"Education" as a word has its origin in

• 'educare',
• 'educere' and
• 'educatum'.

They mean:

• 'Pouring in'-that is informing, giving knowledge, instructing, training, indoctrination;
• 'Drawing out"- that is enabling, facilitating, making the inner outer, emancipation; and
• "The act of Instruction�-that is teaching, telling, lecturing, questioning, etc.

Broadly, we hold that 'Education is reorganization and reconstruction of human experience.' Education thus is ennobling and enabling. It is Emancipation.�

The purposes of Education are:

• Transmission of culture & traditions- knowledge and values
• Social Progress- creativity and innovation.
• Social Control- exercise authority and make one behave within accepted social norms.

The Four Pillars of Education are:

• Learn to know
• Learn to do
• Learn to live together, and
• Learn to be.

Education should help an individual to respond to situations in a positive way, become individually competent, socially efficient and self-actualize by realizing ones potential.
Education builds ones capacities and competencies and teaches one to live happily with others and thus fulfill the Purpose of the Creator.

We have to recognize the crucial importance of good quality education in the early years. The experiences and environment the children are exposed to in the first five years have a great impact on the child�s life. At our schools the seeds for learning are sown in the blossoming brain. We recognise that learning shifts from age to age. A three year old is not a five year old, but a perfect three year old. Children at different age levels have different needs and ways of learning.

Young children love to play and are naturally curious. They are full of love and purity. Games, puzzles and educational activities have to be incorporated in the syllabus, so that the children learn new skills in both a fun and challenging way. We know that children learn best when they are enjoying themselves. One of our main aims is for children to develop a joy for life-long learning.

School is often the first time the children are away from home, so the classroom becomes a new family. An atmosphere has to be created in which each individual is respected, loved and cared for. Children learn to grow and learn together in a cooperative environment.� In parachute games they learn to work together as a team. Students also have opportunities to work in small groups, so that the teacher has more individual time with each child. We ought to have a daily organised routine with a variety of activities for the children to experience learning in a stimulating environment.

Students should start the day with a few minutes of meditation. This helps them to relax, develop their inner peace and be more focused. They should also have a daily period of Life Skill and Value Education, in which they learn to take care of themselves and others. They learn how to share, become a good human being, manners, and polite social interactions. They also learn to appreciate multicultural diversity and different religions.

We should incorporate kinaesthetic learning � learning through movement, in the learning process. Physical activities are a fun way to learn the alphabet, numbers and many environmental topics. Children love to move, jump and run. Children process new information through their whole body, in kinaesthetic learning. Some children learn best through their sense of touch, they are called tactile learners. Such children flourish when they can paint, and create things with their hands. These art and craft activities need to be linked to topics they are learning. They also love educational aids and manipulatives. The school is not about sitting still the whole day.

The preschool years are not the time to engage the children in lengthy memorization exercises. Children at this age develop their thinking processes in the context of play and physical activities.

During the year there have to be special theme days, like an Alphabet Party or a Number Day. On these days the whole day is packed with role play, games, music, and craft activities related to the topic.

Albert Schweitzer, a great Doctor once said: �There are three ways to teach: By example, by example, and by example.�

We need to be aware that children are keen observers. How we speak, listen and interact with others needs to be loving and polite. Children quickly pick up our attitudes and behaviour traits. By modelling how we want our children to behave and the skills we want them to learn, we do the best in creating a conducive atmosphere for learning and growing.
After modelling we also need to give children the opportunity to do things on their own. Learning through doing has to be a key word at our Schools. Mistakes are okay, and part of the learning process. We remember 90 % of what we do, whereas we remember very little of what we read. Our teachers have to be committed to providing the best possible learning experience for your children. Encouragement is an important word for children. Words of encouragement work wonders. We should help our students develop self confidence in them. All of these efforts will make our School a wonderful place for a child to grow.

“He who learns but does not think is lost”…. (Chinese Proverb)

One of the major recommendations of National Curriculum Framework-NCF2005 emphasizes upon the shift from testing rote learning to testing of Higher Order Thinking Skills of learners.  Consequently, CBSE decided to change the design of question papers as well as the typology of questions to be included in the question papers in all major subjects.

Thinking is a mental process. Thinking skills are the intellectual skills such as the skills of memorizing and recalling facts and information, clarifying, making analysis, generating ideas, making decisions, problem solving, and planning.
Different authors of thinking skills have proposed different models and approaches in teaching thinking skills.

Tony Ryan’s “Thinkers Keys”, Edward De Bono’s “Six Hats”, Bob Eberle’s “SCAMPER” and Benjamin Bloom’s “Taxonomy of Cognitive Domain” are the major models. Each has its own scope and advantages. Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives is a means of expressing qualitatively different kinds of thinking. It is the most useful for classroom use and continues to be one of the most universally applied models. It provides a way to organize thinking skills into six levels, from the most basic to the higher order levels of thinking: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation.)

 This was revisited by Anderson and a few changes were incorporated. These are:-
Remembering: Recalling information, Recognising, listing, describing, retrieving, naming, finding.
Understanding: Explaining ideas or concepts, Interpreting, summarising, paraphrasing, classifying, explaining.
Applying: Using information in another familiar situation, implementing, carrying out, using, executing.
Analysing: Breaking information into parts to explore understandings and relationships, comparing, organising, deconstructing, interrogating, finding.
Evaluating: Justifying a decision or course of action, checking, hypothesising, critiquing, experimenting, and judging.
Creating: Generating new ideas, products or ways of viewing things, designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing
 
The first three Categories (Remembering, Understanding & Applying) are regarded as Lower Order Thinking Skills, while the other three Categories (Analysing, Evaluating and Creating ) are called the Higher Order Thinking Skills.
It is imperative that our Teaching Strategies are modified and we develop thinking skills in our students. Assessment would be the next stage.
 
“A good teacher makes you think even when you don’t want to.”
(Fisher, 1998, Teaching Thinking)

Indian Society has down the ages witnessed male-chauvinism in its extreme forms. Although women have been held in high esteem, yet their joining professions of choice has been a long drawn battle. Women have often faced ridicule and even been ostracised for making a choice of profession.
The choice of taking to Teaching was allowed because of the high degree of prestige attached with Teaching.
With emancipation of women, spread of education, special facilities for their academic and professional education; more and more women have joined professions that were deemed a male prerogative, so far.
Teaching is respectful. Working hours suit women. Mother is the first teacher of a child and the mother extends this role to the society by joining a School. Her innate qualities, her patience, her love and care and her �Mother Figure� role enable her to be ideally suited for this profession.
In the present scenario of education, especially in India, women have often outclassed men in academic pursuits and there is proof of it in the results of Boards and Universities. Women are finding the teaching profession safe, respectful, satisfying and many have proved their mettle.

The Sirs have dwindled in numbers. This profession is not suited to anyone who has to be the main bread earner for his family. Hence Sirs do not opt for it as a profession. They are going to greener pastures.
In India, women only supplement the family income and hence they are increasingly opting for this profession; especially since it provides them more time with their families, more holidays and vacations. Besides, there are always a few beasts of burden- the male counterparts- who can do the donkey work at School.

I do not doubt the ability of either sex in being good teachers or good School Administrators. In fact, women are more suited for the Motherly Role of a Teacher which is so much required in the early years of a child�s life.
Besides I have found a large number of male teachers doing exceedingly well in certain specific Disciplines/Subjects and hence male teachers outnumber the female teachers in such subjects, while the female teachers outnumber them in other subjects.
If we look at the Teachers honoured by us with National and CBSE Teacher Awards on 5'th September this year; we find among 14 National Awardees 03 Male and 11 Female Teachers and in the CBSE Awards, out of 14 there are 08 Male and 06 Female Teachers.
It is also a fact that more and more Female Heads of Schools are replacing what was a male bastion in our Country. They are soft yet firm, loving yet goal-oriented, caring yet aware of the need of exercising Social control. The managements find them easy to control, the parents are cautious in dealing with them and even the students who dare stare at a male teacher and enter into an argument find it inexcusable to be rude, defiant or rowdy towards a lady.

We do have a few Sirs still left in the Profession, but we have no Models as we had only ten years ago. The increase in the number of female teachers and administrators augurs well for our Schools but how it is going to shape at Academic and Professional Colleges is to be seen.
Let us hope that the Profession of Teaching redeems its lost prestige and is made more attractive, free from interference for innovations and more paying; so that we can see a lot more Sirs once again.

Cheer up Sirs will be back.

Every class has a heterogeneous group of students. You always have 68% Average students and 16% Above Average and 16% Below Average. This is best represented by a Normal Probability Curve. One of the biggest challenges of a teacher is to reach out to all students in the class. This is possible only by organising Teaching Activities at various levels of the continuum. We have to have some activities compulsory for all and then either offer a choice of activities to the children or else make a particular activity mandatory for a child.
A gifted child is very precious and needs to be handled properly. We need to ascertain that the child is really gifted and then find out his special abilities and interests. Gifted students have particular behaviour characteristics and we have to keep their interest levels high by challenging them with Enrichment and Accelerated programmes. They need challenges and they are quicker at the uptake. Hence while the teacher is teaching the average, the gifted child is bound to feel uncomfortable. Since, in the situation you are teaching; we do not find many such gifted in a single class; there is no possibility of grouping them. But we can group students who are gifted from each class and assign them tasks, projects and assignments as per their abilities. The school needs to be innovative and provide these students opportunities of working with their classmates for major time of the School Day and then for a specific period with the Group of Gifted students. This will need teachers who understand the gifted students and have knowledge of teaching techniques for the gifted. Some schools have separate sections of the same class for the Gifted. Some call these Sections as the Ability Sections. Some have Co-teachers assigned the responsibility of catering to the academic needs of the Below Average and devising strategies for the gifted. Fortunately, I have had an opportunity of observing these practices in several schools over a period of time. I would not like to undermine their contribution but, in all honesty, I must admit that these have been mere gimmicks and have done more harm than good. We have acute shortage of efficient teachers who can teach the gifted students.
Under the circumstances, I suggest:

• Identification of the Gifted is done objectively after Psychological Testing.
• A programme for catering to the Gifted is made at the very beginning of the Session.
• Teacher assigned with the responsibility of handling such a child is made aware of the Characteristics of a Gifted Child and Trained/Mentored in Teaching Strategies that need to be adopted for teaching the gifted.
• No change is required to be made in either the School Timings or Period Wise Timings.
• In fact, some Programmes of Teaching the Gifted would surely benefit other students also and enable them to enhance their Academic Achievements.

I would conclude by saying that ultimately the whole exercise will be determined by the Giftedness of the Child, the Extent and the Potentialities of his being Gifted, the environment in which he is being educated and brought up, the facilities existing in the School and the availability of competent and committed teachers to handle such a child.
A personal request to you if you are facing the problem: �Please consider each child in your Class gifted. Treat and teach them as if they all were Geniuses. I assure you, they will not disappoint you�. I have Research based Evidence of Psychological Experiments to make this request to you.
Cheer up!

As an Educator engaged in teaching since1965 and as a Teacher-Educator & Administrator since 1977; it has been my earnest endeavour to improve my teaching, to grow professionally and to share what I had learnt with others. I have lost count of the number of Seminars, Extension Lectures and Workshops that I attended for the purpose.

After 1980 I had the opportunity of organising these Workshops for Pre-Service and In-Service teachers. I experimented with different approaches to training of teachers, including the Diagnostic Remedial Approach in Training Teachers in Skills of Teaching.

I owe a lot to the experts from NCERT, IGNOU, CBSE, UGC and other Agencies; with whom I interacted, learnt a lot (if I did not learn more, the fault was mine and not of the experts) and tried to put it into practise.

The best opportunity came my way when I joined Darshan Education Foundation- Delhi and had first hand experiences of training teachers on Activity-Based Teaching, Classroom Management through DA Agreements, Buddy System, Key-Priority Areas, Practice and Review Techniques and Scores of other Topics.
I owe a deep debt of gratitude to Madam Suzanne Lauber, Director, DEF; who became my Role-Model of a Teacher Educator/Trainer. We also had opportunities of interacting with dozens and dozens of Experts from India and Abroad and from them we had Sessions on Memory, Study Skills, Time Management, Team Building, Leadership, School Administration, Systems Management, Quality Circles, Value Education Models, Non- Violent Communication, etc.

During the last 20 years, I have conducted Workshops for thousands of teachers across the country. It has been a privilege to interact with teachers at Srinagar, Jammu, Jaipur, Ajmer, Udaipur, Gwalior, Aligarh, Hathras, Rohtak, Sampla, Hissar, Ambala, Ludhiana, Kolkatta, Kaithal, Pune, Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Jhansi, Lalitpur, Datia and Delhi.

In the process, I have met teachers and Principals of the reputed and prestigious Public Schools of Delhi and of other cities, of Air Force Public Schools, of Kendriya Vidyalaya, of Residential Schools and also of Schools trying to establish their identity in the community.

What I have observed and experienced is, that although the Teachers and Principals show a lot of enthusiasm, are willing to learn, participate actively, deliberate and contribute during the workshop; although their Feedback is very encouraging; but what really is transferred to actual classroom situations is not even a fraction of what the teachers were trained in and for.

This is appalling! An in depth study and discussion with Principals revealed that these workshops were an eye-wash and each School had an ulterior motive behind the conduct of the Workshops. Most often the workshop was organised to publicise the School through press and Media. Sometimes the Principal organised these workshops to prove to the Management that he was on the job of Professional Growth of Teachers and in most of these workshops, he was the one who was not a participant. Workshops were being used for Image Building, Publicity, for inviting authorities from the State Administration, Boards etc; and even for providing an opportunity to the Publishers to talk about their publications and how their Text-Books were better than those of other Publishers.

As a result there has been a Mushroom growth of so-called Experts in various areas and the Quality of Workshops conducted desires a lot. The teachers are on the receiving end. Workshops are held on Holidays, Sundays and during Vacations. The Workshops are dull and boring. These are far from the realities of classroom practices and situations. Most of them are Lectures or presentations. There is hardly any activity which the teachers could take up when they return to schools. Managements are least bothered about professional growth of teachers. No one bothers to keep the teachers abreast of the latest in the field of teaching-learning.

What again is disturbing is that the teachers and Schools seem to act on herd mentality and suddenly experts spring up from nowhere to conduct workshops on: Blue Print of a Question Paper, Parenting, Counselling, De -stressing, Motivation, Teaching without Burden and now the HOTS Questioning. It looks as if one school is trying to outdo the other. The Focus is lost. No one seems to remember the Objective behind the Workshop. Customised workshops or Need-Based Workshops are not possible in the absence of a seasoned Expert teacher trainer. Question and Answer sessions have been forgotten. A lot of precious time is wasted in introductions, reception, report about the achievements of the school, a few words by the Chief Guest, a vote of thanks at the end, which usually is a summary of what the person has understood at the workshop rather than what the Expert tried to convey. The poor expert has no other alternative but to cut on the activities for Hands-on -Learning and deliver a talk and thus we have been talking at the teachers.

Some Board Members have asked me occasionally as to how the workshop is going to benefit the School, or how have the Workshops conducted so far benefited the teachers. This is obvious since their is a dichotomy between what the teachers learn at the Workshops and what they are required to do at the School.

In such a situation how do we expect sound Educational, Pedagogical and Psychological practices in our schools? We come across a plethora of teaching techniques and many are not even able to justify these or speak of their relevance. What is going on in the name of teaching is..........TRASH! A good practice here and another there are an oasis in a desert of dead habit.

Kindly give me the benefit of your opinion and advice to remedy the situation.
 If I am wrong in my assessment of the situation, please correct me and let me have your experiences

Admission procedure of Toddlers to Schools in India has been very defective and has come for a lot of criticism and flack. Parents raised the issue in The Supreme Court of India. Ganguli Committee Recommendations were tried for a Session and finally the Court gave detailed ruling on each contentious issue. But there have been very little changes.
Small Kids and the Parents are interviewed and the process is called "Interaction."
Parents are to fill Registration Forms that seek all personal, educational, professional, financial information. Besides, questions like: "How will you help the School?�- �How much time will you devote to supporting your child with School work" are asked If one makes it to the list of shortlisted applicants for Admission, one has to attend an Interview at a fixed time on a scheduled date.
Parents are grilled. Sometimes perplexing questions like: "Who attends to the child when both of you are working?', " How much time do you regularly spend with your child?', �In which language do you converse at home?",', "How often do you take your child out with you to a Circus, a Zoo, a riverside, a holiday trip?� are asked.
Parents are tense and stressed. They look for agents and touts, pay under the table and get the Admission of their wards confirmed. The School Authorities say that it is more a process of elimination rather than selection.
Supreme Court has laid down a policy where Schools are required to give weight age to Proximity, Siblings, Alma-mater, Qualification of Parents, Girl Child, Management Criteria (To be announced in advance) and allot marks to each. Hence the List of Admitted/ Selected students has to be put up on the School Notice Board.
The Schools need to Interact with the parents on a regular basis. The home and the School have to co-operate for the education of the child. The School needs to Orient the Parents on its Philosophy, Teaching Methodology followed, Assessment Procedure, Learning Outcomes expected in a Term or Month or Week. The Parents need to keep the School informed about the changes they observe in the child�s behaviour and what they expect.
Education level of parents does have an impact on the child�s education and upbringing but then there are glaring instances of children from slums and of rickshaw-pullers topping, not only the Board Exams but also in Competitive exams.
I would say NO to refusing admission to any child on the grounds of his parents not being adequately educated.
In a Socialistic, Democratic Republic committed to Equality and Equalisation of Educational Opportunities, admission can not be denied on the grounds of Parents Qualification or their financial status. Even private (what we in India call Public Schools) that do not receive or accept Funds and Grants from the State, have a moral obligation to admit and educate one and all.
I am of the firm belief that we must have Neighbourhood Schools and all Children within a particular radius-be it 1km to 3 km�s- should be admitted to this School. This will bring children from different sections of the society together and we shall have strong Foundations of a future societal order.
As on date, we have Branded Schools, Schools for the Affluent, Public Schools, Government Schools and Minority run Schools. Each has its own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and �believe me each is contributing in dividing the Society into the Elitist and the Non-elitist, the Highbrows and the Lowbrows, the One�s that get all facilities and exposure and the others who are deprived of the basic facilities.�
What pains me that education is meant to create an egalitarian society and our Schools are creating divisions.

Our 3yr & 4yr old kids are subjected to Formal paper pencil Tests and Interviews at the time of Admissions by the School Authorities. All this is camouflaged under the name INTERACTION. It is a SHAME!
I recall having interviewed most of the Principals, Heads & Teachers and let me honestly admit that they never made the Grades, but we had no choice since they were able to express themselves better in comparison to others.
How many of these Heads & Teachers have read about Cognitive Psychology, Maria Montessori, Jean Piaget, Edward De Bono, Gardener, Mel Levine and others? Are they aware of Multi- sensory Teaching, Sensory Training, Multiple Intelligences, Six Hats, SMART ,Play-way, Bloom's Taxonomy, Teaching to Think, Learning Styles, Brain-hemispheric preferences, SoLO, Intervention Techniques etc?
How dare the Schools Interview kids against all norms of decency, respect for the talent & integrity of a child and Childhood and in utter disregard to the decisions of the Courts, the Ganguly Committee Report and even the Recommendations of Prof. Yashpal in his "Learning without Burden".
I was flabbergasted to overhear a self styled Counsellor in a School telling a mother of a 4yr child that she will have to put in a lot of effort in preparing her child during the Summer Break, since all Kids in the Nursery in their School had already finished writing the Big & Small Letters of the English Alphabet. She did not say that the kids had learnt all this, nor did she say that they had succeeded in damaging the finer muscles and the sensibilities of each child and so lovingly (callously) robbed them of their childhood.
Since I regard Schools as "Temples of Learning", I didn't butt in or say a word but as I drove back home, I decided to fight this battle. I was reminded of the words of Browning; � I have ever been a fighter, One fight more, The Last & the Best".
Please join me in this Fight against the Mafia of School Managements, their Puppet head Principals and their unethical practises of Interviewing small kids and admitting them after garnering huge sums; misguiding and exploiting teachers, damaging children, following traditional outdated techniques of teaching and assessment and misrepresenting Academic Performance as talent & excellence in Education.
How long can it continue? Are we dumb cowards to see it, bear it and let our future generation be harmed irreparably?
I want you to join and then we can wage a war for the sake of our children.

Co-educational System was meant to foster competition, do away with curiosity about the opposite sex and to build healthy relationships- both emotional and interpersonal. Unfortunately, our laxity, non-availability of a well defined policy, confusion prevailing between modernisation and traditional values and the absence of an Adolescent Education / Sex Education Programme in our Schools has led to severe problems.
We come across cases of puppy loves at much junior classes and some teachers take delight in making fun of these, rumour mongering, gossiping and making young children conscious of their infatuations. There are scores of cases where the teachers have been found love -sick and setting a bad example before students. Teachers of opposite sexes have been seen dating each other, flirting and news travels to students. On many occasions teachers have got married after a protracted so -called affair and continue to work in the same School. There are instances of teachers marrying students and even some Heads of Institutions have been found guilty of moral turpitude. This is the example we are setting. On the other hand, the Media sensationalises every incident and the young fall a prey to their emotions. If we study a few chapters of Freudian Psychology about the development of sexual urge at various stages of Growth and Development, read about the Seven Stages of Moral Development and study literature on Emotions and how to sublimate and channelize Emotions; I am sure we will find many answers to our problem. But that will not be enough. Let us ask ourselves, are we ready to execute some strategies, experiment and use a multi-pronged approach to the problem.
If our answer is yes; I suggest the following:

� Introduce a Programme of Adolescent / Sex Education in our Schools. The CBSE had already engaged an Expert and the Expert travels to various States and Regions and trains the Teachers. Find out about this Programme.
� Call Senior Doctors who are Specialists to talk to our students on Health, Hygiene, Habits and Sex related Issues.
� Organise Debates, Presentations by Students on Topics related to the Issue and let students express their views freely. Ask them for their suggestions.
� Have a very congenial Academic Climate, where the focus is on dedicated Scholarships, healthy interactions for exchange of views, information, joint surveys and projects.
� Ensure that students are always busy and never left free, unsupervised or idle.
� Trust them and build a climate of mutual trust. Do not suspect, do not allow rumours to be spread and accept emotions and feelings as natural.
� Have a proper Dress Code for students and Staff. Do not allow any laxity in this. Take Students and Staff into confidence while deciding this. The students need to understand that we want them to look decent, elegant and beautiful. They have to be ladylike and gentlemanly.
� Introduce a variety of Co-curricular Activities of all types and see that students get an opportunity of spending their spare energy, exploring their talent and canalize their emotions. Sometimes, dance, theatre and other performance may help in Catharsis and per rogation of emotions.
� Talk to them often, make them speak and even call parents to speak to them. They are being exposed to a lot of influences of varying types' why can't we provide enough examples of positive behaviour and these have to be real life stories.
� Be a Role Model. See that all Teachers are Role Models.
� Have Trained and adequately qualified Counsellors on Staff and they should be available for help, counselling and advice.
� Have a Student Body-Boys and Girls- assigned the specific task of counselling cases that seem to suffer infatuation and drift away from expected behaviour patterns.

Education is modification of behaviour. It involves re-organisation and re-construction of our experiences. It is drawing out, whatever is best in man. It is making the inner outer. I am sure you have read all this.
For me education is 'learning to be', 'learning to adapt and live' and "learning for becoming'. It is a process which leads to self-actualisation, self-realisation and ultimately 'God Realisation.�
There is no place for fear in education. Fear is an emotion and it distorts reason and inhibits decision making capabilities. Besides, fear decreases performance. Education allows learning by committing mistakes. It teaches fearlessness.
An open mind is a questioning mind. The Socratic dialogue is the best example. Truth can be perceived only when questions are allowed. One becomes wise by only keeping one�s mind open to what others have to say. One learns in the process. A good and conducive environment for education encourages questioning.
Teaching is a Social process. It is a set of actions to induce learning. We need to make teaching enjoyable. It has to be multi-sensory and activity-based. It has to have ample opportunities for discussions, brainstorming, demonstrations, projects and total involvement of the learner. This will help education to be purposeful, fear-free and create an environment of objectivity where we all work with open minds.

Education has to develop creative potentialities of children and this requires proper understanding of Creativity, choosing the right kind of Curriculum and transacting the same in ways as foster creative thinking and creative ability.
We have various approaches and a lot of information: both Pedagogical and Research based available. Montessori Approach of Sensory Training is best suited at the lower levels. Frobel�s Gifts and Didactic Apparatus can also be used at this stage. It is necessary that teachers adopt a Multi-Sensory Approach. We need to know the Preferred Learning Style and the Brain Hemispheric preference of a child. We have to find the Super Link that will help us to present information and have it processed in the Child's Brain through the fastest pathways. Use of Colour, Music, Movement, Brain Gym and Donkey Bridging are all important.
As the child grows, we have to provide a variety of experiences; in order to allow his latent talents to be explored and then nourished. At this stage I would recommend the Gardener�s Multiple Intelligence Approach and even the SMARTS. The child will need to explore the world. The wider the experiences provided, the easier it will be for the teacher to identify the child's interest and talent. By the age of 16 the child reaches his Highest IQ and research studies reveal that Creativity keeps on growing. Hence there is an imperative need to include Thinking Skills; especially of the Higher Order. I mean activities that help the child to Analyse, Evaluate and Create. This requires Activities that challenge him to do so. He has to be a Discoverer, an Inquirer, a Judge, a Producer and capable of De-structuring Knowledge to understand relationships of the parts with one another and with the whole.
We all know that Creativity involves: Originality, Spontaneity, Fluency and Elaboration. It requires Divergent Thinking, Inductive and deductive Reasoning. Our Educational programme, therefore, needs to be flexible, Activity Based, Child- centred. We have to make provision for Hands on Learning, Demonstrations, Experimentation, Practical Work, Surveys, Projects, Assignments and these have to be such as provide a challenge to his particular creative ability. We have to follow an Integrated Approach; wherein the Bloom Taxonomy, Gardener�s Multiple Intelligence, SMARTS, Tony Ryan�s Thinkers Keys, SCAMPER Strategy and De Bono�s Lateral Thinking are all integrated into Educational Planning and Practices. We have to prepare a Grid- Matrix of Activities and engage the child in Activities that require Thinking, Thinking Out of the Box, being Original and going beyond the limits of what is known.