About Learning

Joyful Learning

            Have we ever imagined we are in the middle of the orchestra of a great concert and we are the conductor of the orchestra?  The answer may be ‘No’!... How can a person who knows nothing about music be a conductor of an orchestra? Even, crossing in mind has never happened and will never.

Such responses are quite logical since there are only a few of us who know about music and some say that it deals much with a talent, and others say that it needs a high intelligence. But what is going to discuss on this column is nothing to do with music, it’s an analogy of a teacher that is supposed to be a conductor in the middle of a class. Why is it so? From the point of view of Quantum Teaching these are the answers:

First, the students’ humming is actually the nice sound of musical instruments which will be beautifully and harmoniously heard if it’s arranged  well. Second, the students’ body movements such as rising hand, leaning body forward because of being interested in the lesson given or willing to ask a question are kinds of dances accompanying a song. Third, the students’ loud question and answer is the song itself, and last but not the least the classroom is the setting of the stage. So, what is the role of a teacher in the big concert? Nothing else…, he/she is the ‘conductor’!

Lozano (1978) in De Porter (2002) writes that teaching and learning process is a complex phenomenon. Everything involved such as words, thoughts, actions are meaningful and valuable. The better we arrange the environment, the presentation, and the teaching design; the better the learning process will be. The teaching and learning process will be joyful if the ‘conductor’ can arrange all aspects involved beautifully and harmoniously.

Basically, there is no any learner that is called ‘stupid’. One must have superiority and inferiority. He/she has superiority in certain field but he/she has inferiority in the other field. One may be not quite good at academic aspects but he/she can be good at social or religious ones.  As a teacher we are supposed to recognize any superiority that our students have or what is well known as multiple intelligences. In the constructivism approach, we should construct what they have had with the new knowledge that we have or the new knowledge from their own friends. In this way we perform as a facilitator. We ‘facilitate’(make easy: Oxford Advanced Dictionary, 1983) the learning process by (1) giving tasks or assignments connecting to their own personal experience, (2) encouraging them to work in groups, (3) encouraging them to play various roles, (4) giving freedom and comfortable environment,  (5) appreciating any effort they have made, and (6) celebrating any success they have reached.

Degeng, (2005) says that we never become a teacher if we never get a mock from our students. And one thing to be kept in mind is: ‘Never make our students become us, only us is enough’.

Hopefully, if it can be done, a joyful learning can be created. As a result, the atmosphere of a more discipline school with more qualified outputs can also be got since the students feel comfortable at school and miss to learn more and more. But again, the supports of all elements of the institution can’t be neglected because principally the essence of Competence Based Curriculum is contextual teaching and learning with its learning community and modeling. Let’s try to implement it for the sake of the better quality of our beloved institution!...

References:

Hornby, (1983). Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. Oxford Univ. Press

De Porter, (2002). Quantum Teaching. Allyn & Bacon

Degeng, (2005). Teori Belajar Berbasis Konstruktivistik. UM Press