Learning to learn by Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra

1. NATIONAL CURRICULUM
FRAMEWORK 2005
For School Education
Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra
(Next Education)

2. Problem of Curriculum Load
 Joyless
learning
 Examination system
 Textbook as the ‘Truth’
 Structure of syllabus
 Language Textbooks
 Starting Early

3. Making of NCF-2005
 Need
of drafting NCF-2005
 Procedure of making of NCF-2005

4. 




(a) the school system is characterized by an inflexibility that
makes it resistant to change;
(b) learning has become an isolated activity, which does not
encourage children to link knowledge with their lives in any
organic or vital way;
(c) schools promote a regime of thought that discourages
creative thinking and insights;
(d) what is presented and transmitted in the name of
learning in schools bypasses vital dimensions of the human
capacity to create new knowledge;
(e) the “future” of the child has taken centre stage to the
near exclusion of the child's" present”, which is detrimental
to the well-being of the child as well as the society and the
nation.

5. NCF DRAFTING COMMITTEE

7. NCF-Aims of Education
(Based on the Constitutions’ Vision of India)
 Independence
of thought and action
 Learning to respond to new situations
flexibly and creatively
 Pre-disposition for participation in
democratic process and social change
 Empower all children to learn

8. Distortion of Aims of Education
(Learning has become a source of burden and
stress for children)
 Textbooks/Workbooks
 Information
Overload
 Incomprehension
 Tests and Examinations

9. NCF – Learning And Knowledge
The Child as Learner and What Should be Learnt
NCF Perspectives
Commonly Held Views
All children are motivated and
capable of learning
Not true of large numbers of
children
Children learn in a variety of
ways
Children learn in limited ways
Developing capacity for abstract
thinking, reflection and work are
most important aspects of learning
Developing generally only skills
necessary for helping students
pass or excel in examinations
Child as a ‘critical’ learner and
constructor of knowledge
Child as passive imbibers of
textbook information and
providing set answers to all
questions
Different types of knowledge as
embodied in the traditional
curriculum as well as in the world
outside the school
Knowledge as embodied in
textbooks

10. Children’s Knowledge And Local Knowledge
Local Knowledge is a Rich Source of Learning
for All Children

11. Implications for Curriculum & Practice
 Teaching
for Construction of Knowledge
 The Value of Interactions
 Designing Learning Experiences
 Approaches to Planning
 Critical Pedagogy

12. Framing Questions
If the answer is, ‘It was red’, what might be the
questions?
 What was the color of the flower?
 Why did you put the letter into that box?
 Why did she stop so suddenly at the traffic
light?

13. NCF CURRICULUM AREAS
Traditional
 Mathematics
 Language
 Science
 Social Sciences
Other Areas
 Art Education
 Health & Physical
Education
 Education for Peace
 Habitat & Learning

14. NCF – Language
•
•
•
Three language formula reaffirmed – importance of home
language
Multilingualism as a resource
“English as subject” and “English as medium”

15. NCF - Science
What biology can Janabai, an ‘incapable’ tribal secondary
school student learn ? What biology does she know ?
•
Can use different plants as sources of food, medicines,
fuel, wood, dyes and building materials
•
Recognises differences between trees and notices
seasonal variations based on shape, size, distribution of
leaves and flowers, smells, textures
•
Can identify 100 different plants – more than her biology
teacher who believes Janabai is a poor student

16. NCF - Science
•
Science should nurture curiosity and creativity particularly
in relationship to the environment
•
Science teaching should be placed in the context of
children’s environment to help them enter the world of
work
•
Awareness of environmental concerns

17. NCF – Social Sciences
•
Equip children to think critically on social issues
•
Interdisciplinary approach to key national concerns such
as gender, human rights, marginalised minorities, etc.
•
Civics to be recast as political science
•
Significance of history – conception of past and civic
identity

18. NCF-Mathematics
 Main
goal of Mathematics is Mathematisation
rather than Knowledge of Mathematics

19. NCF – Systemic Reforms
Concern for
Quality

20. NCF – Systemic Reforms
Teacher education for curriculum renewal

22. NCF – Systemic Reforms
Examination Reforms
•
Shift from content-based teaching to problem solving and
understanding
•
Schools should evolve continuous evaluation for
diagnosis and remedial learning
•
Maths and English board exams at different levels
•
No board or state level exams at Class 5, 8 or 11

23. NCF - Systemic Reforms
Examination Reforms
•
Shift from content-based teaching to problem solving
and understanding
Understanding in Mathematics
•
If you know that 235+367=602, how much is 234+369? How
did you find the answer?
•
Change any one digit in 5384. Did the number increase or
decrease? By how much

24. THANK YOU