear the cases against the students. The tribunal members would be former or current school employees. In some cases the representatives of the parent teacher associations may also work as the tribunal members. References 1. Gelpi, G. (2009). 89 percent of students found guilty at tribunals. [Online] Available at: http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/07/26/met_542139.shtml [Accessed on 10 January 2011] 2. Learning Styles, (2008), [Online] Available at: http://www.funderstanding.com/content/learning-styles [Accessed on 10 January 2011] 3. Learning, (n. d), [Online] Available at: http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=learning [Accessed on 10 January 2011] 4. Schrager, C. (2005) Current Trends in Teaching and Learning [Online] Available at: http://technology.berkeley.edu/planning/strategic/pdf/TeachingLearningTrends.pdf[Accessed on 10 January 2011] 5. Sprenger M. B. (2008). Differentiation Through Learning Styles and Memory, Publisher: Corwin Press; 2nd edition (April 25, 2008) 6. Willis M.M.S. & Hodson V. K. (1999). Discover Your Child's Learning Style: Children Learn in Unique Ways - Here's the Key to Every Child's Learning Success. Publisher: Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House (October 13, 1999) Read More