Raising children does not only entail providing for their needs, teaching them how to walk, talk, and doing the regular remote parenting pattern. It also inculcates the provision of the right knowledge, attitude, skills, and resources needed for children to try new things on their own and develop some level of independence in their world. Empowering children through learning is a student-centered approach to learning, a propeller for them to do what they already know and enjoy doing.
The most powerful resource in the classroom is the child’s mind, and that is the best and most efficient tool to empower. To empower their mind through learning means making them involved, informed, and heard through planning and developing programmes of enriched activities to make them feel capable and realize that they are the drivers of their future.
Children are inquisitive in nature. They want to know why, when, and how things are done. They seek the meaning and origin of ideas and things. They have sound analytical skills which they developed through interactions. They ask reasonable questions and answers from conversations. They are always curious and motivated.
Empowering children means letting them explore their diverse observations, imaginations, opinions, dreams, and hopes and to develop these into their day to day activities. This gives them a democratic learning experience that will be beneficial to both the learners and the teachers. It inculcates the classroom philosophy of compliance into empowered engagements. It also enhances the evolution of the mind for those who are creators, innovators, and deep thinkers, yet distinctive in their exams and academic activities.
Whether a remote, hybrid, or face to face learning environment, there is a need to start a focus on the learners and create a forum for them to lead in the decision making of their learning experience.
To empower children means they should…
- Be given choice of presentation of their works.
- Decide the strategy to use in a particular task.
- Develop ideas to lead in learning groups.
- Plan projects and events independently.
- Develop their speaking skills through class presentations.
- Be given a voice through forums to provide constructive and timely feedback.
- Be involved in real-life learning experience by making what they learn in class applicable to the real world.
- Be asked about their passion, goals, interests, and strengths and to embed them in their curriculum development.
- Be encouraged in students-led tutorials. The best way to teach is to learn because to teach is to learn twice.
- Be encouraged in student-led personal development where they teach different skills to their peers.
Through these and many more hands-on learning and stimulating activities, children are better developed into bright young minds and future responsible adults. They develop the passion to be transformed into the superior version of themselves and have the courage to execute tasks with ease.
Benefits of Empowered Learning in Children
- It helps develop a sense of their world through exploration, enquiry, interaction, and problem solving.
- It fosters curiosity, motivation, independence, and confidence in children.
- It makes children view opportunities for growth and development both personally and professionally.
- It makes them learn and apply new skills, as well as focus on their personal strengths.
- It makes them willing to take risks, gives them a growth mindset, welcome challenges, and learn from their mistakes.
- It makes them express their views and ask the why questions and be able to explain their teaching methods more.
- It encourages responsibility for learning and the ability to share interests and experiences.
- It helps prepare them for life, builds their confidence, self esteem and helps their flexibility, communication, and creative thinking.
- It encourages them to learn, tackle mistakes, and be more willing to deal with new challenges.
- It is an easier way to create young entrepreneurs.
The level of autonomy children can have in their classroom and play environment determines the level of passion and involvement they will be with their life and future. This intellectual empowerment gives them the thoughts, views, desires, and opinions they need to have an innate understanding of their environment and their world.
Parents and teachers need to understand the difference between compliance and engagement in learning methodology. While compliance is a necessary requirement, engagement is the learning motivation and the stimulus of interest for a desired outcome. Some children lose interest in learning because engagement (allowing them to leverage their passion and interest) is sacrificed on the altar of compliance (strict adherence to curriculum and set rules).
Amara Ann Unachukwu
