Co-creative teaching and learning and the normalizing of the abnormal entail the maximizing of the entry-level of students’ knowledge.
These encapsulate the need to link learning and teaching to real-life issues, contexts and the student world and realities. The need to let students know that they are being valued and respected for who they are and aspire to be, are central and teachers must make this clear.
The exploration of the knowledge base of students is important for the introduction of new knowledge and the building up of in-depth disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge. We cannot keep handling students like banks where we deposit money (knowledge content). Perhaps we should begin to handle students like banks where we can withdraw money from (knowledge base) but this time, we withdraw contextual knowledge even without making any knowledge content deposits yet.
The brains of students are active, full and rich. If we can strategically dive into their thought process, and harness their agency, we can reach their hearts and minds.
The contextual profiling of our students is therefore important. Let’s know them well. Who are they? What are they thinking about? What do they prefer? What do they value in life and in the teaching and learning space? What do they aspire to do and become? Consequently, what is needed to reach the hearts and minds of students for more sustainable results and productivity?
What teaching, learning and assessment approaches would work best and provide long and short term benefits to students, families, communities, nations and our world that is full of crises and uncertainties?
Can this be the co-creation of teaching and learning, the normalizing of the abnormal?
Dr Adesuwa Vanessa Agbedahin
Centre for Teaching, Learning and Programme Development
