Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardour and attended to with diligence.

There is a widespread notion that educational systems should empower learners with skills and competencies to cope with a constantly changing landscape. Reference is often made to skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, collaborative skills, innovation, digital literacy and adaptability. What is negotiable is how best to achieve the development of those skills, in particular, which teaching and learning approaches are suitable for facilitating or enabling complex skills development.

The development of pedagogy is not a new thing. It requires positive involvement in a classroom and respect for educators as well as learners. Indeed, one of the most observable changes in the new pedagogical area is the penetration of digital technologies into education.

English language teaching is evolving all the time, particularly alongside advances in technology. Addressing the needs of bilingual students and the barriers that the students are facing while learning English are being overcome by activities that can be done by the subject teachers to help the students develop vocabulary and equip the bilingual learners with effective listening and speaking skills.Learning with discussion is also one of the ways of developing interest among learners. Cloud-based tools like Google Docs have also become indispensable. Digital video enables teachers to create activities, lessons and courses from a range of digital tools. The podcast is also nominated in the category of digital tools.

The advent of the internet and the growth of social media have certainly allowed English teachers from all over the world to form online communities. Twitter and ELT blogging, for example, has opened up a network of people who can offer advice, support and ideas. WhatsApp and Padlet help build channels of communication beyond the classroom.

The Interactive White Board started appearing in classrooms and has become a staple of many classrooms around the world. It allows us to save and print notes written on the board, control the classroom computer from the whiteboard, play listening activities on the sound system, use the screen as a slide for presentations, access the internet, and so on. The possibilities seem endless.

Student-centred approaches have helped in building interest and fluency in the language. Reading activities are also one of the most effective ways to focus on the formal acquisition of literary concepts. Even the strategy of ‘Open Mic’ will help in analysing and reflecting on the child’s thoughts.

Everyone learns at their own pace, but no one can resist the chance to mark someone else’s work or their own. Peer assessment allows students to grasp the values behind a certain concept, as well as understand where they could improve.

Pedagogy is not about training, it is about critically educating people to be self-reflective, and capable of critically addressing their relationship with others and with the larger world. It provides not only important critical and intellectual competencies; it also enables people to intervene critically in the world. Creating a conducive environment for innovation and not merely sticking to traditional methods is the need of an hour. Combining various disciplines, moving beyond the basics, reaching out to the classroom and achieving a new and different outcome will help in developing a streak of innovation in students right from the start.

The quote from poet William Butler Yeats is a fitting parallel for the role of innovation in education: “Education should not be the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

Written by – PARUL MALHOTRA , PGT English