A CURRICULUM FOR ‘NURTURING ENQUIRY’ AMONG STUDENTS
Class 8-9 students
OBJECTIVE
To create and provide a space where students can un-learn societal assumptions and think over them to develop their own understanding.
BACKGROUND
It is said that a child’s true learning starts from home right from the day she comes into this world. In due course of time, as she grows, she learns, consciously or unconsciously, quite a lot of things about our world. Our society has a very important role to play in this learning process. Most of the time, parents, family members, teachers or others drive her learning in a direction wherein she is not supposed to think but simply agree to what has been told. As a result of it, she grows up with lots of unquestioned assumptions about the world and ends up abiding to them in spite of their being illogical at times.
The course ‘Nurturing Enquiry’ aims to create a space wherein kids are invited to re-think about the issues and assumptions that they come across on daily basis. The space aims to motivate kids to brainstorm the ideas that society has regarding those issues and develop their own understanding of the same. In a nutshell, the course expects kids to become THINKERS rather than mere BELIEVERS.
TIMELINE
The course shall run for a period of 12 weeks, 3 hours a week (One hour per session during school hours).
STRUCTURE
The course aims to nurture kids’ enquiry by focusing on one issue/assumption at a time based on kids’ willingness and familiarity. In a span of three hours per week, the course aims to follow following timeline:
Day 1
30 Minutes: Selecting the issue/assumption and initial brainstorming
30 Minutes: Designing a survey form related to the issue (to survey society members)
Day 2
45 Minutes: Discussing the outcomes of the surveys and kids’ understanding of the same
15 Minutes: Listing down both positives and negatives sides of the issue/assumption
Day 3
15 Minutes: Discussing if anything new has come up about the issue/assumption
45 Minutes: Discussing what experts from around the world has to say about the issue/assumption (in the form of movies, documentaries, articles, books etc)
SAMPLE ISSUES/ASSUMPTIONS
Mud houses vs concrete houses | Roads- Pros and cons | Technology- Pros and cons
Government Jobs- Pros and cons | Subsidy- Pros and cons | Dams- Pros and cons
Healthcare- Allopathy vs Traditional | Money- Pros and cons | Food- Packaged vs local
Agriculture- Organic or locally grown| Games- Real vs virtual | Television- Pros and cons
Gender Inequality- How we treat our women? | Cigarette/Tobacco- Why don’t they stop producing it?
OBJECTIVE
To create and provide a space where students can un-learn societal assumptions and think over them to develop their own understanding.
BACKGROUND
It is said that a child’s true learning starts from home right from the day she comes into this world. In due course of time, as she grows, she learns, consciously or unconsciously, quite a lot of things about our world. Our society has a very important role to play in this learning process. Most of the time, parents, family members, teachers or others drive her learning in a direction wherein she is not supposed to think but simply agree to what has been told. As a result of it, she grows up with lots of unquestioned assumptions about the world and ends up abiding to them in spite of their being illogical at times.
The course ‘Nurturing Enquiry’ aims to create a space wherein kids are invited to re-think about the issues and assumptions that they come across on daily basis. The space aims to motivate kids to brainstorm the ideas that society has regarding those issues and develop their own understanding of the same. In a nutshell, the course expects kids to become THINKERS rather than mere BELIEVERS.
TIMELINE
The course shall run for a period of 12 weeks, 3 hours a week (One hour per session during school hours).
STRUCTURE
The course aims to nurture kids’ enquiry by focusing on one issue/assumption at a time based on kids’ willingness and familiarity. In a span of three hours per week, the course aims to follow following timeline:
Day 1
30 Minutes: Selecting the issue/assumption and initial brainstorming
30 Minutes: Designing a survey form related to the issue (to survey society members)
Day 2
45 Minutes: Discussing the outcomes of the surveys and kids’ understanding of the same
15 Minutes: Listing down both positives and negatives sides of the issue/assumption
Day 3
15 Minutes: Discussing if anything new has come up about the issue/assumption
45 Minutes: Discussing what experts from around the world has to say about the issue/assumption (in the form of movies, documentaries, articles, books etc)
SAMPLE ISSUES/ASSUMPTIONS
Mud houses vs concrete houses | Roads- Pros and cons | Technology- Pros and cons
Government Jobs- Pros and cons | Subsidy- Pros and cons | Dams- Pros and cons
Healthcare- Allopathy vs Traditional | Money- Pros and cons | Food- Packaged vs local
Agriculture- Organic or locally grown| Games- Real vs virtual | Television- Pros and cons
Gender Inequality- How we treat our women? | Cigarette/Tobacco- Why don’t they stop producing it?