SHUTTLING FOR LEARNING

'Learning'...is the beautiful process in the way of knowledge acquisition. What is meant by ‘knowledge acquisition’? What is the purpose of ‘learning’? The essence of education lies in these wonderful concepts. Understanding of those terms in its real sense make a huge change in our society. Lack of understanding or ignorance among the individuals leads to a state of chaos and disturbances.

While we turn around and notice, the nature taught us the system of equilibrium in every aspect of its functioning. It always shows a constant tendency for achieving the state of equilibrium in a disturbed or chaotic condition. This is same in the case of knowledge acquisition.Piaget postulated this as the concept of ‘equilibration’. ‘It can be defined as the innate tendency or continuous drive on the part of an organism to organize its experiences for obtaining optimal adaptation to the changing demands of the environment by maintaining a proper balance between its cognitive structure and the changing demands of the environment’. The state of equilibrium remains same until something makes a disturbance or pokes the existing system. This disturbance can be from nature, parents, teachers, friends and society. This disturbance makes a change in the existing system of knowledge. This process of destruction and construction of knowledge is the basis of knowledge acquisition.

What is knowledge? This is often misinterpreted or equated with information. Knowledge and information are different. Information is the collection of facts, terms, actions etc. Knowledge is the proper organization of information. This understanding is not actively dominating even in our teachers. This makes the situation more complex. NCF2005 also present its concern regarding this issue, it says there is a tendency to confuse knowledge with information this must be curbed from the system. The child should able to develop a taste of integrated knowledge not mere collection of information.instead nowadays the children are forced to take information with out any holdings or hooks.This 'insular' nature of information is the reason behind most of the problems in the life of student.which insist the child for rote learning.this widens the gap between knowledge and information.The practice and habit of filling information increase. This tendency curb every possible channel of creativity.the result is the generation of copying and pasting...here where one could find the happiness of learning??the journey becomes the tragic one...which leads to chaos and anxiety among the learner. our education system should promote or help the learner for the habit of knowledge acquisition and integrated development not for the collection of rote materials.

As per the cognitive theory of jean piaget, he emphasized the concept of schema -the building blocks of knowledge acquisition. schema can also be described as a mental structure of preconceived ideas, a framework representing some aspect of the world, or a system of organizing and perceiving new information.

According to cognitive theory, assimilation is the process of establishing connections or similarities with the new schema and the existing schema.once the individual finds a connection ,then the next process is to accommodate that new knowledge near to the existing one..this process repeats and form a satisfactory stage of equilibrium..unless a new disturbance or schema touches the existing one..this chaining process is the base of learning.

Knowledge is stored in the form of schema in the cognitive structure. Within the existing schema one could able to link or connect new information or knowledge. This in turn make more and more connections and finally leads to effective learning and knowledge acquisition. Despite these facts our education system of the country force the child to learn 'insular information'.here the student face the situation of connectionless cant connect the new information with the existing one..how this could happen??it is not the fault of child.they didn't see the arctic species or antartic species.they are familiar with the species or animals with in their region.despite these knowledge the child is forced to learn about the nature of species or animal which is out of their existing schema. This finally force the child into rote learning.this in-turn becomes the habit of the student.this habit completely destruct the beautiful nature of knowledge acquisition.instead of curiosity the child develops a kind of hatred towards learning.

Here the teacher have a significant role.The first is to create the ambience for learning.A free space is very important for the learner.freedom in their thought construct and create more than thinking in an intellectually congested classroom.each child should feel themselves valuable.that most important factor leads to great changes in our society.the prime factor in an individuals life is the feel for acceptance and esteem the child lack this feel in their primary classes itself further makes huge character problems.hence the ambiance for free thinking is highly essential.but the pathetic condition is that we are following a system where the learner interaction minimal, even in the midst of child centered learning.

The second factor is the act of guidance to the student. As vygotsky mentions ,teacher should be a 'facilitator' in the life of children. Proper connections in their existing schema of cognitive structure leads to better knowledge acquisition.

Here teacher plays a significant role for the proper hooking of knowledge.Teacher should intelligently chose proper pieces of knowledge or information which is already existing in the child. Those pieces of information help the child for proper connections.

If the selected bit of information didn’t find any connection in the existing schema of the child, then the teacher needs patience to select the next one.this process repeats untill the child connect the knowledge with their existing one.this process of shuttling repeats and repeats. For this teacher should know the context of learner. Psychological as well as the cultural background and backdrop..

context and culture plays a crucial role in the process of learning. The reason behind insular stand of knowledge is nothing but the rejection of culture and context in the curriculum. The more and more link of curriculum with context and culture generate connections available to the child. This further expand the cognitive structure of the student. Theory of social constructivism also enhancing the importance of culture in the development of cognition, through which vygotsky explains that the interaction of the learner with the environment and society influence the cognitive development of the learner.cultural background as well as the backdrops of the culture influence the learner. This should be a guiding factor for a teacher as well as for the curriculum construction. The flexibility and diversity in curricular experiences should promote instead of rigidity and stiffness. The initial stages in the life of child needs support and scaffolding. The potential of each child differs significantly. But with the help of a scaffolder or with the help of 'More Knowledgeable Other'{MKO} its possible to achieve the potential. The habit among the learner for knowledge acquisition and construction is the result of enthusiasm and curiosity within the individual. The main function and purpose of education is to minimize ignorance and to enhance the wisdom. Wisdom helps the individual to come out of evil and spread light.

“Light, my light, the world-filling light,

Rabinthranath Tagore

Let the light to enter into the world of ignorance......Let be in peace and harmony..

PLURALITY OF EXPERIENCE

Secondary Education commission or mudhaliyaar commission (1952-53) defined curriculum as the ‘’sum total of all the experiences that the student gains from the institution.’ ‘This single definition comprehensively contains the essence of curriculum. The entire concept of curriculum, focused on the gist of ‘experience’.

                                  Experience is the crux of curriculum. The comprehensive term 'experience' itself contains the multidimensional aspects of curriculum. The aggregate experience that a student gains or perceives in a period of time, comprise the curriculum of the given institution.

The 'plurality' in experiences later on determine and shape the character and personality of students. These plurality of experiences can be taken from multidimensional sources including relationships, conversations, celebrations, activities and interactions. Each student in a classroom takes or perceives experiences differently with same inputs or experience. Also curriculum act as a aid to 'choose' experiences, which creates a platform to build life above it. Here the selection of experiences impart a key role in one’s life, which finally makes the difference among individuals and society.

                              Each experience has its own colour and shape. Each experience is unique and special. There are a number of factors which distinguish between students, including heredity environment, culture and cultural backdrop. All these factors contribute to a person. Depends on these diverse factors, experience form among students. This diversity itself is the nature of our own country and tradition. Curriculum should not restrict these diversity in experience, instead promote the multifariousness in experience.

Experiences should not restrict in a ' framed box structure’. It should expel out based on the needs , levels and nature of the student. The cognitive, affective, psycho motor domains should enrich with those experiences. These enrichment is the very basis of curriculum.it should able to satisfy the thirst of the student.

                         But there are certain practices exist in our country, which 'compartmentalize' these diverse experiences, and spoils the essence of the curriculum. How the curriculum can be compartmentalize? The rigid structure of syllabus, tightly packed time tables, and the exam oriented teaching. These factors itself change the attitude of teachers and students. The ''contour lines of Exam'' is a big hurdle, which limits the space and opportunity for experiences and enrichment. These compactness and compartmentalization finally creates a kind of chaos and confusion among students. Here the pluralities of experience face the main hindrance, which is totally against the definition put forward by the secondary education commission.

           Another important dimension of this definition is the limits of experience. Experiences can be within and outside the school .it can be positive and negative, planned or unplanned, directional or omnidirectional. These extremities in experiences are also the part of curriculum. This heterogeneity or diversity in experiences plays a key role in the curriculum construction and implementation. This fact should be analyse and re-examine by the stakeholders, teachers, educationalists etc. to frame the most apt curriculum.

                                      The term “institution” in the definition also reflects certain factors.an institution is the result of a wide range of factors, which reflects the physiological psychological and historical factors of the local area where the given institution situated. The institution in a particular area contains the geographical, psychological, cultural and sociological remnants. An institution should not alienate from these remnants. Each institution should create its own curriculum by considering these factors. Which again enrich the plurality in experience among the students who belongs to the particular area. All these domains should take for consideration while preparing a curriculum. Such kinds of sensitivity should be shown from the part of curriculum constructors and implementer to satisfy or meet the expectations of the students and society.

          Everyone who include in this process is a part of curriculum. Each experience in the process is special and unique. Let the plurality of experience to enrich the curriculum. Even though there can be divergence in the outcome, let the experience be colorful and multifarious in its own nature.....

                                                                             CREATIVITY

We live in a time where things are constantly changing and evolving. The old, established rules used by past generations to educate and secure success are not suitable for the next generation who will thrive in such an innovative time. Unfortunately, traditional education gives little room for students to develop their creativity and outside-of-the-box thinking beyond predetermined, standardized boundaries. The next generation needs to be prepared to tackle not only the known, but also the unknown problems our world will face. Therefore, we must be forward thinking about how we train and inspire our upcoming generation.

                                                              Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others. In order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new ways or from a different perspective. Educational forums in the Western world have with increasing concern over the last decade or so debated the issue of creativity in the classroom: its philosophical assumptions, definitional discrepancies, challenges for curriculum and pedagogy, socio -cultural relevance and economic benefits.

                             Classrooms in India are posed with challenges of rigid curriculum demands, lack of resources, large class sizes and very often low motivation levels among teachers. Add to that poor teacher training facilities. Given the constraints, the pursuit of encouraging creativity education in the Indian schooling system seems like a tall order. Education systems in India is described as a “monolithic system” where education is governed entirely by a rigid examination system, there is no grasp of the developmental needs of the learners, cognizance of their socio-economic and cultural context. The education in India is portrayed as comprising of dull routines, unmotivated teachers, bored students and rote systems of learning. The ideology, the curricular and pedagogic adaptations, and the structural and environmental factors explore the scope of creativity education in the country.

 Buying Low and Selling High

The investment theory of creativity (Sternberg and Lubart 1995) asserts that creative thinkers are like good investors: They buy low and sell high. Whereas investors do so in the world of finance, creative people do so in the world of ideas. Creative people generate ideas that are like undervalued stocks (stocks with a low price-to-earnings ratio), and both are generally rejected by the public. When creative ideas are proposed, they are often viewed as bizarre, useless, and even foolish, and are summarily rejected, and the person proposing them regarded with suspicion and perhaps even disdain and derision.

Creative ideas are both novel and valuable. Why, then, are they rejected? Because the creative innovator stands up to vested interests and defies the crowd and its interests. The crowd does not maliciously or wilfully reject creative notions; rather it does not realize, and often does not want to realize, that the proposed idea represents a valid and superior way of thinking. The crowd generally perceives opposition to the status quo as annoying, offensive, and reason enough to ignore innovative ideas.

                  Creative work requires applying and balancing three abilities that can all be developed .They are

• Synthetic ability is what we typically think of as creativity. It is the ability to generate novel and interesting ideas. Often the person we call creative is a particularly good synthetic thinker who makes connections between things that other people don't recognize spontaneously.
• Analytic ability is typically considered to be critical thinking ability. A person with this skill analyzes and evaluates ideas. Everyone, even the most creative person you know, has better and worse ideas. Without well-developed analytic ability, the creative thinker is as likely to pursue bad ideas as to pursue good ones. The creative individual uses analytic ability to work out the implications of a creative idea and to test it.
• Practical ability is the ability to translate theory into practice and abstract ideas into practical accomplishments. An implication of the investment theory of creativity is that good ideas do not sell themselves. The creative person uses practical ability to convince other people that an idea is worthy. For example, every organization has a set of ideas that dictate how things, or at least some things, should be done. To propose a new procedure you must sell it by convincing others that it is better than the old one. Practical ability is also used to recognize ideas that have a potential audience.

 WAYS TO DEVELOP CREATIVITY IN STUDENTS

                                                                                           Tips for Teaching

Ø  Allowing Time for Creative Thinking
Ø  Instructing and Assessing Creativity
Ø  Rewarding Creative Ideas and Product
Avoid Roadblocks
Ø  Encouraging Sensible Risks
Ø  Tolerating Ambiguity
Ø  Allowing Mistakes
Ø  Identifying and Surmounting Obstacles
Use Role models
Ø  Using Profiles of Creative People
Ø  Encouraging Creative Collaboration
Ø  Imagining Other Viewpoints
Add Complex Techniques
Ø  Teaching Self-Responsibility
Ø  Promoting Self-Regulation
Ø  Delaying Gratification
Basic Techniques
Ø  Questioning Assumptions
Ø  Defining and Redefining Problems
Ø  Encouraging Idea Generation
Explore the Environment
Ø  Recognizing Environmental Fit
Ø  Finding Excitement
Ø  Seeking Stimulating Environments
Ø  Playing to Strengths

        Cross-Fertilizing Ideas

Stimulate creativity by helping students to think across subjects and disciplines. The traditional school environment often has separate classrooms and classmates for different subjects and seems to influence students into thinking that learning occurs in discrete boxes—the math box, the social studies box, and the science box. But creative ideas and insights often result from integrating material across subject areas, not from memorizing and reciting material.

Teaching students to cross-fertilize draws on their skills, interests, and abilities, regardless of the subject. For example, if your students are having trouble understanding math, you might ask them to draft test questions related to their special interests—ask the baseball fan to devise geometry problems based on the game. The context may spur creative ideas because the student finds the topic (baseball) enjoyable and it may counteract some of the anxiety caused by geometry. Cross-fertilization motivates students who aren't interested in subjects taught in the abstract.

                                                                                         As parents, educators, and creativity researchers, we are encouraged by the increased attention being paid to creativity and the recognition that it has a role to play in schools and classrooms. It's essential, however, that education leaders develop a thorough understanding of creativity and that they take the time and care necessary to ensure that the benefits of creativity are realized in schools and classrooms

 

                

Reference

How to Develop Student Creativity

Robert J. Sternberg and Wendy M. William

slow learners and gifted students in science learning-problems and possibilities

         SLOW LEARNERS AND GIFTED STUDENTS IN SCIENCE LEARNING :

                                               PROBLEMS AND POSSIBILITIES

                                                                  

                                                                                                                                             Reshma Varghese                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              reshmavarghesegpullely@gmail.com                  

  

 A gifted child is one who shows consistently remarkable  performance in any worthwhile line of endeavor.  Such an individual exhibits superiority in general intelligence or posses special abilities of a high order.

      According to witty ,the term gifted or talented stands for those whose performance is consistently remarkable in some potentially valuable activity.some psychologists have defined gftedness on the basis of intelligence quotient.quotient. Terman set IQ 140 as the lower limit of giftedness. But.But a gifted child need not necessarily possess a very high IQ.

NEEDS AND PROBLEMS OF GIFTED CHILDREN

  (A) NEEDS OF GIFTED CHILDREN

In addition to the basic psychological needs like the need for security ,need for love need for belonging and t   the need to be accepted as an individual,the gifted child may have the following special needs:

(a) The need for knowledge and understanding.

(b) The need for creativity and ingenuity.

(c)The need for the development of his exceptional abilities .

(d)the need for self actualisation or self expression.

  (B) PROBLEMS OF GIFTED CHILDREN

The following are important problems  faced by gifted child:

1.Problems arising from the frustration of special needs.

The gifted child needs a proper environment for his development.He wants to be understood carefully in response to his different needs and abilities.If he isnot attended properly he may develop behavioural problemswhich may cause harm to the individual and to the society.when he feels difficulty in the accomplishment of special needs he become disturbed mentaly as welllas emotionally.This brings a sort of maladjustment and he is turned into a problem child.

2 .Problems arising from the lack of   understanding.

Gifted child is exceptionally curious and has athirst for knowledge,he is in thehabit of asking the truth searching questions.the parents and teachers who do not understand the necessity of his urges ,usually snub him.which leads to insecure and rejected feeling to child.

3.Problems arising from undue attention and appreciation.

In case the gifted child gets undue attention and appreciation,he become too much conscious of his superiority and develops a hostile and aristocratic attitude,and he becomes self opinionated.which leads to problems with the fellow students.He does not get recognition from his fellow students,they do not accept his superiority and started to reject him.this makes a sort of social rejection .This makes him perturbed andhe is turned into a withdrawn type of personality,or become aggressive or hostile.

4.Problems arising from non challenging class work.

The clalssroom work is planned for average chld,and it gives to no challenge for the gifted child.therefore ,these children get bored with the routine work of the classroom.as aresult he becomesrestless,careless,inattentive and idle.The curriculum faails to challenge themand they may resort to easy success tactics.He is very quick to comprehend regular class work and has ,therefore alot of time at his disposal.

EDUCATION OF GIFTED CHILDREN

Gifted children are gifted for life.they start out gifted and end up gifted.As a result ,they have similar academic needs throughout their school years.Yhe folllowing are the different administrative provisions for the education of gifted children.

1.Seperate school

Seperate schools with adequate facilities should be provided for the gifted children  in developing their specificabilities and potentialities.service of specially trained and qualified teachers should also be made available for their guidance.But such separation is often criticized and labelled as undemocratic.The students educated in these schools develop an aristocratic attitude that might widen when the gulf between the privilaged and unprivilaged.

2.Ability grouping

 Ability grouping is the placement of children in one classroom into groups based on their ability. The classroom may contain children with a wide range of ability. Children can move in and out of groups as needed. For example, a child may be in the high ability group in reading, but a middle level in math. If the child improves in math, he could be moved up to the high ability in math. In the same way, if the child begins to have problems in reading, he could be moved to a lower group. This flexibility of grouping allows the needs of children to be better met. Ability grouping is not the same as tracking, heterogeneous grouping, or cluster grouping.

3.Acceleration or double promotion

Acceleration refers to speeding up of instruction.gifted childrens are fast learners and require litile repetition of information.

 Strategies for differentiating instruction for gifted students generally fall into two categories: enrichment and acceleration. Enrichment refers to the presentation of curriculum content with more depth, breadth, complexity, or abstractness than the general curriculum. Acceleration refers to the practice of presenting curriculum content earlier or at a faster pace.

 Benefits of acceleration:

1. When gifted students were accelerated, there was an increase in their academic achievement.

Accelerated students tended to outperform students of the same age and ability who are not accelerated.

 2. accelerated students achieved as well as equally  gifted older students in the higher grades.

3. Accelerated gifted students reported satisfaction emotionally and academically when the curriculum was challenging, provided them with options, and allowed for their input in the design and implementation.

 

4. When course instruction and content was tailored to the individual gifted student’s ability, acceleration was more fulfilling for the student.

4. Enrichment programmes

Enrichment refers to the increased deapth of study of particular topic. On the primary school level, students spend all class time with their peers, but receive extra material to challenge them. Enrichment may be as simple as a modified assignmen provided by the regular classroom teacher, or it might include formal programs such as Odyssey of the Mind, Destination Imagination or academic competitions such as Brain Bowl, Future Problem Solving, Science Olympiad, National History Day, science fairs, or spelling bees.

               Programmes of enrichment activities may also be organised outside the school day (e.g. the ASCEND project in secondary science education). This work is done in addition to, and not instead of, any regular school work assigned. Critics of this approach argue that it requires gifted students to do more work instead of the same amount at an advanced level. On the secondary school level sometimes an option is to take more courses like English, Spanish, Latin, Philosophy, Science, etc., or to engage in extra curricular activities.

5.Tripple track plan

Triple Track Plan which introduces elasticity in the classification of the students is very popular in American Schools. According to this scheme the authorities prescribe a uniform syllabus for all. Average children cover it within the normal period, the dull in a large period and the gifted in a shorter period in comparison to average children.

6.Summer schools

These schools may be planned during summer vacations. These schools are being successfully tried in the U.S.A. Academically talented students are selected from different parts of the country on the basis of psychological, tests, interview and previous school record and are brought together for a special educational programme. The programme is intended to be very challenging and is planned under the expert guidance of a band of talented teachers.The students are provided with the best available books which they may consult for writing their project reports and for holding discussion class.

Usually three areas- science including mathematics, social studies and literature-are covered. After the programme is over, the students return to their regular schools. Students attend summer schools so long as they do not complete their final school leaving examination. Such a scheme may also be planned in our countries.

 SLOW LEARNERS

“A slow learner is a child who is unable to cope with the work normally expected of his age”.

                                                                                Burt

  A state of being below the normally accepted level in learning of things is called backwardness. It is not abnormal which implies the worst level. On the other hand, it is a retrograde measure from the marked level of learning. Such backwardness in a child in most of the contexts make the child feel secluded. Whatever may be the reason for this, the teacher at school as well as the parents at home are expected to know much about children to pay more attention on the issues with the children.

Causes of Backwardness

It is not even possible to recount all the various causes of backwardness, but the main causes are the following:

Ø  Physical Causes

Due to many physical defects and abnormalities, the child lags behind other average children. Such physical conditions would be weakness of the eyes, deafness or being hard of hearing, stuttering, being weak or crippled,etc this also has an adverse effect upon his social adjustment.

Ø  Educational Immaturity

Physical and mental short commands in the child result in educational immaturity. Putting it differently, he has no adequate maturity to grasp the teachings is customary for his age leave.

Ø  Mental Defect

It has been indicated earlier that the backward child has a very low intelligence quotient as compared with that of an average child. Having a low intelligence, his other mental characteristics and abilities also do not compare favorably with the average child.

Ø  Emotional Factors

The child's social adjustment is defeated by his mental and physical abnormalities, and he meets with successive failures. He meets with criticism on every account.

Hence it is natural for him to manifest anxiety tension, depression and there emotional factors Sometimes though every other defect is absent; the child is backward in his class for no better reason than these psychological or emotional factors.

Ø  Atmosphere in  Home

One reason of backwardness can also be the atmosphere in the home. Proper development of the child cannot occur in a virulent family atmosphere. Hence, he falls behind children of his age group. And among the factors that contribute to the defective atmosphere in the home are constant quarrelling and fighting between parents and children, unbalanced diet, peace and calm, poverty, etc.

Ø  Lack of Interest

Sometimes, even though the child is free from all the defects and shortcomings mentioned above and even those that have not been mentioned, he falls behind the rest of the class for the simple reason that he cannot stir any interest in the various subjects being taught this causes repeated failure.

Ø  Factors Concerning the Schools

The school can be a variable storehouse of factors that inhibit the child's development such as inadequate method of teaching, uneducated teachers.

Undesirable atmosphere, inadequate curriculum, defective time table, disgusting relations between students and teachers etc all these causes conspire to make even the average child look backward.

Characteristics of slow learners

In general, slow learning students may exhibit some or all of these characteristics,

depending on their age and degree of problems acquiring knowledge at school.

Ø  First, slow learners are recurrently immature in their relations with others and do poorly in school.

Ø  Secondly, they cannot do multifaceted or complex problems and work very slowly.

Ø  They lose track of time and cannot convey what they have learned from one

               task to another well.

Ø  They do not easily master skills that are academic in nature, such as the times tables or spelling rules.

Ø  Perhaps the most exasperating trait is their inability to have long-term goals.

Ø  They live in the present, and so have considerable problems with time management perhaps due to a short attention span and poor concentration skills.

Identification of slow leaner in  class

Early diagnosis of slow learner child is very necessary between the ages of 2 to 6 years. How teacher or parents could identify, that the child is slow learner, with a careful observation they could easily identified signs of slow learner, 

1.Speech defect

2.  Language development problem (broken sentences)

3. Assessments the level of vocabulary (vocabulary limited)

4. verbal abilities

5. Short sentences, grammatically incorrect

6. Child Behaviour

7. Spelling Mistake8. Interaction with other children

9. Class room Discussion

10. Reading problem

11. Interest

12. Slow response / decision making

REMEDIAL TEACHING FOR SLOW    LEARNERS

Remedial teaching is identifying slow learners and giving them the necessary guidance to help them overcome their problems, after identifying their areas of difficulty. Contrary to what is said, remedial teaching is done perfunctorily without identifying their areas of difficulty and underlying cause for lagging behind. Some students are unsympathetically branded as `block heads' without an earnest attempt to know the real cause of their slow learning.

Role of the teacher in helping Slow Learners with special needs:

1.      Data Collection:

Maximum information about such children should be secured and their interests should be discovered.

2.      Special Classes:

Special classes for slow-learning children. 

3.      Partial Segregation:

It has been stated, “The children should be included in the total school set-up, regularly participating in assembly programmes, organized play, and other activities enjoyed by all children. “ The problems should be clearly explained.

4.      Short Assignments:

Assignments given to the students should be broken up into short and simple units.

5.      Drill Work:

Sufficient drill work should be done.

6.      Summarises:

Frequent summaries of the important points of discussion should be used.

7.      Praise:

Pupils should be praised occasionally when they have done their assignments well.

8.      Proper Evaluation:

Good set of tools should be provided for proper evaluation.

9.      Close Supervision:

Supervision should be very close.

10.  Audio-Visual Aids:

Auditory and visual aids facilitate learning among slow learners. 

11.  Opportunities for Creative Expression:

Opportunities should be provided to slow-learning children for expression of creativeness with their hands.

12.  Diagnostic Tests:

Diagnostic tests should be used in working with slow-learning children.

13.  Curricula According to Interests:

Courses and curricula should be selected by the students on the basis of aptitude, interest and need with the help of their counselors.

14.  Vocational Programmes:

Vocational programmes should not be forced upon slow-learners as such children do not always have the necessary  aptitude to acquire vocational skill.

15 . Equality of Opportunity in Recreational Programmes:

            Recreational programme athletics, music, art, dramatics, etc., should be opened to all on an equal basis.

16. Remedial Teaching:

Remedial teachers may be appointed who meet such students twice a week.

17. Cooperation of All Agencies:

            All agencies engaged in the children’s welfare work should co-operate to help and guide slow learners.

Educational programmes for Slow Learners:

1. Remedial Instruction
2. Healthy Environment
3. Periodical Medical Check-up
4. Non-Promotion
5. Motivation
6. Individual Attention
7. Special Methods of teaching
8. Home Visits by the teachers
9. Maintenance of Progress Record

Conclusion:

            Attempts have been made to chalk out the remedial measures and some guidelines for the teachers. But problems are not easy to surmount. A Teacher may be the first diagnostician rather than an instructor. But educational psychologists, social workers and state authorities should take interest in discovering and rectifying the causes of slow learning.

Reference:

Ø  Special Education of Backward Children

            www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Ø  School Education - Teacher Education

            www.teindia.nic.in/Files/Reports

Ø  DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT OF SLOW LEARNING ... www.scribd.com/doc/25376434/Characteristics-of-Slow-Learners

Ø  Wikipedia

Ø  Psychological base of education/exceptional children

QUESTIONS

1.As a teacher what are the strategies to guide a gifted student in your classroom?

2.which are the methods adopted to identify  slow learners?

3.write a essay about the problems and possibilties of gifted students?