“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is much necessary raw material but warmth is the vital element for the growth of a plant as well as the soul of a child” – Carl Jung
Curriculum is the launch pad that catapults students into life. It is a plan for learning. Truly it is said that curriculum is not just books it is the DNA of learning.
So lets look at what a good curriculum should encompass. As a student I would look forward to a curriculum which:
- Is in sync with the latest in the world and prepares students for life and its challeges.
- Makes learning progressive and is forward looking.
- Develops my skill sets.
- Is target oriented keeping in mind the minimum competency level and learning outcomes.
- It should help maintain by psycho social equilibrium.
If we look at the curriculum here at Lexicon it is planned based on the principles of Multiple Intelligence shared by Howard Gardener. It is child centric and integrates all curricular and co-curricular aspects of education. According to John Dewey” The Social Life of the child is the basis of concentration or correlation, in all his training or growth. The Social life gives the unconscious unity and the background of all attainment.”
Thus, the curriculum is centered around the child, building on core areas and then branching out into the periphery. The curriculum aims at progressive promotion of knowledge and has values, that help students weave a web of happiness, deeply woven into it. The courses all well planned but not rigidly structured thus enabling both the teacher and the student, the flexibility to march forward at a suitable pace. As students come from diverse backgrounds, flexibility is the key to curriculum organization. The major emphases of the curriculum is on Experiential and Joyful learning with the Integration of art and music into all the subjects.
Comenicus stated “Whatever has to be learnt must be learnt by doing” thus activities based on the academic aspect of the curriculum, interlinked with development of life skills, encouraging collaboration and co-operation, with special emphasis on problem anticipation and problem solving is looked at in the curriculum.
The students are encouraged to think out of the box and the concept of Thinker Keys is used in day to day activities. We believe that the school must be a place of experimentation and discovery and not of passive absorption. The learner is the central element for assessing the quality of the education system.
Students at Lexicon have been exposed to learning how to code using Code.org from 2016. With the advent of the virtual school, the concept and importance of coding, that has been built into the curriculum has become even more evident. In the senior classes the introduction of skilled subjects such as Artificial Intelligence, Information Technology, Retail, Financial markets management, Applied Mathematics and Agriculture with the flexibility to choose from a bouquet of subjects has helped students look at a wider range of subjects.
The 7 habits of Highly Effective People is a fantastic read for all of us irrespective of the age. This too is integrated into every aspect of the curriculum and is ingrained into the thinking of the young minds. The idea of being proactive rather than reactive is the first process of transformation in the students. With them always being exposed to the latest in terms of technology to life, the curriculum aims to Sharpen the Saw of all those who come in contact with it.
The Covid 19 pandemic is far from over and there is no doubt that there is a global shift in the teaching learning outline. Schools and universities have progressed into an online mode of education and this has brought with a paradigm shift in the teaching-learning in the online classrooms. Here at Lexicon a lot of emphasis is always laid on the mental well-being of the students. The school holds innovation at the core of all curricular activites and has introduced a plethora of concepts that build on life skills such as reading to work skills such as Digital marketing and entrepreneurship.
” The most important element is deeply understanding our curriculum. Most teachers know what they’re going to cover this week or this term. Few of us can specify precisely what students should know, understand, and be able to do as a result of any particular learning experience or set of learning experiences. Without that specificity, alignment between content, assessment, and instruction is weak.” ~ Carol Ann Tomlinson
So the vision of the Lexicon schools ‘to enable our students to become valued citizens of the world’ is achieved through the curriculum, that is built to mould the young Lexiconites into into warm, confident, happy and successful humans.