New Vision for Education

A common question teachers/folk ask is how do you respond when students give incorrect answers during a lesson/discussion without discouraging them. A common suggestion is to people suggest is along the lines of  'That's a good answer, anybody else?'. Now, that is obviously not a very good way of helping your learners grow. Although we don't want to discourage our students, above all else, you should never lie to them that they are right/correct when they are not. They lose trust in our guidance. One thing to not do is say nothing. You have to give students some form of feedback, otherwise there's no point in asking questions or holding class discussions. There are ways you can be honest and as well as encouraging; ways that don't involve shutting them down but also not making them feel they are correct when they clearly are not. 1. First things first, have a goal in mind for the questions you ask in class. Is it to check understanding, is it to probe further on...

As teachers & educators if we had our way, we would like to have the best teaching and learning resources and all the time we need to get our work done. However, this is clearly not usually the case, especially in poorer countries where high quality teaching and learning resources are not so readily available.  However, to be the best teacher you can be be, you are still charged with the responsibility of finding creative ways you can carry out your teaching to provide the best learning outcomes for your students. We all know that strategies such as putting copious notes on the board for students to copy or just talking at them does very little to help them develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to become fully developed and functioning individuals in society. There are several ways to keep the minds of your learners engaged in the learning process rather than sitting passively listening and taking notes throughout your lessons. Here are five (5) activities that ...