Learning by Doing: A Comparative Study of the New Education Policy, 2020

Abstract

American philosopher John Dewey worked on the educational theory of “Learning by Doing” in which he formulated the idea that a child should be taught with practical experiences. Every school should focus on teaching a child through activity-based curriculum so that a child can experience an over-all development by dint of his experiential education.The Indian National Educational Policy, 2020 can be associated with this educational principle of “Learning by Doing”, especially in case of Foundational, Preparatory and Middle school education. The Foundational education (3-8 years) or Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is designed to be focused more on play-based, activity-based curriculum. ECCE will be based mostly on story-telling method and several indoor and outdoor activities.In the Preparatory stage (from 8 to 10 years and Classes 3 to 5) also, children will be taught primarily on play-based method which will ensure the cognitive, behavioral, moral, emotional and psychomotor development of them.In the Middle School (from 11 to 13 years and Classes 6 to 8), children will be encouraged to continue their education in a newly-developed multidisciplinary curriculum with at least a mandatory vocational skill training. The aim of “Learning by Doing” will also be accomplished in the middle school level by special attention to Vocational Education. This policy, in fact, aims to prepare at least 50% students who are proficient in any kind of vocational skill by 2025. New Education Policy 2020 even focuses to reduce the academic or performance pressure among students and lead them to take up education not as a burden but as a boon.