Note on Experiential & Integrated Learning
This note is not based on any specific learnng theory - but on geniekids attempt to integrate all learning
Lets start with status check on ourselves
1. Are we expecting children should learning a skill / colour (say a shape)?
2. Are we intending learning a concept? Are we overtly or covertly teaching the concept or skill?
3. Are we measuring our success by the fruits?
4. Are we sub-consciously becoming objective driven?
A metaphor of cooking:
1 Some parents force children to eat a certain type and a certain quantity of food.
2 Some parents want & wish that children eat a certain type and a certain quantity of food.
3 Some parents just cook & serve a rich and varied mix of food and then leave it to the child to decide what and how much to eat.
Integrated learning works on the third principle shown above. We neither force nor intend a learning. We just layer our activities with so many rich layers of varied environmental features, experiences, experiments, explorations and exchanges (interactions) - THATS IT - these five Es
This obviously needs to be inititaited at the design level and then extended to LIVE opportunities at classroom level.
A broad guide - to initiate integration (at) with an example of activity of making nimbu pani
~ experiences level
use MI - body shake like how i stir water, taste nimbu and sugar, two children stir together, keep nimbu-pani in mouth but not gulp it down for a count of say 20, music while stirring - stir with sound - stir without sound, giving words to situations created - say what will you call a squashed nimbu, spilled sugar, water rotating in glass upon stirring etc
~ experiments and explorations -- use tools, mediums, resources - tactile - brim of glass - same as or diff as brim of half lemon ; measuring using different width glasses, different ways of squeezing - using thumb and palm, only fingers, elbow joint, door hinge - i guess there could be 250 ways of squeezing a lemon :-)
~ exchanges (interactions) -- use Thinking skills - that is - Uncle Bloom - K(nowledge), C(omprehension), U(se), A(nalysis), S(ynthesis), V(alue) - What else can we mix in water (S), what all can we put nuimbu in (S), where all can we use this stirring action (U), how important it is to drink water (V), when do we drink water(K), why we drink water(A), What happens when we mixed sugar in water - where did it go (A), Why did we put lemon in water (C) and so on
~ environment use VAK - a poster showing visually different steps in making of nimbu pani with clear verbal labels of water, lemon, glass, sugar etc!, balance nimbu between nose and lips, balance glass on forehead :-)
LETS INTEGRATE CONSCIOUSLY