By By: Oyem, Israel Ekene
Have you ever wondered why some students in neighbouring environments do better than others in the same environment? Isn’t it the same topic and curriculum? Yet, why do we have students who know what others students don’t know — in primary and secondary schools, to be exact? It would be correct to state that the yawning gap between the students concerned is as a result of how the syllabus is being approached. This article reiterates the need to stop seeing the syllabus as a suggestion where you can pick the one you want; rather, it should be seen as a tool for the total well-being of the children’s intellectual development when treated diligently and completely.
A curriculum is a broad framework that describes the objectives and organization of educational institutions and programs. It isn’t a suggestion. You shouldn’t pick the one you want to teach and neglect the rest. Every topic there is included cor a reason. Ignoring or removal of any topic from it is detrimental to the intellectual development of the child.
No one is an island of knowledge, and a teacher isn’t expecting to be either. For one to be a teacher, one needs to know that teaching as a profession is an endless journey which requires daily development through reading and practising. You can only teach effectively when you sharpen your mind and read always — if not daily. Why should a teacher who knows everything keep reading daily? There is no teacher who knows everything because you are engaging students and we should not forget that students have brilliant minds, even if we perceive some to be gifted, there is this possibility of them asking questions that can sweep us — teachers , off our feet. This is why we must read daily.
A teacher should always remove he mentality of “know-it-all” from their personalities or how they operate. There’s nothing wrong with meeting teachers or those at the corridors of power to seek knowledge on areas that are cloudy or unclear as to how it came about holding authenticity, and it would be clarified. Authorities in schools should welcome this approach, because this is what makes many a teacher skip topics they don’t know either because they don’t know it and they won’t also seek knowledge. If one is skeptical about reaching out to the authorities, one could also call for help from those who they think would be able to be of help.
One of the right ways to keep the cloudy parts of the curriculum in check is to prepare ahead. A teacher is meant to prepare ahead for the class, and it is in this preparation that so many things are noticed and brought in light. So many problems are seen ahead and solutions are provided ahead.
In conclusion, this is why many students from different schools do better than other students because while the syllabus is being followed painstakingly, there is selection based on how well the teacher knows the topics going on in another school. We can’t expect the result to be the same in this case. If we deal with the syllabus accordingly and painstakingly and stop seeing is at a suggestion, we would produce learners who are fully developed and not half-baked ones.
