Page 5 - CBSE Cover Jan-March 2014_16-07-2014 FINAL

Message from the Chairman We grew up with a mode of teaching and learning which has been one of the most popular methods at all levels of instruction: teaching by lecture method, learning by memorization. Te teacher tells, the student listens and then accordingly re-iterates back through routine assessments and examinations. When the information is reproduced accurately, it is assumed that the student has acquired knowledge. In this world of classic didacticism, the less attentive learner alternates between passive listening and recall. Te attentive student on the other hand oscillates between good note-taking and clever memorization or rote-learning. In due course of time, some of the students might get bored, alienated or at times regurgitate information they neither understand nor are interested in understanding as they hardly imbibe it for any use in real life situations. In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift and the power of active engagement or collaborative learning has gained importance. However, a growing number of educators have begun to seek a corrective didactic talk and passive recall. Tey realize that students must work content into the structure of their own thinking, if what they take in is to remain there. Tey have begun to chalk out ways to confgure instruction so that students work together to solve a problem, complete a task/activity or create a project. Collaborative learning programmes also place great emphasis on assessing the contribution of individuals within the group and of the performance of the team. In the collaborative learning environment, the learners are socially and emotionally challenged as they listen to diferent perspectives, and are required to articulate and defend their ideas. In doing so, the learners begin to create their own unique conceptual frameworks and not rely solely on an expert's or a text's framework. Tus, in a collaborative learning setting, learners have the opportunity to converse with peers, present and defend ideas, exchange diverse beliefs, question other conceptual frameworks and be actively engaged. However, collaborative learning environment is not easy to set up. In many situations, particularly those in which students must work together on a problem, conficts might hinder learning. As a result, cooperative and collaborative learning requires teaching students to work well with others by resolving these inevitable conficts. In addition, to encourage and support teachers to work more collaboratively with students, they need to experience what it is like to work in a collaborative community themselves. Te teachers need to be empowered to create vibrant and innovative learning environment. Terefore, many schools have taken up collaborative learning methods during staf meetings and also to help teachers become more involved in the decision making process of the school. Te Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has constantly laid emphasis on making school education meaningful and relevant so that it acts as a powerful tool for human resource development. Now under the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) Scheme and grading in Secondary education right from the primary classes, the importance of fostering interest for collaborative teaching-learning among children of all ages has increased. Te Board in its eforts to strengthen the implementation of CCE scheme in its true spirit has been conducting training workshops throughout the country. In continuation to this, the Board has planned a January-March 2014 3