Education Series (6/7): Bridge the GAP between Classroom & Real-World

Bridge the GAP between Classroom & Real World

A school starts at 8:30 AM & closes at 1:10 PM. How long does the school work?

A bus starts from Mumbai at 7:20 AM & reaches Pune at 11:45 AM. How long does the bus take to reach Pune? 

These are typical questions in Chapter Time from Maths syllabus, taught in grade III. (My son studies in grade III, in urban Bengaluru).

In my observation, I find my son having difficulty grasping the conceptual understanding of time (clock). Problem statements like Quarter past..., Quarter to..., 12 hours-24 hours format, are typically confusing for him.

I do assist him with his studies & I have seen with regular practice he has made significant improvement in other chapters (numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division). However, with Time chapter the conceptual understanding still remains shaky.

Few weeks ago, he wore his watch (digital watch, gifted by his Didi) to school. After 2-3 days of he wearing the watch to school, his class teacher told him, "Watches are permitted only from grade V onward" & he was advised not to wear watch in school. For us, this was a passing incident & I forgot about it with passage of time....

One fine day, while assisting my son on solving Time problems, a moment of insight struck me!

He is learning about Time in classroom but not practicing the learning in his day to day life (real world). On our part as parents, we have given him a digital watch instead of an analog watch. By using digital watch, he is unable to comprehend time concepts like 'quarter to 3 o'clock', 'quarter past 3 o'clock', 'half past 3 o'clock', but he has to face these questions in school.

On part of schooling, students are not allowed to wear watches till they reach secondary school. In other words, concept of time is being taught in primary school but they are restrained from putting their learning into practice, by not allowing them to wear a watch (analog).

This GAP between classroom & real-world, seems to be the root cause for his lack of conceptual understanding of Time (calculation related to watch).

Over the weekend, I got him a simple, economical Analog watch for regular use. The idea is to make him familiar using an analog watch in day to day life, so that conceptual understanding of time becomes a natural outcome of his daily life, rather than it remaining just a theoretical construct.

For few, this narrative may appear quite trivial, if one look's at it as one specific example (Chapter Time). In my mind, the larger question is "Do we consciously try to Bridge the GAP between classroom & real-world?" This is a profound question, worth introspecting for every parents & educators.

From my son's Maths syllabus, taking another example - Chapter Money. In this chapter, grade-III children are taught calculations related to Money (Rupees & Paisa). Typically in our culture, most of us (parents) seldom expose our children to real money, during their childhood. In other words, children are learning to calculate money (Rupees & Paisa), only as a theoretical construct without any real-world application. But imagine if we give our children nominal pocket money & offer them guidance & supervision on spending money (e.g. buying something in a departmental store), their learning of calculating money will transcend from classroom to real-world.

Personally, this incident (chapter Time) has given me some food for thought, to ponder upon. Different subjects & so many topics, gives us opportunities to innovate in our teaching methods to Bridge the GAP, between classroom & real-world.

As a matter of fact, schools following international curriculum have Bridge the GAP between classroom & real-world, as an integral part of their pedagogy. Technically, it is known as Experiential Learning (Hands on Learning). From my personal experience, I can say other parents like me (untrained educators) can incorporate the concept of Bridge the GAP between classroom & real-world, in their teaching methods by being conscious & creative, in their approach.

Tell me & I forget. Teach me & I remember. Involve me & I learn. - Benjamin Franklin

Image source: HubSpot https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/close-the-gap-between-sales-and-marketing