Learning Skills For Students
Learning is a lifelong approach and attitude, and it will serve you well if cultivated properly, which means opening to new experiences and ideas and allowing ourselves to grow from what we encounter in the world. Learning should not be mistaken as studying, because while studying learning happens in a confined way but real learning has no circumference. It can go beyond, it doesn’t require a classroom. For example, you must have heard people saying “ I have learned a lot from life”, or “ Dhoni learned from his friend how to hit the Thappad Shot.”
In particular, the learning skills that are beneficial to students mainly comprise of 4C’s, the pivotal pillars of learning. We will discuss them here.
Creativity
Creativity is vital to success in school and it’s a valuable learning pursuit. It grabs the attention of everyone, be it answering a literature question or solving a mathematical problem, the creativity of a child is conspicuous. Creating something from the unknown is always praiseworthy.
Communication
Communication skills are an important aspect that a student must develop. It is the responsibility of the parents and teachers to develop this skill in a child. Some children have this quality innate in them while others can develop them easily. If we want to make a child a good communicator, first of all, he/she must learn the skills of listening, which means he/she must be a good listener which would imply his/her improvement in verbal and non-verbal communication skills. Brian Tracy said “ Communication is a skill that you can learn like riding a bicycle or typing. If you are willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality at every point of your life.
Collaboration
When a teacher assigns a group project, collaborative learning happens. This is an approach that encourages students to create groups and work together. When such types of conditions are created, children develop social skills and they communicate well. They learn from their peers, as for any query that comes up, different students have different answers, as a result they learn from each other. Above all, they build trust and gain confidence. Collaborative skills have a secured place among the learning skills, which a student must develop.
Curiosity
Curiosity is the desire to learn, to understand new things and to know how they work. Curiosity is the urge to learn, it opens the mind to different levels. Creating a condition for children to ask questions develops their curiosity, once the skill is developed, they do not feel shy to ask questions. The mind of a curious child always remains active as a result they take part in all activities. A neurological study has shown that curiosity makes our brains more receptive to learning. Without being curious neither Sir Issac Newton would have ever formulated the laws of physics nor Alexander Fleming would have discovered penicillin. As Albert Einstein said, “The important thing is to not to stop questioning, curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
Beyond the 4Cs
Understanding leadership is an essential learning skill that every student must develop within. Natural leaders are always an asset in every classroom, from monitoring to collecting money for some given purpose, leadership matters. A student whose attitude moves from “ I can do it” to “We can do it“ makes the classroom better. It’s the responsibility of the teacher and parents to allow such students to go-ahead in their chores to see more, do more and learn more.
In this present day scenario, “media literacy” is the most important thing to be learned by students. To attract the attention of viewers on social media, there are phony photos, celebrity gossip, easy wins etc. This type of information is known as “clickbait”. Students must be very careful while watching and forwarding any information whose source is not known. Having the consequence in mind if students use social media, not only will they save their time but also they would stop gossip mongers who make unnecessary stuff go viral.
Today’s students are part of a world that is intertwined and interconnected. With exposure to proper learning skills, their minds would be prepared to lead from the front in a newer world.