Einstein once said " If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live it's whole life believing it is stupid." Children are far more intelligent than we give them credit for. It is us the adults with our limit and programmed minds that take away this genius from children. Instead of letting them explore and figure the world out by themselves, we restrict them and drive them in the same direct we were drove to. It's a cycle that needs to end. Instead of "showing them the way", we'd rather walk with them side by side just to guide them instead of directing them.
How would this theory be applicable in the classroom? Well what I've come to realise about my learners is that they are great at mischief, they truly excel in it. Besides being mischievous, during activities they deem fun, their creative juices overflow. These can be coming up with a play, dramatising poetry, doing science experiments, participating in arts and crafts and so on. Their behaviour got me thinking and this is the theory I came up with.
In challenging subjects such as mathematics, English and Sciences, it would be a great idea to let the learners suggest what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. Introduce the topics or the concept in class and briefly explain what each entails. After this let the learners which one sounds easier than the rest. What you'll be achieving here is creating an impression in their minds that there are very easy concepts to understand and there are difficult ones, which is good. Why is this good? That's because after going through the "easy" one, you'll then again present the concept and explain them in brief making some sound easier then others. Before you know it you would have gone through all the work with the learners perceiving everything you've been doing as easy.
Another complementary approach to this is to let the learners decide how best they can learn the concepts, whether through media, pictures, peer to peer, applying what is being taught and learned practically, ect. This will be more challenging as it will require a lot of resources which most teachers in most schools won't be able to afford. But if there are means to get hold of the necessary resources then kudos to that school and its teachers.
If we give the learners the impression that they are indeed capable of being geniuses and that their learning is in their hands, this encouragement and responsibility placed upon their shoulders will lead them to actively participate in their learning and actually get excited about the process.
