Kavita Sanghvi is today known for promoting STEM learning. She completed her master’s degree in Physics from Mumbai University and followed it up with MPhil in Education. She is a national awardee and received the same from President Droupadi Murmu. Kavita was nominated as Top 50 teachers in 2016 by the Varkey Foundation for the Global Teacher Prize award and is a Global Teacher Prize Ambassador. Along with this, she is a Teach SDGs Ambassador and Scientix Ambassador for India.
Very often students complain that learning is becoming a burden and they feel pressurised. Well, if learning is a process and not a by product of education, it must be ensured that both students and teachers are learning willingly and not as a forced compulsion. To achieve this, Chatrabhuj Narsee Memorial School, Mumbai has undertaken a mission of converting every corner and wall of the school into a learning zone.
Firstly, the management noted the classes on each floor and evaluated their curriculums with teachers. After taking proper feedback, they tried to understand the concepts students found most challenging and those that are essential in the coming years. Finally, the concepts were compiled and brainstorming sessions followed. It was kept in mind that the concept illustrations were not direct replicas from textbooks. The drawings were primarily made to promote critical thinking in students who would watch the illustrations and activities on walls and pillars and would be bent on resolving them as a puzzle or game and conduct more research.
For first standard, the school emphasized on English grammar to help students construct sentences. In Mathematics, emphasis was laid on number stories and basic operations. In Science, the focus was on human body, plants and animals. A similar process was followed for all other classes and soon the work began! Multiple games, puzzles and illustrations were displayed in every nook and corner of the school.
Angles were drawn on classroom doors for students to learn by daily observation. Teachers could also teach moment of force with the painting. Some illustrations made students recognize shapes from a drawing. Some had puzzles connected to double facts. Some illustrations shared strategies and some stimulated thinking on properties of addition. Proper drawing of the organ system was displayed and the labelling was left for children to fill in. Numbers were painted on staircases. Some even have the breadth and length mentioned where students were asked to figure the area out.
The initiative helped students learn visually and stimulated their senses. It nourished students’ curiosity and they became happy learners. The impact was measured through classroom discussions. Children now talked about innovation and actively participated in engaging conversations. Innovation in pedagogy can truly bring about magic. Hence, it is important for us to work towards achieving it!
Students’ involvement was essential for the idea to work. So, teachers shared the body of work with students and asked for their inputs. Kids who were good in drawing and painting joined hands with Art teachers and professionals to recreate the idea in the school corridor. Permanent paint was used so that the illustrations would last year round
