Importance of 'Key Concepts' in Primary Learning

Key concepts are broad, organizing, powerful ideas that have relevance within and across subjects and disciplines, providing connections that can transfer across time, culture, subject knowledge.

These key concepts are what is common as an over-riding principle across events, issues, learning over time. For example - a study of 'Matter and how it exists in our world' s about understanding the concepts of Form and Change, a study of tectonic plate movements. A study of 'Natural disasters' is about understanding the concepts of Causation, Change and Connection.

A Concept is a big idea, a principle or conception that is enduring. 

Concepts have an essential place in the structure of knowledge. They require students to demonstrate levels of thinking that reach beyond facts or topics. Concepts are used to formulate the understandings that students should retain in the future; they become principles and generalization.The exploration and re-exploration of concepts lead students towards:

• A deeper understanding
• Ideas that transcend disciplines
• Engagement with complex ideas, including the ability to transfer and apply ideas and skills to new  situations
• Higher levels of thinking as students analyse complex topics or learning

Simply put - Content is forgotten, concepts are remembered.

The driving force at the heart of the PYP curriculum are the key concepts of  - Form, Function, Causation, Change, Connection, Perspective, Responsibility, Reflection

Here is an example of unpacking the key concept of Perspective in the theme of 'How we express ourselves' from a grade 2A:

Tuesday October 13, 2014

Class Teacher, Vandana Aragula said "We unpacked the key concept Perspective on Monday through instructional drawing where children were given the same instruction to draw on a piece of paper without looking at each others work. They then shared their work with their partner and wrote their perspective of what it looked like to them. When asked the purpose of the activity, children said that it's about 'different thinking process of each person'. From there it was easy to unpack perspective and get their understanding of the concept."

After unpacking this key concept of Perspective children then explore the unit 'Rituals and traditions throughout history and enable people today to express their culture, beliefs and values' - with the key concept - Perspective, Form and Change.

Iconic Structures of Bangalore

Wednesday September 17, 2014

As an extension to our last field-trip to Cubbon Park, we planned a tour around Bangalore to see some of the iconic structures in Bangalore like KR Puram Bridge, Vidhana Soudha, Bangalore Palace and UB City. 

With more learning and understanding of different structures, children with their journals were ready to board the bus to see these magnificent structures and learn about them.

Our trip started off by seeing the KR Puram Bridge where children could see the cables suspended and holding the bridge and keeping it stable.  

We then headed towards Vidhana Soudha, a magnificent structure standing in the center of Bangalore; embellishing the center with National Emblem (4 headed lions). Our amazing artists sat in front of the building and sketched the structure with details of domes and pillars designed in Dravidian style. 

We then drove to Bangalore Palace which was built with stones and in Tudor style. Most of them had visited Bangalore Palace last year and so were aware of the history of the palace. But in this trip, we sat outside the palace and discussed the structural design and materials used to build the palace. 

Our last stop was UB City, where Mr. Timmaiah, Head of Security chauffeured us all the way to the restaurant and the other parts of the upscale mall. Children relaxed and had their lunch and were excited to see the fountain hoping to play thereJ. We proceeded to the amphitheatre area to discuss how different this modern structure looked compared to the other two that we saw. The amazing 19 floors tower added an insight to what a skyscraper is.  

After this visit to the iconic structures of Bangalore, children came back with a wider understanding of structures.

Beautiful old structures in Cubbon Park

Wednesday September 3^rd, 2014

Students (Grade 2) have been engaged in various activities inside the classroom to understand how structures are designed and created based on the materials available and the vision of the designer. Students’ encountered different learning experiences that enhanced deep and active learning.

Students saw many old structures in Cubbon Park like the State Central Library, High Court, Band Stand and the Government Art Museum. Before the field-trip, students did basic research on these structures so the learning is more active and engaging.

Neev Students outside State Central Library Cubbon Park, Bangalore

Our Young learners at the State Central Library  Cubbon Park, Bangalore

The learning started off by understanding why the structures have designs that depict culture of a place or culture of people that planned to build these structures. Why are all the structures red? Why lime, bricks and granite were used to build the structures? How does the design help the function of a structure? Students were shown slides of all the structures and the map of Cubbon Park which gave them a clear understanding of the plan of the park which was to demarcate British Cantonment and Old Bangalore (Bangalore Pettai). 

It was an experience that brought classroom study alive for students and helped them remember and relate to what they have learned

Learning from visit to the Flour Mill

Monday January 20th, 2014

The children of Grade 1 are inquiring into "The origin of products and the process the products go through before we use them" To experience the cycle for one important food group, wheat to flour, bread, biscuits, etc - the children followed the link from the grocery store to manufacturing of the different raw materials and finished products. Ofcourse its opening up questions to more finished products and whether they can make them – How can ‘we’ make bread from flour? we’ll see where that goes! As the 5^th unit of the year wears on, the children will move towards understanding how the relative positions of the sun, moon and earth become part of this cycle creating seasons leading to seasonality of materials and products available that they use. Children have the space to question the origin of food and other things they use, leading to a personal desire to inquire and learn deeply, with their teachers just being facilitators in the research. 

Illustration of the observation of the process of one of the products they run into in their daily lives

Why contextual learning?

We often wonder – when the amount of information in textbooks is not so much – why do children seem to need so much of an effort or push to grasp it and then recall it? It boils down to motivation. More than 2 millenia have passed since Confucius’ observation – I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand. The goal contextual learning is: focus on understanding the world around, on understanding it, on applying skills learned to everything that has meaning to us, or to transfer learning from familiar things to new things through the application of the same concepts. Inquiring and understanding about what they see/ experience, build on everything they have seen, are wondering about, and will continue to see around them. – either as a targeted observation or even through everyday life - which then leads to continuous learning through building an ability to question. The environment is truly the best teacher – we just need to take the time to build serious learning around what we see. With early childhood this is much easier, but with primary age children – math concepts, science, geography, history, and higher language skills kick in, making contextual learning more challenging. But it's the only way primary aged children learn best – when they learn in response to their own questions, and are motivated for new learning. As they become older, approaching middle school – their questioning and critical thinking skills are completely alive – and ready for more abstract ‘text book learning’!

Dramatic Hampi!

January 14th - 17th, 2014

Neev crossed a big milestone – our first overnight trip. What better gang of kids to do it with? And what better place?

Hampi  - erstwhile Kishkinda – the mythological birthplace of Hanuman, a setting for much of the epic Ramayana….and as we know for certain, the base of one of the greatest Indian civilisations of the past– the Vijaynagar empire. 

As a model of a past civilisation – for the children and teachers – no greater experience could have happened. And it is unfortunate that everything we saw in Hampi has not been made accessible as texts on other major civilisations elsewhere – Roman, Aztec, Greek, Sumerians, and even the Vikings and many others, some of which the Hampi returnees will now choose to compare & contrast with.

We have all been taught history as a bunch of dates & timelines and names of people. But the few of us today in whom a love of history survives, remember history as narratives of personalities and what they did, what they thought, what they aspired for, what they believed in. This is what Intach brought alive for us. The splendor that existed once, as recorded in narratives of travellers, the societal beliefs and knowledge as recorded in the carvings and monuments, the technology that is visible through town planning and systems – canals, aqueducts, layouts – and the geographical location – next to the Tungabhadra river, and bustling economy – with trade, travellers, gold, iron, etc. – creating wealth which led to a civilisation of significance in the first place.

We saw much:

January 14^th

Starting with a sunset at the (relatively) modern Tungabhadra damn – built at the end of the British empire, and completed at the start of independent India. For the kids, it was a example of a multi-use dam – follow on from a unit last year on water, where they researched different uses and hence types of damns – which is used for a reservoir, irrigation (across two states – from 3 canals each of the dam), and generation of electricity.

January 15^th

The first day in Hampi revolved around the monumental and oft visited religious sites – Shreekrishna temple (and kalyani – where we saw the grids marked by archaeologists for recent excavations, and also signs of how the massive blocks of stone were cut for the constructions around half a millennium back, besides getting a first visual on the natural advantage Hampi offers for security with the high boulders all around topped by watchtowers), Veerupakhsa temple – one of the only living temples in Hampi replete with its own resident elephant, and the Vithala temple complex with its musical pillars. Enroute – a monolithic Ganesha, many surrounding structures and stories. The day ended with some rock climbing and a walk along the river at the Vitthala temple – within sight of the Anjaneya temple which is supposed to be the place Hanuman was born, and the Purandaradas mandapam on the banks of the river, in memory of the great poet / narrator.

The temples surviving are small today. Like most things the protection of these sites falls between the state and center  - ASI being in charge – but there is evidence of much larger monuments, bridges, stepwells, etc. that once existed around the temples.  

Teachers and kids alike loved the Vithala temple complex and the ruins around it which we explored.

January 16^th

The day was spent largely at the royal enclosure, understanding occupations, form of government, traditions, gender equality and other beliefs, economy, etc. as evidenced in the structures, carvings and systems that remain, added to by narratives of records and travellers stories by Intach folks.

Listening to the narratives of the splendor, by European travellers, that had been given access to all parts of palaces, noblemen's houses, government buildings, and the rest of the city – we could start to imagine the wealth that existed, where now only ruins and basements exist – from where 500 elephant loads of treasure were carried away by the kings brother when the Vijayanagar empire was attacked by the Adilshahi empire in the decisive battle of Talikota (1565), which marked the end of the Vijaynagar empire – less than 200 years after it began.

Looking at the aqueducts that carry water from many kilometers away – from the kumara tank – to the step well in the royal enclosure, which itself was carried 100’s of kilometers from dharwad to be installed on site in the royal enclosure, as evidenced by the old writing on each stone for directionality during re-installation – and the other systems for handling water, we could start to understand the technology that existed.

The perfection of the carvings on the walls recorded the aspirations of a society to integrate in a changing world at the peak of the European renaissance – Persian and Arabic animal traders and trainers; European traders, travellers and men of different trades brought a world knowledge  - war craft, weaponry making, book keeping, recording narratives and other occupation – while in parallel traditions of hunting, arts and crafts, schools for Brahmins, and other communities existed – all captured in the carvings tell the story of the times to many generations after.

The hazara-rama temple in the royal enclosure – literally a 1000 Ram’s – was an interesting structure – where the epic Ramayana was depicted in 3 tiers of carvings around the temple forcing people into three circumambulations at least.

The varied materials used over time included granite, brick, lime plaster, schist, and manner other forms of stone that were brought in from other parts of the country.  Techniques of fresco and stucco were strengthened with the renaissance travellers who passed through Hampi – for trading spices, animals, silks, precious elements and knowledge. All of this was brought alive at the royal enclosure.

The queen's bath. Indo-Islamic architecture was evident here. Again with aqueducts feeding the water in the bath tank and the moat outside.  Kids wondered why a queen would need such a big bath – and were amused by the stories of the number of helpers in attendance – inside the bath!

The last monument we visited – was the elephant stable – the name belies its significance, since the complex included a small palace, the foundations of a larger monument – likely the council room, protective fort like walls and an interesting structure with a courtyard inside reminiscent of European palaces.

One of the last questions that came up at the elephant stable -  how was Hampi discovered? The answer – the British in the 1800’s reclaimed the monuments bit by bit from plants, bandits, trash, and burned cinders (which led to the belief that in 1565 the monuments, particularly the royal enclosure were burned to the ground) – giving us a world heritage site.

The day ended with a sunset hike – up Matanga hill - where the story goes: Sugreev escaped from Bali, when the latter returned to reclaim the kingdom accusing his brother of usurping the kingdom – Sugreev then escaped to the only place where Bali was not permitted to enter - from the top of which, today, all of Hampi is visible.

 

A poem made by words expressing our kids feelings at that last sunset:

Hampi

Tremendous

Historical, Royal

Assorted, Adventurous

Temples

Dazzling, Gorgeous, Stupefying

Hampi

Tremendous, Mysterious

Hampi

Adults weren’t asked for their words, but mine would’ve been  - Dramatic.  Hampi!

I am reminded of Ozymandias by PB Shelley - I met a traveller from an antique land; Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies,….`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'

History will be repeated – learn from the past to create a better future.