Integrated learning through project work. Genuine learning is interdisciplinary, revolving around the integration of subjects within a specific topic or theme. The significance lies not so much in individual subjects but in the context within which learning takes place. For instance, constructing a hut and immersing oneself in reading or having a spontaneous discussion provides the context for building the hut. Exploring various types of wood, dimensions, measurements, angles, etc., becomes incidental within this context.
What is project-based learning?
Project-based learning at TIS primarily focuses on the mind's capacity to expand and connect with various aspects of life and education. PBL liberates students from a narrow curriculum perspective, enabling multidisciplinary learning. Whether working individually or in a group on a specific topic, a student enhances:
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Judgment skills, such as comparing and contrasting and making choices.
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Reasoning abilities, including formulating theses and antitheses.
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Capacity for expansion, studying diverse subjects related to the project theme.
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Discovery of central ideas through questioning the 'why.'
Project-based learning (PBL), essentially awakens interest and love for learning in the child.
Why project-based learning?
A particular curriculum restricts and confines learning, including the content, to the bare minimum in a predetermined linear fashion. Project-Based Learning (PBL), on the other hand, fosters the simultaneous development of various mental faculties such as observation, memory, judgement, imagination, and reasoning. It also integrates the cultivation of creative pursuits like arts and music, achieved through individual work, promoting the development of will and confidence, or collaborative group work, fostering team spirit and the ability to manage interpersonal dynamics.
Project-Based Learning not only encourages but also equips a child for research and provides the essential tools and training for interdisciplinary studies – a vital aspect of future learning in higher education.
What does project-based learning seek to accomplish?
The significant advantage of PBL is the cultivation of various skills in a child, including the ability to conduct research, read, write, express opinions, embrace diverse perspectives, develop an aesthetic sense, and engage in art and craft. Project-based learning also fosters systems thinking by enabling children to differentiate ideas and objects, consider parts and wholes, connect related concepts and objects, and adopt multiple perspectives on life, objects, and thinking.
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We do not have a pre-set curriculum or syllabus. The focus here is on the naturally evolving rhythm of learning. As teachers, we have to be alive and sensitive to the child so that, at every point, we are in touch with the child’s learning process. Out of this process grows the curriculum. Our curriculum remains open-ended and flexible
Board
The Integral School is affiliated with Pearson Edexcel board (IGCSE) vide Centre Number 91161. The school also encourages NIOS (National Institution of Open Schooling) as an option for appearing in the Xth Board examination
Assessment
We do not conduct conventional tests or exams at any stage. Therefore, there is no question of grading or categorizing the child. The child is not an object to be labelled and graded, but a living soul to be guided and this calls for sensitive assessment both by the child, the parents and those of us working with the child to give meaningful and responsible feedback.
