New vs Traditional Teaching Methods :: Education

Becoming a rational citizen is a process that involves a series of lessons which are created to guide every person to create strong foundations for self-judgment and reasoning. Therefore, it is very important to find the right way to send this essential information to the students in order to promote creativity and efficiency for the new generations which are considered the drive to innovation, social and economic growth (V. S.Damodharan & V. Rengarajan 07).In this case, the measure of efficiency in teaching besides the material presented, narrows down to the process used in the teaching system. Frankly speaking, if we consider the available methods for teaching today, the debate will definitely occur between the old schooling system versus the new schooling system. Being told what to do to get an A isn’t just an experience that my friends and I have had in our years in elementary school but it’s also the main characteristic of the so-called old schooling system. This teaching method emphasizes the theoretical part of learning and it is mostly considered as â€Å"copy-paste† learning. This terminology means that the material explained in class is the teacher’s notes or a book (Damodharan & Rengarajan 04), from the students it is expected to know that information word by word if they want to have a good grade. Since the lessons are teacher oriented mostly, the students are the passive party in the classroom and that leads to less interaction between students in class and no critical thinking for issues being presented. Consequently this lack of discussion in class has a negative effect only on the student because it reduces the chances for feedback or context clarification while lecturing. Last but not least, teaching theory without putting it on life situations may cause students to lose interest in their studies since the system considers him/her just as a number in the class and not a valuable person who can contribute with valuable ideas for the community. Working in groups and having chances to discuss with each other about the lesson is the main characteristic of new schooling system. This teaching method emphasizes the importance of collaborating with each other and it helps students get more involved in cooperative learning.