IMPORTANCE OF CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

“All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy.”

 Education is a pretty broad concept that surpasses the four walls of a classroom. The core aim of education is to foster all round development of a child. All round development essentially means intellectual, physical, moral, sensible and social development. All round development can be achieved only through education. Education plays a fundamental role in the making of a man and his development as a culturally well developed social animal. To fulfil these objectives, there is a prime need of striking a balance between syllabus, curriculum, books and also co-curricular activities beyond that.

Co-Curricular activities are those which are undertaken side by side with the curricular activities. A co-curricular activity essentially takes place outside a typical pen and pencil classroom experience. It gives the students an opportunity to develop particular skills and exhibit their non-academic abilities. These activities might be compulsory, such as music, art or drama classes that take place during the day. Others generally are voluntary, such as participating in school sports team, school debating team or student newsletters. In either case, participation can assist students in more than one ways.

Co-curricular activities are vital because even though they are not a part of the core curriculum, they play a very crucial role in giving the young boys and girls the ability to mould their lives to become well rounded people. The school activities have to be designed purposefully to give an apt mix of student’s participation in academics and also create a chance for all round development.

Role of Co-Curricular activities in a student’s life cannot be put into words easily. But let us understand some of the major benefits:

• Overall Personality
• Self Confidence
• Developed specialised skills
• Improved Academic Performance
• Sense of Responsibility
• Exposure to New Activities

Benefits of Inclusive Education

Benefits of Inclusive Education

The benefits of inclusive education are numerous for both students with and without disabilities.

Benefits of Inclusion for Students With Disabilities

1. Friendships
2. Increased social initiations, relationships and networks
3. Peer role models for academic, social and behavior skills
4. Increased achievement of  IEP goals
5. Greater access to general curriculum
6. Enhanced skill acquisition and generalization
7. Increased inclusion in future environments
8. Greater opportunities for interactions
9. Higher expectations
10. Increased school staff collaboration
11. Increased parent participation
12. Families are more integrated into community
     

Benefits of Inclusion for Students Without Disabilities

1. Meaningful friendships 
2. Increased appreciation and acceptance of individual differences
3. Increased understanding and acceptance of diversity
4. Respect for all people
5. Prepares all students for adult life in an inclusive society
6. Opportunities to master activities by practicing and teaching others
7. Greater academic outcomes
8. All students needs are better met, greater resources for everyone
   
   

IMPORTANCE OF GIRLS' EDUCATION

Introduction: There was a time when people thought that it was not necessary to educate girls. Now we have begun to realize that girls’ education is essential. The modern age is the age of awakening of girls. They are trying to compete with men in all spheres of life. There are many people who oppose girls’ education. They say that the proper sphere of girls is the home. So, they argue that the money spent on girl’s education is wasted. This view is wrong, because girl’s education can bring about a silent resolution in the society.

Importance of girls Education: There is several advantage of girls’ education. Grown up educated girls can play an important role in the development of their country.

They can share the burden of men in the different walk of life. When girls are well-educated, not forced to marry during childhood, they will be able serve the society as writers, educators, teachers, lawyers, doctors, administrators, politicians, scientists, and much more. They can work at banks, hospitals, government offices and large businesses. They can play an important role during war.

Education is a boon to girls in this age of economic crisis. Gone are the days of plenty and prosperity. Now-a-days it is difficult for the people of the middle class to make both ends meet. After marriage, educated girls can add to the income of their husbands. If a woman is educated, she can earn a living after the death of her husband.

Girls’ education is necessary for making the homes a happy place. A man’s life blossom he is blessed with well-educated women as wife and mother. Educated girls can brighten the future of their country by the good upbringing of their children. Education gives a woman freedom of thought. It broadens her outlook and makes her aware of her duties and responsibilities.

Education empower a grown up girl to become economically independent. They will be able to stand up for their rights. Girls have all the rights to get educated. Empowerment of girls and women is necessary to fight against the problem of gender-inequality.

Education of rural girls is equally important. The rural girls are not getting ample opportunity for education. Education of these girls would have positive impact on both economy and society.

Suggestions: Many people say that girls should not go in for degrees. They are wrong, because girls have already proved their worth in all walks of life. There is no reason why girls should not get the same kind of education as men. But they should not neglect their duties at the home. So, girls must have knowledge of domestic science and child psychology.

Conclusion: The progress of a country depends on girls’ education. So, girls’ education should be encouraged.

Importance of Class 10 th board exam

Since 2010, the CBSE had made the class 10 board examinations optional to remove the fear of ‘board exam’ and reduce exam stress among students. Class 10 students who opt out of the CBSE board exams would be evaluated based on the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) system that was introduced. CBSE has finally taken the decision to make class 10 board exams compulsory again on 20 December, 2016.The importance of board exams for class 10 cannot be overlooked.

Here are a few reasons why we believe that students should opt for taking the CBSE board exams in class 10:

1. Keep options open:

If you plan to move out of the CBSE board after class 10, then taking the class 10 board exams becomes mandatory. For instance, the Maharashtra government ruled that only those CBSE students who took the board exams were eligible to apply to junior colleges through the centralized admission process (CAP).

2.  Learn to handle & channelize stress:

The entire examination process should be taken as an experience that teaches the 14-15 year old to handle and tackle stress and inculcate habits like time-management, prioritisation, planning, scheduling etc.

We should stop focussing on only the negative impacts of stress (which kick in only when stress levels reaches its extreme). Instead we need to realise that that there are positive effects of stress like enhanced productivity – stress can cause the brain to use more of its capabilities and thus increase productivity. These claims are based on the findings by Yale researcher Alia Crum and Shawn Achor, author of “The Happiness Advantage”.

3.  Know where you stand:

Taking the class 10 board exams is an excellent litmus test that gives you a clear indication of where you stand as compared to not just your 29 class-mates but class 10 students across India. Since boards are conducted at a national level, a not-so-good performance in class 10 boards will come across as a wake-up call for you to perform better.

4.  Get a taste of class 12 board exams:

Class 10 students should treat their board exams as a trial run for the class 12 board exams. The entire experience of going to another school and being seated with students from other schools, with teachers from different schools as invigilators can be an intimidating and novel experience for many students.

5.  Face your fear:

Once you’ve successfully faced and conquered the class 10 board exams, you’ll find your fear of facing tougher, bigger exams fading away. So instead of running away from your fear of failure/ taking a big exam and relying on easier solutions, it would be wiser to look it in the face and gain confidence and strength in the process.

Thorndike's Trial &Error Theory

The famous psyhologist Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) was the initiator of the theory of trial and error learning based on the findings of his experiments on chickens, rats and cats.
In one of his experiments, for instance, he put a hungry cat in a puzzzle box. There was only one door which could be opened by correctly manipulating a latch. A fish was placed outside the box. The smell of the fish acted as a strong motive for the hungry cat to come out of the box. The situation is described by Thorrndike himself as:
"It tries to squeeze through every opening; it claws and bites at the bars or wires, it thrusts its paws through any opening and claws at everything it reaches". In this way, it made a number of random movements and in one of the random movements, the latch was manipulated acccidentally. The cat came out and got its reward.
In another trial, the proceess was repeated. The cat was kept hungry and placed in the same puzzle box; it again made random movements and frantic efforts. But this time, it took less time to come out. In subsequent trials such incorrect responses, biting, clawing and dashing were gradually reduced and the cat took less time on each succeding trial. In due course, it was in a position to manipulate the latch as soon as it was put in the box. In this way, gradually, the cat learned the art of opening the door.
The experiment sums up the following stages in the process of learning:

1. Drive. In the present experiment it was hunger and was intensified by the sight of the food.
2. Goal. To get at the food by getting out of the box.
3. Block. The cat was confined in the box with a closed door. 
4. Random movements. The cat persistently tried to come out of the box without knowing how.
5. Chance success. As a result of this striving and random movements the cat, by chance, succeeded in opening the door.
6. Selection (of proper movement). Gradually, the cat recognised the correct way to manipulating the latch out of its random movements.
7. Fixation. At last, the cat learned the proper way to open the door by eliminating all the incorrect responses and fixing only the right response. Now it was able to open the door without any error or in other words, learned the correct way of opening the door.

Based upon the experiments mentioned above the major theoretical principles which form the basis of Thorndike's theory of learning aresummarized in the discussion which follow.

1. Learning involves trial and error or selection and connection.
2. Learning is the result of the formation of connections.
3. Learning is incremental, not insightful
4. Learning is direct, not medicated by ideas.

Thorndike's laws of learning:
Thorndike propounded the following laws of learning on the basis of his theoretical notions about the learning process.

1. The law of readiness.
2. The law of effect
3. The law of exercise

Thorndike's contribution in the field of learning:

1. If one wants to learn something, one should prepare oneself for it by first understanding fully its importance. An instructor or a teacher, on the other hand, in order to teach effectively, must try to prepare the learner by bringing the mehanism of motivation into play.
2. Whatever we want to learn or teach, we must first identity the aspects which are to be remembered and those which may be forgotten. After this, we may try to strengthen links or connections should be weakened through disuse andd unpleasant results.
3. What is being taught or learnt at any one time should be linked with the past experiences and learning on the one hand and with the future learning on the other, in order to benefit from the mechanism of association, connection or bonds in the process of learning.
4. The learner should try to see the similarities and dissimilarities between the different kinds of responses to stimuli and by comparison and contrast try to apply the learning from one situation to another similar situatuions.
5. The learner should be encouraged to do his task independently. He must try various solutions of the problem before arriving at the corrrect one. But in every case he should be careful not to waste his time and energy by proceeding blindly and repeating his mistakes.

INTRODUCTION TO THEORIES OF LEARNING

LEARNING AND TEACHING 

THEORIES OF LEARNING

What goes into the process of learning?how does an individual learn a set of facts and figures, skills, habits, interests, attitudes and similar other things in his life? Such questions have always been a subject of inquiry and investigation for psychologists and as a result, a number of theories have come into existence.

Two major heads of theories of learning are :

1. BEHAVIOURIST OR CONNECTIONIST THEORY
2. COGNITIVE THEORIES 

Behaviourist or connectionist theory belongs to the school of behaviourism. Behaviorism is a worldview that assumes a learner is essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli.They interpret learning in terms of connection or association between stimulus and response. Under this category, we may include theories like THORNDIKE'S TRIAL AND ERROR LEARNING, GUTHRIE'S CONTINUITY THEORY OF LEARNING, HULLS'S DRIVE REDUCTION THEORY OF LEARNING, CLASSICAL AND OPERANT CONDITIONING etc.

Cognitive theories, on the other hand, belong to the school of cognitive psychology. In place of a purely mechanical or instrumental approach these theories emphasize the role of purpose, insight, understanding, reasoning, memory and other cognitive factors in the process of learning. Under this category, THEORY OF INSIGHTFUL LEARNING, LEWIN'S FIELD THEORY OF LEARNING, TOLMAN'S SIGN LEARNING etc. may be included.