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Mathematics and Life 48 Empowering the students

 Empowering the students


Empowering the students means making them feel they can do it.


Some of the strategies a teacher can adapt to empower her students are 


  • Loosen the reigns. Creativity and restrictions are opposite acts. If we want students to be empowered, we need to give them space to let them discover themselves. The class environment needs to be relaxed and not full of authoritative dictates governing the students and making them apprehensive to try a new way or to express themselves.

  • Broaden and deeper scope of discussion in the class. Broaden means, make it more inclusive and not always focused on the chosen few to answer. Deeper means not ending on the first answer and moving ahead. Giving enough reaction time for the not so quick to react many times results in really different answers.

  • Demonstrate trust in students through letting them handle lab equipment, instruments, on their own and try their ways. Also, trust them if they give a reason for breaking that beaker or some other sample, slide etc.

  • Provide publicly known incentives in public The class should be in the know of the incentive for being correct, finishing the assignment on time and in full. Through discussion with the class, simple rules may be developed. But, follow them without exception or favour. 

  • Allow for creativity Students are creative by default as they just watching the world, people, relations, very keenly they are trying to make sense of things the way they perceive them. As each child comes from a different socio economic, heritage, background, the teacher should give space to each kid to express her thoughts. Even if at times they may appear irrelevant, developing the Idea itself is to be appreciated. Many pure theoretical works were used many years later when that technology came. Boolean algebra being one such example on which computers are based. 

  • Monitor empowerment While creativity is to be given a chance, the teacher also needs to be vigilant lest it becomes a weapon of mass destruction. In my childhood, each child was supposed to carry a geometry box, it was rarely used for studies. But the divider was a nice instrument to prick if not seen by the teacher. Likewise, in the chemistry lab also,the teacher needs to be vigilant on creative use of acid and other chemicals.

  • Take their feedback Once in a while, the teacher should ask her students to share how things are going, if they are enjoying the process. Take their, their parents' suggestions as well and incorporate them.

  • Collaborate on decision making There may be a monthly or three monthly review with the students to see how far the ideas have been effective and design new objectives in consultation with them. Once they are part of a process, good chances are that they will abide by it.

  • Focus on being student centric At the end of the day, all you are doing is for the students only. So, keep your own professional ways to measure, check, your own progress in terms of students being benefited from it.


Please feel free to add more strategies also that can empower students to do better.


Dr Prakash Moghe

Moghe Education Consultancy

8085906062, 7489447223

drpnmoghe@gmail.com

Comments

  1. Snehal PrabhuneMarch 4, 2021 at 9:29 AM

    We can also have descriptive questions/ mini cases on maths

    ReplyDelete

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