differentiated learning strategies Archives

What Are the Five Components of Project-Based Learning?

November 24, 2022November 30, 2022By admin

You can build a learning environment that encourages student participation and 21st-century skill development beyond rote memorisation by using the differentiated learning strategies and five components of PBL designated by the Tapas School.

Teachers engage students in learning via project-based learning. Students will be immersed in a project requiring them to research, analyse, and ultimately conclude on a real-world issue or subject for anything from a week to an entire semester. They put their knowledge and abilities to the test by giving a presentation in front of an actual audience.

This leads to pupils becoming more well-rounded individuals with enhanced capacities for analysis, evaluation, innovation, and discourse. Students and teachers at Tapas School are given the freedom to express their creativity via project-based learning.

A project-based learning curriculum aims to have students acquire knowledge and skills. At the same time, they work to investigate and adapt to a real-world, relevant, and complex subject, problem, or challenge.

PBL

Content Knowledge & Skills

Compared to traditional classroom-based learning, project-based learning fosters a deeper comprehension of ideas and increases student creativity. Integrating a PBL unit’s content into students’ needs and expectations for understanding is one of the most critical aspects of building a project-based learning curriculum. Teachers must develop the connection between student participation and standards-based content by consciously designing and preparing lessons.

Teachers must first and foremost be aware of the passions and interests of their students. Students can be motivated to work harder if they feel their efforts are being oriented toward something they value, whether a school-related problem, the preservation of a personal ideology, a serious social issue, or a personal challenge.

Authenticity & Relevance

Students that take part in high-quality PBL acquire abilities, procedures, and outcomes that are well-matched for the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Despite this, students will only participate in even the most sophisticated, diversified, and open-ended projects if they are interested in them. As a result, authenticity is crucial to PBL. PBL means that students are involved in work that directly affects or is used in the real world or work that is authentic to them and true to their life.

Real-world issues are challenging. Problems are seldom resolved in the actual world by taking one particular route to one particular outcome. Instead, dealing with complicated problems often entails identifying and resolving a range of smaller ones.

This authentic approach to problem-solving should be reflected in a project-based curriculum.

With an emphasis on assisting student hypothesis testing and creation, teachers can promote this sort of authenticity. The majority of the time, when it comes to research, problem-solving, and decision-making, students should be in the lead.

This focus on authenticity must be maintained throughout the PBL process, from planning to the final outcome. Students will only benefit effectively from project-based learning with it. The motivating element behind the PBL experience is the realism ingrained in the initial hook.

Student Voice & Choice

By giving students a say in their learning, teachers can reduce the number of “dessert projects” that occur after the educational process. A “dessert” project is a unique treat since it gives the student an enjoyable or creative challenge assigned by teachers. When students are involved in their work, they start to show it. Students will have more opportunities to learn throughout the project if they are given the freedom to express their opinions, get feedback, and experiment than if they wait until the end to demonstrate their learning. Voice and choice are among the differentiated learning strategies to foster experimentation, culminating in more creative solutions aimed at students and a more polished final result. Through trial and error, students gain self-assurance and competence and learn valuable “soft skills”, including conversation, teamwork, and oral and written communication.

Collaboration

Even though it is a crucial component of the project-based curriculum, collaboration is often downplayed when discussing the advantages of project-based learning.

Students can benefit from one another’s achievements by working together. This is similar to the encouragement and shared accomplishment that members of a sports team experience. Allowing children to participate in a more significant objective boosts confidence and fosters long-lasting connections. Working together to accomplish this is a terrific feeling. The same is possible in the classroom as well. Students can bond with one another and participate in the success of a presentation when they collaborate to make it happen.

Feedback & Revision

Soliciting feedback from classmates, teachers, or other grownups can help you get different viewpoints that could help you deal with a problem or discover an undiscovered opportunity. Since it is not a regular practice in traditional classrooms, giving and getting feedback can be difficult for many students. As a result, we advise outlining and modeling productive feedback, primarily feedback that is kind, detailed, and useful. Fortunately, a broad range of approaches and differentiated learning strategies supports a safe place for fair criticism of a student’s work.

At Tapas School, students need clear guidelines to demonstrate their understanding and to complete the work they set out to do. We ensure to review the project’s goals with students and discuss whether or not their progress is on track to meet set goals.

Final Thoughts

differentiated learning strategies

What does education entail? What circumstances lead to the most profound and most effective learning? Most of us learn best by doing, analysing, reflecting, and iterating. The fundamental elements of what we love most about education are placed front and centre in our formal learning settings via PBL.

Students in a project-based learning setting develop the skills necessary to succeed individually and collectively as a part of a community that includes high achievers, followers, and learners. Since learning happens naturally in the “real world,” the project-based curriculum at Tapas School helps students prepare for it. The teachers of Tapas School are skilled in their subjects, classroom management, instructional techniques, and student development. These domains of expertise enable them to provide engaging, intriguing courses pertinent to their students!

What is the Difference between conventional and progressive teaching methods?

September 21, 2022November 25, 2022By admin

The traditional method of teaching is made up of two solids: Chalk and Talk. Centered around a teacher.

So, there is a classroom full of children and one teacher who is the central figure and the only one who provides information. While every school’s primary function and priority is to provide education to the children as well as get optimal results, it all starts going in different directions when how to implement the teaching methods is down for discussion.

In a traditional classroom, discipline is taught separately, for example, wherein in a progressive setup, it is integrated through the learning processes and becomes a part of life as a whole. Basically, it all comes down to how the curriculum is being taught. Students in a traditional school are expected to process the information as soon as the teacher has taught the children. In a progressive school, however, there is no structured curriculum and everything is taught by experience and subtle guidance by the educators.

The main difference between the two methods is that conventional teaching has been and continues to be governed by grades, exams and homework, leaving one child happier than the other. The sense of competition amongst the children is higher than the sense of achievement. Whereas in the PBL (Project Based Learning) system, every child learns through collaborative inclusion, experiences and play. The difference here lies in student learning and where it is centered. Traditional schools focus on the teachers and subjects taught while progressive school focuses on the student.

Child centric teaching

Conventionally, teachers hold the authority in teaching various subjects and are considered to be the source of all information. To set a particular academic standard, teachers have to gauge whether the students have learned the subject at hand, and whether are they ready to pass exams. For this reason, oftentimes teachers take a rigid approach and directness. It all boils down to rote learning, pass or fail. On the other hand, in a progressive school, the teachers are facilitators instead of figures of authority. They help the child learn and think, whether it is in the confines of a classroom or outside. Knowledge comes from everywhere and the teachers do not claim to be the experts as they gently nudge the child in the correct direction of his/her choice. Therein, the child can use any number of sources and resources to find and process information. These can be inclusive of their personal interests, peer interactions, sense of adventure, play and experiences.

Progressive educational institution

The conventional methods of teaching have long since established that learning is passive and the students aren’t active participants in the process of learning. Information is disseminated through the information that a teacher provides and the understanding of a particular subject that a child perceives is subjected to grades without so much as a second thought as to why the child did not understand or process the information correctly.

A progressive school, on the other hand, has experiential learning methods devoid of homework, grading systems, rote learning and exams. Since progressive learning itself uses two different approaches, they tend to follow less structure and more experience and experimentation systems to ensure that the child has the look and feel of it all. This keeps evolving with each subject distinctly. Discipline is integrated into the teaching and the students learn to connect the dots.

Differentiated learning strategies

Traditional or Progressive, both methods have their pros and cons. How amazing would it be if a parent got the best of both worlds? This is where Tapas education, a progressive learning institution in Bangalore comes in. The best practices of the conventional and project-based teaching methods are synergised and interspersed with an exclusive program that is devised for the Tapas students.

The curriculum follows a set of routines, structures and standards but also, but each child is nurtured by the educator with guidance and personalised attention. Students are taught critical thinking, decision-making skills and knowledge application besides test-taking skills and study habits.

Conclusion

When literacy, humanities, numeracy and life skills can be integrated into one wholesome curriculum, why keep the boundaries? When the children can make connections between all the subjects with an inherent discipline, why subject them to rote learning? These are imperative questions to ask oneself as a parent.

https://tapaseducation.com/ has created an alliance between the conventional and progressive methods, that prepares each individual student to be successful, remaining grateful and kind in all areas of their lives. This kind of nurturing environment exemplifies the wisdom and merit that all parents strive for their children to have.

How to choose the right school board for your child?

September 14, 2022November 25, 2022By admin

The world is marching rapidly toward globalization so how can education be left behind? In fact, it is leading the modernisation brigade. The pressure is on the parents to furnish their children with skills that are recognised globally, preparing them for a future anywhere.

In India, choices in educational streams or schooling systems have moved to newer ways of schooling, and adding to that, are the new boards that have trooped in from across the globe. Different education boards make it so much easier for modern parents to decide and shape their child’s futures.

Primarily, there are a handful of boards in India, and they all maintain different methods of teaching, learning programs, syllabuses, requirements for the curriculum, criteria for assessments, processes for tests, etc. All of these are contributing factors to the development of the students in a prepared and thorough manner.

Categories of School boards

There are a few main categories of boards which are listed below. Prominently, these are the ones that are most popular with parents nowadays.

CBSE – Central Board of Secondary Education.
CISCE – Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.
NIOS – National Institute of Open Schooling.
IB – International Baccalaureate.
CIE – Cambridge International Education.
IGCSE – International General Certificate of Secondary Education.

Because India has a huge population and one of the largest education systems in the world, there is a place for everyone and there are choices for every stratum of the society with different mindsets and skill sets kept in mind.

Having a host of boards to choose from, is a rather difficult choice. An uphill task to make a choice based on the pros and cons, this can be very difficult. But a few pointers can help find the right direction, although the decision has to be made independently as it’s a better portion of a student’s childhood that is in question and the shaping of which is inherently very important. Each board has differentiated learning strategies integrated with the set curriculum to bring out the best results.

CBSE is like the brand ambassador of the Indian Education system. Most schools opt for it as the board they offer. They offer a structured curriculum with well-defined subjects. Their focus is knowledge application and skill-based learning. Typically, they have 6 main subjects and one vocational subject. With a host of extracurricular activities, they not only focus on education but also on preparing the children for the future with confidence. Their exams are fairly easy compared to the other boards, their teaching pedagogy is also straightforward.

ICSE on the other hand is a more difficult board and it was a fact right up until IB took over that baton. ICSE always focused on curriculum and high-level learning and excelling has always been their priority. They have a rigid structure in terms of subjects with little or no choice. While they encourage co-curricular activities, the only thing that is out of the ordinary is that there is again no choice and a child has to have a skill set. This system is high on rote learning but over the years they have outshone the other boards.

IB is a pioneer in the education system globally. Considered prestigious in India, they are a rather expensive choice for a big chunk of society. They have a curriculum that is designed based on the topic and subject. The pedagogy is immersive learning at its best. It doesn’t support the textbook learning methods as most of their subjects are integrated into one another. Since these are expensive schools, they also have fantastic infrastructure that allows them to have many interesting extracurricular activities that many schools may not be able to. The most demanding curriculum and teaching pedagogy, IB has a continuous assessment system rather than terms and exams.

IGCSE on the other hand is one of the most popular schooling systems for modern parents due to the Cambridge International education it imparts. It is also one of the largest education systems in the world. The students that pass out from here are accepted in universities worldwide, namely the UK, USA, Canada, Middle Eastern countries, Europe, Asia, etc. making it the most viable option there is. The Cambridge syllabus starts from primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, to advanced level and this is called ‘ The Cambridge Pathway.’

Conclusion

India has adapted to this board easier than others as it prepares the students for life. There are many IGCSE-affiliated schools in Bangalore, one of which is Tapas Education. An international school in Bangalore with gurukul interspersed with differentiated learning strategies. Although they follow the Cambridge syllabus, they also customize learning programs. The admissions are open for next year (2023-24). Check the website https://tapaseducation.com/ out for more information.