Rote learning, rigid curricula, & one-size-fits-all teaching vs dynamic, personalised approaches, let’s look at what works best

If you enter a classroom in our country, you most likely will be invited by the monotonous hum of children repeating after the teacher. This visual, replicated across thousands of schools in India, showcases a system deeply rooted in rote learning and memorisation. 

Repeating after the teacher, writing the same paragraph 10 ten times or resorting to punishments if children are not able to grasp the concept are part of the norm but do these practices truly help children learn better? 

The common argument in favour of these practices is that if it has been done for so many years then what’s the harm in continuing them? 

This outdated approach to education, however, raises serious questions about its effectiveness in today’s rapidly changing world.

While other fields are constantly trying to move towards more scientifically backed approaches, teaching practices remain grounded in traditions and assumptions that have long been challenged by cognitive science. 

The persistence of rote learning, rigid curricula, and one-size-fits-all teaching methods stands in stark contrast to the dynamic, personalised approaches being adopted in fields like healthcare, technology, and even corporate training.  

This disconnect between current educational practices and scientific understanding is particularly concerning given the wealth of research available on how children learn best. 

Recent studies show that 76% of Indian students feel overwhelmed by exam pressure, with only 32% reporting that they actually understand the concepts they’re studying (National Education Survey, 2023). These statistics highlight a need for change in our current schooling system – a change rooted in scientific understanding of how children learn.

How do we learn?

At its core, learning is rooted in how our brains learn most effectively when connections are made. Dr Kamala V Mukunda, in her very practical and experience-rich book, What Did You Ask at School Today?, emphasises the importance of understanding children’s cognitive development when teaching. 

Having taught for more than 20 years, she notes that learning happens best when children can relate new information to their existing knowledge.

Think of the mind as a vast network of roads. Each time we learn something new, we’re not just adding a new destination; we’re building new roads that connect to places we already know. The more connections we make, the easier it is to navigate this mental map. 

This simple analogy implies that the focus should not only be on building new destinations, which in this context means learning new things but the focus lies on building the roads that create those essential connections.

For example, when teaching the concept of photosynthesis, instead of having students memorise the chemical equation, we could start by asking them to observe a plant growing over time. Questions like “Where do plants in your community grow?” or “Where have you seen plants grow before?” can spark curiosity and help students build on their existing understanding of plants and sunlight. 

Then knowledge no longer exists as a void but starts creating a connection or neural pathway to what we already know and have experienced earlier.

How can we start to shift?

The scientific practices that we need to grow into do not necessarily imply more effort or work, in fact, as these practices support how children learn, it will make the lives of all stakeholders involved much simpler. When we practice strategies that go hand-in-hand with how our brains learn, then teaching is no longer a hit-and-miss situation but something that we can scientifically approach and refine. 

This alignment between teaching methods and cognitive processes leads to more efficient learning, reduced frustration for both teachers and students, and ultimately, better educational outcomes.

Here are examples of practices that we can start with:

Contextualised Learning 

Children learn best when new information is presented in a context that’s relevant to their lives. This practice involves relating academic concepts to real-world situations or problems that children can relate to. 

For example, teaching fractions through food that they eat at home or the concept of probability through a local game. 

A common mistake educators even with the best intentions make is to read stories and show movies that have no grounding in the child’s daily life. 

Metacognitive strategies 

Allowing children to think about what they have learnt or how they have learnt a particular concept, pushes children to strengthen neural connections. This includes practices like self-reflection, planning, and monitoring one’s own learning progress. 

Instead of focusing on pushing children to find the right answer, encouraging them to think about how they arrived at an answer is more helpful when it comes to developing critical thinking skills.

Formative assessment and feedback 

Rather than relying solely on summative assessments (like end-of-term exams), incorporating regular, low-stakes assessments throughout the learning process helps children ease into the concept of writing tests. This practice allows teachers to provide timely feedback and adjust their teaching methods based on students’ progress. It also helps students understand their own learning progress and scope for improvement. 

Assessments ideally are not only meant to assess the child’s factual recollection prowess but should allow them to express themselves in different ways. Here are a few different methods we can include in our idea of assessments: solving open-ended problems, working in groups, self-assessing, presenting orally, framing problems or dealing with multiple perspectives. 

What’s next?

Implementing this approach to education across Indian schools is no small task, it requires commitment from policymakers, educators, and parents alike. The challenge lies not just in changing teaching methods, but in shifting mindsets and overcoming systemic barriers.

Educators must be provided with all-round training and ongoing support to effectively implement these new teaching strategies. This includes not only learning new techniques but also unlearning old habits that may be deeply ingrained. Parents, too, play a crucial role in this shift. They need to understand and support these new approaches, which may differ significantly from their own educational experiences. 

This might include being a part of workshops, engaging more actively in their children’s learning process, or even advocating for change within their school communities. While many scientific teaching practices don’t require expensive equipment, schools may need to reorganise classrooms to facilitate group work, invest in basic science equipment for hands-on learning, or improve access to information technology.

As we look to the future of Indian education, let’s envision classrooms buzzing not with rote repetition, but with the excited chatter of students engaged in discovery and exploration. It’s time to move beyond the argument of “We’ve always done it this way” or “ We turned out just fine” and embrace methods that truly enhance learning.

The question we must ask is not “What did they teach you at school today?” but rather, “What did you discover at school today?” For in those discoveries lie the seeds of true education and progress. 

With consistent effort and commitment from all stakeholders, we can transform Indian education into a model deeply rooted in scientific and effective learning practices.

(The writer Sanjana Samraj is a strong advocate of alternative approaches to the Indian education system. She is a Teach For India Fellow and in her own words a “professional optimist”. Views expressed are her own)