Prof. Balurgi's view on Science Education
(The original article is written in Kannada by Prof. Balurgi and is translated to English)
That the teaching of science to children must be exciting, interesting and meaningful is everybody’s wish. Does the conventional method of education really give the children such an experience? Children are taught by us about what questions would come up in the examinations and about how to answer them. This is not science education in its true sense. True science education makes a child aware of the fundamental principles of science and enables an application of them in varying circumstances.
Science consists of concepts pertaining to both the tangible and intangible. Comprehending concepts relating to the tangible is easy. But children require time to understand concepts relating to the intangible. A subject, once understood, naturally stays in a child’s memory. Otherwise, the child would have to retain it in his mind with some effort. One must not forget that there is a significant difference between the processes of that which stays in memory and that which is retained forcefully.
In the current education system teachers lecture; and children write exams and clear them. A regretful fact is that even though neither the teachers nor the children understand the subject, the process of teaching and passing examinations is done with, apparently successfully. This is because the current system of education places significance on lecturing on topics in science rather than its application.
When a subject goes incomprehensible, children take shelter under learning by rote. Learning by rote is not something that is much liked. Leaning then becomes dry and they could even develop disinclination towards the subject. Their minds then would rise up in defiance against it. It must be said that even such defiance against dry rote-learning is in one sense an indication of their love for science. When concepts are understood clearly, they would naturally love science. Just as the arts and music do, science too should enable an experience of the essence or Absolute Beauty (rasa). It is only then that science education would become truly meaningful.
|
