In
schools and learning institutions of today, the teacher has to face
many new challenges in disseminating knowledge and information to
their students. The challenges in question is not the lack of
materials or resources but rather the opposite, with the unlimited
proliferation of it. The teaching community needs to realise that the
exclusivity of their position has been diluted with the advent of The
Internet of Things. The role of a teacher or tutor has morphed from
being very specialized into something which is more fluid and
interchangeable in definition. They have to play and display many
facets to engage their target audience, the students as otherwise the
students will just lose interest and move on. Now, teachers do not
have the comfort of knowing that they are the only mainstream source
of knowledge propagation.
With
this reality engrained, we will look into a neo learning method
called “Realia”. This concept could have been in practice
unknowingly for ages in many cultures but attempts to classify and
document its application has become proactive in recent years. The
word realia is derived from Latin, meaning ‘real things’. This
concept is basically the usage of objects or materials in teaching
related to everyday life, cultures, languages, etc. Though having
started by leaning to more arts and sociology related platforms,
there are no proven restrictions to discount its usefulness in
science and IT subjects as well. We would have noted on the trend of
moving away from a textbook emphasizing culture into more hands on or
engaging methods and realia has been at the forefront.
To
further dissect realia related activities in teaching, it is
pertinent to look at certain examples of this method. In teaching
vocabulary or grammar for English or any language for that matter, a
few simple exercises can be carried out. For example, a pair can be
chosen to play a small game of throwing a ball to one another. The
catch here (pun intended) is to get the two students to engage in
conversation whereby each of them will need to make a sentence or
utter a dialogue before throwing the ball to the other person. One
can imagine how this activity will be interesting whereby
conversation practice is done in an enjoyable manner at the same
time. It might seem fun while doing it but after completion, the
student will take away valuable tips on verbal communication. Or in
the field of science, many of us will definitely agree that we were
eager and also absorbed more from our annual science exhibitions than
those gleaned from in the classrooms. This is due to the audio-visual
experiment and hands on approach of the tests which stimulates the
cognitive system most efficiently compared to the alternatives.
Expanding
on the obvious advantage of realia is the physical appeal of sight,
sound, smell and touch which automatically excites and stimulates the
learner and makes it ultimately memorable. Those moments that stay
with us are the memorable ones. Memorable in this context can also be
linked to memory as we would want the lesson to be recalled fully
even after considerable time has lapsed. So, both enjoyment and
retention span are guaranteed with this realia method. This in turn
will always ensure interest in that particular subject does not
diminish and promotes the student’s creativity. The student will be
taught that learning is not something confined to just books or
classes but can be gained from the surrounding, people and objects.
With this mindset cultivated, they will venture out and live life by
also learning from it on their own.
With
all the goodness of realia championed, it does make us wonder if
there are any weaknesses to this realia method. The answer to that is
there is no perfect system when it comes to teaching. All systems
need to be modified accordingly to cater to its target group and the
negatives need to be minimized so that it does not have a significant
impact on the final result. One major drawback of realia is that it
depends on the teacher who employs it without any commonly accepted
measuring yardstick or reference. It is unlike a textbook whereby the
module and guides are spelt out and chances of deviating from subject
matter is rare and promptly detected even if it does. When variables
of this nature exist, eventually the learner will also contribute to
further confusion on the method’s success. Students comprise
various mentalities, understanding, skill sets and capacities. Some
might grasp the realia objectives faster whereas some might need more
coaxing and support to do the same. There is also a minor concern
that students might get too engrossed in the materials used rather
than the lesson itself and the preparatory work and expenses involved
to prepare materials for a class of students.
All
in all, the teaching culture is growing at a tremendous pace now with
new methods and materials being discovered or innovated on to produce
desired results most efficiently. The realia concept is one of the
more popular examples which has seen a rebirth due to the refreshing
take which it brings to both the teacher and student alike. It should
be welcomed and incorporated accordingly in daily life and studies as
the positives definitely outweigh the minor deficiencies its
implementation might have.
