In "Getting Ideas from
Kids" (page 8, What's Up January 2014), we read that
students at Riverside School in Ahmedabad, a city in northwest India, have a
unique way of learning. For example, they do not have a fixed timetable during
a school day. Instead, it is up to each child to decide what and how much he or
she wants to learn daily.
In one case, students in a primary two class decided to create an audio
tour for visitors of the zoo when they realised that the information found next
to the animal enclosures was often too difficult for kids their age to
understand. In this way, visitors to the zoo could simply put on a pair of
headphones to learn more about the animals. The project taught the children the
most important lesson of all, which was the realisation that they had the power
to achieve almost anything they wanted.
The founder of the school, Ms Kiran Bir Sethi, believes that children
should be encouraged to make their own decisions without fear. In 2009, she
started a contest called the 'Design for Change Challenge'. It simply asked
children to think up solutions for problems that worry them. To her delight,
hundreds of children wrote in with their plans. It proved so successful that
the movement has now spread all over the world, from Australia to Uruguay.
Post your comments on or more of the following questions:
1. Do you agree with the way of learning in Riverside School? Why?
2. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of
having such a learning in
Singapore?
Taking it a step further:
1. What is one thing that worries you the most?
2. Can you think of a solution to this problem that worries you?
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ReplyDelete1. I agree with the way of learning in Riverside School. This allow the children to learn what they really want to learn and so they will like to study and take joy in learning. But, this way of learning may cause some problems such as:
ReplyDelete* Students may not take a particular subject which they do not like and therefore, they will do poorly in this subject.
* Students must have enough discipline to take up this way of learning as some of them will tend to "escape" a subject.
2. Advantages:
* Students will have less stress and take joy in learning and therefore the bond between teachers and students will be better.
* Students will put in more effort in what they are doing as this is the subject that they have chosen.
Disadvantages:
* Students will not choose the subject that they like and therefore do poorly on this subject.
* If next time the students go aboard, they will not get use to the way of study (fixed timetable) and therefore score poorly for their exams.
1. I agree and disagree with the way of learning.Most students might be able to further their interest in the subject they like and help them in the future while some students might not want to learn some of the subjects and that will not help them in the future.
ReplyDelete2. I think the advantage is that if they already have a goal in mind, they can learn more that will help them to succeed in reaching their goal faster. The disadvantages is that students without a goal will not know what subjects to study and the subjects they might have learnt may not be able to help them in the future.
Lee Zhi Xuan
6 Charity
1. Yes I can as we can learn to plan my time in future/
ReplyDelete2. ADVANTAGES:
- we can have a head start in learning how to plan our time in future.
- we can be more confident in future when we start working
DISADVANTAGES:
- Our time might not fit to our friend's time as we might have tuition at different time with our friends
Izzan Kwa
6 Charity
1. I agree with the way of learning in Riverside school. This allows students to learn while having fun and with this method of learning, students will also be able to choose their favourite subject, and learn more interesting things about their favourite subjects. And because there is no fixed timetable, they do not know what project or subject that they are learning for the day.
ReplyDelete2. Advantages
* Students will not be so stressed out under this method of learning.
* For students who got their favourite subjects, they will be able to learn more and they will also get higher marks for this particular subjects.
Disadvantages
* Students who are not interested in that subjects will not pay attention and they might fail in their exams.
* When they move on to Secondary school, they will not get used to the kind of method that most secondary schools use as they are used to the kind of school life where there is no fixed timetable.
Amanda Lau
P6 Charity
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ReplyDeleteQ1: I agree with the way of learning.
ReplyDeleteQ2: The advantages are that we can take joy in learning , we can learn to solve problems and it might cause pupils to be excited about school and love to come to school as they never know what they would be doing in class until the class have decided what they want to do for the following weeks. The disadvantages are that though they take fun in learning , maybe even after six years in school , they don't even know how to add , subtract , multiply and divide. Although knowing how to solve problems , knowledge is also very important as no one will hire you in future because you don't have knowledge.
Long Xin Yi
P6 Charity
1. Yes. I do agree with the way of learning.
ReplyDelete2. The advantages are that we can know what we are going to learn and the lesson
may not be boring.
The disavantages are that it will make the students stressful as they do not know what to learn next.
Jeslynn Loo
P6 Charity
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1) I do agree with the way of learning in Riverside school because this may be useful for them in the future.
ReplyDelete2) The advantage is that we can manage with sudden changes and learn to manage flexibility that will be handy in the future.
Disadvantages are that they learn slower than other schools and that they may not be able to concentrate with their subjects.
Taking it a step further:
1. The thing that worries me the most is how some people react to cyberbullying.
2.We can tell others how cyberbullies harm them and that if they are cyberbullied,they should inform a teacher,a parent or a trusted adult.
Jacie Koh
DeleteP6 Charity
1) Yes. As it can encourage students to solve their problems and think out of the box.
ReplyDelete2) Singapore is a busy country and there are many tourists in Singapore so it may be hard getting around. Thus there may be time constraints and a mix up in timetables.
Lakshanya
P6 Charity
(1) I agree with the way of learning in Riverside School. It allows every student to look foward to a new day in school and allows us to be more initiative with learning. At the same time, this way had involved the students in different community projects.
ReplyDelete(2)To some extent, I think this unique way of learning is good because it allows students to make their own decisions without any fear. It allows students to be more initiative with learning more things. Also, students would not be too stressful about daily homework, which bring joy to learning. However, I have concerns with regards to how unfixed the timetable is. The time management might not be suit every student in the school as they might have other events, for example, tuition. And this might make students to learn lesser about the main subjects.
Fion Neo XueTing
P6 Charity
1. I agree with the way of learning in Riverside School because if they learn without a fix timetable,they are able to learn at their own speed and they would not be so stressed up if they cannot catch up with the rest.On the other hand,the students should not relax too much because they go to school to study not to relax.
ReplyDelete2.The advantages are :students in Singapore will look forward to their lessons in school because they can do any subject they prefer.
The disadvantages :school learning cannot just be projects after projects,instead,they can focus in more project-based studies while learning a bit of other subjects.
Taking a step further:
1.I think that if we follow the way riverside School learns,we might not be able to learn much because different students would want to learn different thing and the teacher cannot teach everyone one by one.
2.I think that if the students want to learn their own thing and if they have problems,they should go to the teachers for help. If they really do not know much about the subject,they should just choose a new one.
1. I agree with this unique way of learning as children should be encouraged to make their own desicion without fear.
ReplyDelete2. The advantages are they will not feel helpless and is able to make decisions by themselves without having doubts.
The disadvantages are the students need basic knowledge before the start something new.
Melissa Lim (P6 Charity)
1) On one hand, I agree with the unique types of learning that Riverside School as the pupils whom studying in the school will learn how to face life and be more interested in school life as they never know what is going to happen the next day but still on the other hand I have concerns on how they would make time on academic learning.
ReplyDelete2)The advantage is that pupils would be more aware of social issues and try their best to help the society to solve the problem but the disadvantage is that the pupils would face disagreement on how the timetable should be like and this might affect the curriculum and academic learning
1. I agree the way of learning in Riverside School as it makes going to school more interesting and exciting for the children and would make the children want to go school more often.
ReplyDelete2.The advantages are that the pupils can use their creativity to do projects in the way they like.The disadvantages are that they are doing projects all the time and not learning subjects that is needed to use in the society in the future.
3.The one thing that worries me the most is that they cannot concentrate on their subjects and when the exams come they become anxious about school work.
4.Yes. They can do more worksheets and get the teacher to teach them about the subjects.
1. I do not agree with this way of learning as it is very unorganized and messy as they have a different timetable everyday.
ReplyDelete2. The advantages of having such a learning is that the students in the school will be responsible of their timetable and learning activities. They will also be excited when they come to school as they will look forward to planning the day by themselves.
The disadvantages of having such a learning is that the students might not agree with one another when they are planning their timetable and projects and they might start an argument. They might not be able to finish their school syllables on time if they plan their daily activities.
Melody Chong from P6 Charity
1. I agree with the way of learning in Riverside School as it allows children to be more confident on the decisions that they make and they can design a better future for not only themselves but others as well. Creative thinking and thinking out of the box can help us in life.
ReplyDelete2. The advantages of this unique way of learning is that they will not have to sit down in class all day. If they sit in class all day, they will not be active which will soon cause them to be lazy. By doing projects, they can think out of the box and be more creative. They will also learn more information by researching on the subject they want to present. The disadvantages are that they will not know their exact schedule for the day, which will confuse the students. If this method of learning is implied in Singapore, students will prefer to do projects than to study which is not good. Even though we can use creativity in daily life, we also need some basic knowledge. If we do not know how to add, multiply, read or write, it will affect the chances of getting jobs and will thus cause us to face financial problems.
R. Srivarshini from P6-Charity
1. To some extend, I agree with this unique way of learning because the students can do whatever they want to do without thinking "Would the teacher allow?" or "Would she agree?". They will come to school not knowing what they are going to school as they may be embarking on a new journey. However, I have concerns with regards to this unique way of learning because if a student does not want to learn mathematics,after the six years in school,the student may not know how to do subtraction,addition,etc.
ReplyDelete2. The advantages are that the students will not be afraid to do what they want to do or speak what they want to speak. When they grow up,they can do things or voice out their comments or anything they want to say without fear. However, the disadvantages are that the students need basic knowledge so that in the future, the students can get good jobs.
Rachel Lin
P6 Charity
1. I do not agree with this way of learning in Riverside School. Though this may encourage students to make their own decisions without fear, students should have a fixed timetable which will determine what they would study on a particular day. Having a fixed timetable will allow students to learn more than just spending time deciding what they would do.
ReplyDelete2. The advantages of having such learning in Singapore is for students to make their own decisions without fear.
The disadvantages of having such learning in Singapore are:
1. Students will not have much time spent on learning.
2. Students will carry a heavier bag to school as they will not be sure what topics they would be learning in school.
3. Students will spend more time deciding what they would learn.
Rebecca (P6 Charity)
1.I agree with the unique way of learning in Riverside school. This allows the student to have more fun while learning and also allows them to choose whatever subject they are willing to learn. Because there is no fixed timetable, they do not know what subject or activity they are doing,or what they are learning for the day.
ReplyDelete2. Advantages
>Students won't be stressed out
>They would be able to learn more about their favourite subject
Disadvantages:
>Students that are not interested in subjects chosen will not pay attention
>When they go to another school, the way they work will be different and they might not be used to it.
Celine Lam,
6 Charity
1.No,i think children should not have too much freedom and they should learn how to read and write at young age,then,grow up and learn to think of ideas to improve the society.
ReplyDelete2.The advantages are,Singapore students will be happier everyday when they come to school and would not be as stressed out as they are now.The disadvantages are,we will learn slower than the rest of the world and we still have to learn the basics like Maths,English,Science and our mother tongue because when we go to other countries,we're representing Singapore and if we don't know our subjects well,when people ask us questions about them,we wouldn't know.
3.I worry about teacher scolding me in school everyday when i am careless in my work and do not do the right things that they want.
4.Be attentive and listen to the teacher carefully
Ruby Chan
P6 Charity
1.To some extent,I do agree with this unique way of learning because it allows students to be able to design a future that is desired.They can also be able to do something good for the society instead of sitting in class studying all day.
ReplyDelete2.The advantages of having such a learning in Singapore is that the student's schedule would have more variety in it and everyday would not just be Maths,English,Mother Tongue and Science.The students in Singapore would have a more creative mind.
The disadvantages of having such a learning in Singapore is that their schedule is not fixed and it would be quite unorganised.Some students would suggest to do one thing,while other students would suggest to do something else which would result in a argument.
1) YEs and no. I agree with the way they learn in India. But in Singapore, we have PSLE, and without a fixed timetable, we might, I mean, we WILL be lazy and won't study and get bad results.
ReplyDelete2) Advantage: It teaches us problem-solving skills and creativity. We would also save a lot more paper.
Disadvantages: We would fail our exams.
1) I agree with the way of learning in Riverside School because everyday's timetable is different and we don't know what we could be doing everyday instead of the same thing everyday.
ReplyDelete2) I think the advantages of having such a learning in Singapore is that we could learn about a lot of different things which we don't know now. The disadvantage is that we would only be doing projects everyday. We should be doing other things too.
3) One thing that worries me the most is people getting bullied on the internet.(Cyberbullying)
4) I think that we should restict people who are Cyberbullies.
1. Yes, i agree. Students should have their own freedom to choose subjects.
ReplyDelete2.The advantages are that we can make a lot of friends as there are lots of permanent residents here.The disadvantages is that we will be slower then the other countries as we will only learn one subject each week.
3.I worry about teachers scolding me as i do not do the things exactly as they want.
4.Be more attentive and listen to every word she says.
Pamelyn Chen
P6 Charity
3) The thing that worries me most is Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE).
ReplyDelete4) I would like to attend stress relieve activities or talks with my friends.
1. I agree with the way of learning in Riverside School because it can help encourage to make their own decisions without fear,help them become better citizens,capable of creating a society that is caring and safe for everyone and make learning fun.
ReplyDelete2. I think the advantages of having such a learning in Singapore is they can be creative and make the children in Singapore realise that nothing is impossible to archive if they put their hearts into it.I think the disadvantages are that the children will only be doing projects in school everyday and not studying the subjects they must study.
3.The one thing that worries me the most is pupils getting bullied in school.
4.I can think of a solution to this problem that worries me . I can put up posters about what the consequences of bullying people are and what the victim would do if she is at her wits.
1. Yes, I agree with this unique way of learning in Riverside School. As they do not have a fixed timetable, they are able to select what they want to learn on that day.
ReplyDelete2. This method of learning allows the students to be more enthusiastic in what they do and will feel that they are not helpless. They will display the joy of learning and show some effort in their work. It is also better to learn new information rather than doing projects. On the other hand, the students will not know what they will be doing on every school day.
Christina Yun
P6 Charity
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ReplyDelete1) I agree with the way of learning in Riverside School because it allows the students to know that they had the power to achieve almost anything they want.
ReplyDelete2) Advantages :
It is important for the students to choose to use their talents to make their society a better place.
Disadvantages :
The subjects that they are suppose to learn they won't get to learn it at all.
1)Yes.This type of learning can train pupils to be responsible and handlie problems on their own.
ReplyDelete2)Pupils would like to go to school as they can decide what they want to do in school everyday.But they might get injured when they are outside the school example going to the school.
1)Yes I agree because the children can focus on the subject that requires in their future jobs.
ReplyDelete2)Advantages are:they can use whatever knowledge they learn now in the future. Disadvantages are:when they need to use other subject's knowledge,they do not know that much of that subject.
1)Nothing
2)Nothing
1.Yes, I agree. It made children to think up solutions for their problems.
ReplyDelete2.They may not learn the topics which are needed to be learnt before their examinations or tests.
3.My secrets
4.I can share them with a trustworthy like my best friend.
S.Reshma, P6-Charity
1) To some extend, I agree with this unique way of learning because when they decided to do something,about it, they would come up with the idea of the thing that they decided to do. The most important lesson of all was that the realisation that they had the power to achieve almost anything they wanted.
ReplyDelete2) On one hand, I think it is good to adopt this unique way of learning because the advantages of having such a learning in Singapore is if they put enough effort to creat something that can help the citizens in Singapore, and make Singapore a better place. On the other hand, I do not think it is good to adopt this unique way of learning because, our time schedule might not fit with our friends.
1) Yes. It is a special way to study and allows kids to have the initiative to do something theirselves.
ReplyDelete2) The advantage to this is that pupils are able to learn things on their own without the help of a parent or teacher.It also allowws pupils to work for the money they would use for their projects and that would make them feel accomplished.
The disadvantage is that pupils will be allowed to chose what they would do everyday and that would not allow them to learn somethings that are hard to understand.
Rondon Alyssa Bulanhagui - 6 Charity
1) yes.it will be easier to understand.
ReplyDelete2)advantages; it will be easier and fun to learn.disadvantages; those who are deaf will not benefit from this type of learning.
3) i the thing that i worry the most is that I cannot do well for my PSLE.
4) I can watch videos ,read comics and listen to music to relieve stress.
1) Yes. I agree this unique way of learning because they can do something different each day without knowing what they are going to do in school.In Singapore, the schools have a fixed timetable and we already know what we are going to do in school each day.This will make going to school more boring and we won't enjoy going to school.
ReplyDelete2) On one hand,I think it is good to adopt this unique way of learning because the students in Singapore will learn that they are capable to make their country a better place if they put enough effort to create something that will help the citizens in Singapore. On the other hand,I do not think it is good to adopt this unique way of learning because the students might not be able to study enough of their syllables and they might face some problems when they grow up. The students might also argue about what project they are going to do.
JiTianqi
P6 Charity
1.Yes. It is a way student can gain confidence and teach them to make decisions without fear and learn to use their talent to help the society.
ReplyDelete2. The advantage is that the children can learn to think for others and themselves and improve things around them and help them to make decisions for themselves.
The disadvantage is that it is not good to have projects every day since they will not have an equal amount of time learning their main subjects.
Sabrina Mei Burgos-6 Charity
1. Yes. Its helps them to make use of our own creativity talent.
ReplyDelete2. Advantages: It is easy for us to understand. Disadvantages: We will have to discuss about what we should learn for the day where quarrels may arise.
Maha
P6 Charity
1.Yes,i agree. Student go to school without knowing what they are going to learn that day as they do not have a fixed timetable during the school day,i think that this unique way of learning make study become more interesting for student.
ReplyDelete2.The advantages of having such a learning in Singapore it makes children feeling
less stressful in learning and this kind of experiences might shape children to be a better citizens, capable of creating a society that is caring and safe for everyone.The disadvantages is we might not learn as much subjects as nowadays as we could decide how much we want to learn daily.
huang xinyi 6charity
1) I agree with the way of learning in Riverside School because it allows the students to know that they had the power to achieve almost anything they want.
ReplyDelete2. The advantage is that the children can learn to think for others and themselves and improve things around them and help them to make decisions for themselves.
The disadvantage is that it is not good to have projects every day since they will not have an equal amount of time learning their main subjects.