*While the article lists guidelines for young learners, they could apply to adult learners in teacher training sessions as well.

As the Government of India takes several steps to ensure an independent future for the country, we support the cause by coming up with these guidelines, which help children across grassroots levels become self-reliant learners.

1) Avoid Overwhelming Learners: Refrain from assigning a significant workload for the home or for after-school hours as much as you can. This is because young children learn best when they work with bite-sized units of knowledge at a time. Starting small (e.g., introducing only a few letters at a time) and repeating the lessons in a fun way (e.g., making tunes with the letters, playing letter games) will provide better learning outcomes for the classroom.

2) Repetition Is Key: First, introduce your learners to the concepts and then repeat with higher-level tasks or different contexts. We recommend including context wherever possible, as this helps children remember their lessons more clearly. For example, if you’re teaching children letter sounds, teach them how to use them in words. If they’re learning words, then teach them how they’re used in sentences and if they’re learning sentences, then learn to make stories with them. Educate parents on the importance of giving context, as they are equal partners in the early childhood education process.

3) Meaning Matters: As with contextual learning, associating meaning to the lessons taught increases retention. In an early years’ classroom, stories are one of the best options to assign meaning to lessons. For example, if you are teaching vocabulary, link words to respective images via picture books. If sentence comprehension is the end goal, use stories to check students’ understanding of statements, story sequence, and character development. 

4) Don’t Be Afraid To Play: Once you’re done with a lesson, expand on what you’ve learned by playing games. E.g., if you have learned to rhyme, then brainstorm more rhyming words with your students. If you have studied the word families or opposites, think of other words in those families and other word families. If you have read a story, think of alternative endings, discuss what happens, think of background stories for the characters, draw the characters/story sequence, or enact the story in a bit of play. If simply brainstorming is not fun for your learners, then add a ‘speed’ element and race the clock. In short, encourage children to discuss and expand on what they have just learned. This helps them engage with the material more and remember the lessons better.

5) Switch Between Oral And Print Tasks: Try the same tasks with and without print. For example, if you have taught children to write rhyming words, try to play around with the identical/similar rhymes verbally.

NOTE: Oral tasks don’t require children to know the alphabet. So, if your students only know the letters A, B, C, D, there’s still nothing stopping them from orally rhyming other sounds.

6) Make Learning Interactive: Instead of making students sit and repeat words or answer questions, allow them to watch, listen, touch, and feel the material they are learning. This helps them engage much better and pay attention, and internalize a concept by remembering how it sounded, looked, felt, and what it meant.

7) Build Interest In Learning: Keep boredom away by getting students interested in whatever they’re about to learn, even before the lesson starts. E.g., make reading more enjoyable by teaching them about books and print; make them realize that print has a meaning and that stories can come out of books. Expose them to exciting stories with characters they like. Read books around them, even your own books, so that they are intrigued and curious about it. If you’re reading on multiple devices, focus on the stories and how interesting they can be on such mediums.

8) Start Easy And Scaffold: Avoid teaching complex concepts before easy ones on the belief that more straightforward learning will come more easily to children after they master tough topics. This becomes demoralizing to children and could even hamper learning in the long run. Instead, start with a simple topic that children will succeed at. Their success determines how their lessons proceed and their attitude towards learning. Once they have mastered simple concepts, gradually increase complexity, one step at a time in a gradual, scaffolded manner.

9) Bright Colours: There is a reason many early years’ classrooms and learning centers have pops of color and elements of play everywhere. For young children, color is infinitely more attractive than simple black and white designs. So dress your learning materials with the same color to catch students’ attention. Add little splashes of color, use cute characters, and lean on adorable props or games for some fun with learning.

10) Language Immersion: Most Indian children are bilingual or even multilingual, learning English in addition to their native languages like Hindi or Marathi, for instance. Using native or fluent speakers for instruction helps children develop correct tonality, pronunciation, and speech clarity. 

We believe turning young children into lifelong readers and learners is a delicate task that requires wholehearted support from the entire learning community — teachers, educators, parents, Anganwadi workers. Square Panda India’s suggested guidelines are intended to usher early learning stakeholders towards building a foundation for learning right from the early years.

See our efforts towards building an impactful educational landscape in India: https://ecce.squarepanda.in/

A year ago, the pandemic drove education online, with educational institutions embracing online classes and digital learning in all its forms to deliver learning to their students. Schools and states adopted different means of reaching out to students; some sent home learning materials, others delivered learning via common messaging apps.

Education moved online, but children across various levels and ages in India continue to experience learning loss, particularly in early childhood education. A survey showed most parents are very worried about their young children losing out on essential development in these early years, and thus they are in favour of online schooling. 80% of parents surveyed said online preschooling delivered clear learning outcomes, and 75% of these parents would recommend online learning to their friends and families.

However, remote learning poses challenges even in suitable settings. Add to that a class full of fidgety young learners – those who choose to come at all – and this type of learning becomes harder to sustain.

To be successful, remote teaching and instruction needs to follow similar ideas as regular instruction: clarity, review, and checking for comprehension. At present, the guidelines to conduct online learning are as yet a work in progress. Even so, based on their experience this past year, multiple early education experts and educators have offered pointers on ways to help remote education be as effective as possible.

1) Changing The Mindset (of teachers, children, AND parents)

The very first challenge to online learning is getting children to show up for classes. With several preschools closing permanently, those still active report almost an 80% reduction in enrollment for the school year 2020-21. Parents who were once convinced about the importance of early learning might give preschool a miss now.

What is needed is a strong reminder about the priority of early education, especially for parents. Plus, to effectively guide this conversation, teachers and caregivers must first understand the nature and science of early learning and how it impacts a child’s future. 

Once in the online classroom, teachers need to consider the socio-cultural circumstances of each student as they deliver instructions; they need to develop a structure, objectives, and teaching plans as per this. Establishing a routine and schedule can do wonders for children’s engagement. They learn to expect certain activities and games at certain times, and they feel confident because they know exactly what comes next.

Initiatives across Maharashtra, Odisha, and Chattisgarh have shown that dedicated efforts by governments, schools, educators, and Anganwadi workers can stave off some ill-effects of learning loss in early childhood. We can take inspiration from these efforts and replicate the same in our classrooms.

2) Remote Relationship-Building

Relationships are the bedrock of society, and, in early childhood education, are the basis upon which socio-emotional behaviour develops. Although physical bonding is ill-advised at the moment, educators can devise strategies that enhance bonding in online classes. 

For a social connect, teachers can structure lesson plans that involve the formation of groups, as much as the curriculum allows. Children can be paired up for games and activities, or even simply to lend a helping hand to one another.

To further enhance this social emotional development, it is recommended to connect with the families too, and share a child’s achievements via weekly messages or a phone call. Rotate this responsibility among teachers so one person is not bearing all the burden.

3) Let Simplicity Guide Your Lesson Structure

Online learning offers reduced opportunities to gauge how instructions have been received by students. This makes simple instructions even more crucial to the classroom. Keep the language direct, the instructions uncomplicated, the explanations brief, and the expectations clear.

For reduced hassle, stick to simplicity in all decisions, whether they are logistical (which edtech app is the best to use) or substantive (is the new learning material clear enough).

4) Make Learning Interactive And Engaging

Student engagement is a common requirement in any early learning curriculum, but planning for such engagement is less so.

Just as in a physical classroom, young children need opportunities to develop all the foundational skills — motor skills, cognitive skills, reasoning, socio-emotional skills, foundational literacy and numeracy — in online classrooms too. Avoid conducting simpler reading and listening exercises; actively pepper your learning modules with quizzes, puzzles, and interactive question-and-answer sessions. These sessions act as review lessons, helping children retain their learning. Some teachers across India have taken the initiative and started recording small lessons before class. They then pause these at key moments to incorporate mini-games and play-based activities for higher engagement.

5) Humanise The Digital Space

Child-friendly spaces always have a colourful and fun theme, so why should an online classroom be any different?

If you use an online platform like ZOOM or Skype to teach, you can check if the background is customisable. Or, you can simply add a few little toys, colourful hand paintings, and even letter and number cutouts for a ‘classroom’ feel. This can be customised as per the age of your learners. Invite questions about the children’s background too (in case of live video lessons), and involve parents in creating fun learning spaces for children, so they exhibit more enthusiasm for learning. 

Lessons via chat-messaging services can be enlivened by the use of emojis; recorded lessons can have some engaging anecdotes to add humour; physical resources for children can be repurposed (read: painted or reprinted) to add in pops of colour.

Are you a parent? If so, here are 4 tips that can help you balance schooling at home with working from home.

While incorporating each idea mentioned here might be challenging, bearing them in mind is prudent. As we learn more about how online learning works, these lessons can help us reach children in every corner of India, creating a truly literate future for our country.

See how Square Panda India can help you build a robust ECCE ecosystem in your state, district, or school: ecce.squarepanda.in

Memory plays a key role in building a solid foundation for learning, both inside and outside the classroom. Retaining what they are taught helps children excel academically, score well on tests, and stay cognitively engaged throughout their lives. However, remembering everything we have learnt is not an ingrained skill, and it is something ECCE educators and Anganwadi workers need to develop with certain teaching strategies.

Why does the brain find it hard to remember?

How The Brain Is Wired To Forget

How Memory Works

Think of your mind like a spiderweb, with multiple connected neurons. 

Each time we learn something new, like when a child is introduced to a sock puppet for the first time, the brain turns this experience into a memory. The same neurons involved in making a memory are the ones involved in forgetting it. Once we understand this process, we can devise simple strategies to help us retain important pieces of knowledge. Each time we revisit a particular memory, our synapses are strengthened. Think of it as painting. Apply one coat of paint, and the colour is light. Another coat of paint makes it darker, and stays longer too. This phenomenon is called synaptic plasticity and explains why some memories stay for a lifetime while some fade away. 

Different memories are created differently. For someone literate in English, the word ORANGE is more memorable that SMAPTFIN. That is because our brains connected oranges to the smell of the fruit, the colour, and perhaps some distant childhood memory. That means the more connection you have to an experience, and thus your neurons, the stronger is the memory you make.

The Research Into Memory And Forgetting

Rote memorisation leads to a superficial grasp of learning and is quickly forgotten. 

This is something psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered in the 1880s. His studies showed that without reinforcement or connections to prior knowledge, information is quickly forgotten. He called this the forgetting curve, which was a measurement of how much we forget over time.

We lose roughly 56% of information in one hour, 66% after a day, and 75% after six days.

An article by neurobiologists Blake Richards and Paul Frankland counters Ebbinghaus’s theory. They purport that the goal of memory is to evaluate the purpose of each strand of memory, evaluating and potentially discarding information if it doesn’t promote our survival.

A scientific way to retain learning, then, is to increase children’s connections to as many things as possible. So, we are effectively widening the spiderweb in their minds. The following are the most effective learning strategies:

5 Teacher Strategies To Help Children Retain Learning

*can be repurposed for learning with parents too

• Regularly revisit learning: According to research (Carpenter et al., 2012; Kang, 2016), children perform better academically when they are given multiple opportunities to review learned material. Instead of moving on from a topic once your teaching is complete, recap the topic after periodic intervals. Another smart way to reinforce learning is to connect old topics with new ones. For example, the way Square Panda’s sequenced curriculum revisits key topics while adding layers of complexity to make sure learners are revising while learning.
• Break information down into bite-sized pieces: The shorter attention spans of your little learners means you have to space out the information you share with them. Teach them in small increments throughout the day, weaving learning with interactive games and active play. This way, children process the information much faster without having to sit still for longer periods, something that causes the dreaded ‘b’ word: boredom.
• Use multiple modes to deliver information: Use images to support the text you teach. Bring a plant to show colours of leaves, throw a ball to explain motion, collect pebbles to familiarise children with shapes and textures. It is easier to remember information when it is presented in different ways, and particularly so when visual aids are involved. Rather than rely on one mode of instruction, mix it up by adding multiple modes together.
• Use rhymes and songs: Human brains are wired to remember music, patterns, and sounds, and so, using music to teach can help increase recall in children. Create little songs and rhymes about the topic you are teaching, and encourage your students to do the same. For example, if you are talking about frogs, you can bring in an element of maths too by singing Five Little Speckled Frogs.
• Make learning fun: Using entertainment and games in learning has always been encouraged by early childhood education experts. Such instruction makes use of the child’s interest to teach them new concepts. Theoretical subjects are easier to follow, their creativity blooms, and they are actively engaged in learning. Educators and caregivers can take the aid of child-safe educational apps, finger puppets, musical instruments, stories, and more as they teach.

Even as we learn that children start to forget almost as soon as learning happens, there are certain evidence-based strategies to help reinforce learning and increase memory.

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“We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.” – David Warlick

As educator and author David Warlick reminds us, technology is permeating every sphere, and it has the potential to revolutionise learning as we know it. Bringing Information and Communication Technologies (or ICT) into the classroom can lead to greater developmental outcomes. Research shows structured exposure to thoughtfully constructed and well informed choices of technology supports young learners in many aspects of learning – language development and development of mathematical thinking. It also provides an opportunity for children with special needs to explore information on their own or with a little support from adults.

What Are The Benefits Of Using Technology In Education?

To keep up with the changing pace of education and to gain 21^st century skills, technology needs to be interwoven into the early curriculum. As children live in a world dominated by technology and digitisation, we need to adapt our teaching styles to how they want to learn. Here are some key advantages to using ICT in education.

• Increased student engagement, as evidenced by research
• Technology can penetrate far-flung geographical regions, increasing access and promoting equitable learning
• Educators and caregivers find it easier to track and monitor children’s performance when they are using technology
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have taken ICT to a new level; adaptive, personalised instruction enhances technology offerings
• Taking certain manual tasks online means teachers spend less time on paperwork
• At its core and used effectively, ICT builds a bridge between students of different learning levels

The History Of ICT In Indian Education

June 1923
India’s first brush with ICT in education came with a radio broadcast by the Radio Club of Mumbai.

The 1930s
The BBC aired educational and cultural programs in India through broadcast radio.

1937
All India Radio broadcasted educational programs for school children.

1961
Educational Television (ETV), a pilot project by UNESCO and the Ford Foundations, was introduced in secondary schools in Delhi.

1984
For the first time in India, computers were used for education, in the Computer Literacy and Studies in School (CLASS) project.

2002
Gyan Vani, an educational radio station for all learners, including adults, came on air.

December 2004
The concept of ICT is introduced in schools.

2010
The Central Government revised this concept to include secondary school students too.

2020
The National Education Policy highlights the need for a dedicated unit to develop digital infrastructure and digital content, and increase India’s ICT-based educational initiatives.

*sources: Agrawal, 2005; Mohanty, 1984; NEP 2020

Leading early childhood experts have been studying the effect of the pandemic and subsequent disruption in learning. According to the UNESCO-UNICEF-World Bank survey on National Education responses to Covid-19 school closures, television-based remote learning policies have the potential to reach the highest proportion of students (62%), which amounts to almost 930 million students worldwide. Stakeholders across the Indian educational ecosystem have been tapping into this opportunity, leveraging technology like TV and radio to reach a larger subset of the student population.

A UNICEF report on India mentions, “School closures have impacted 247 million children enrolled in elementary and secondary education and 28 million children enrolled in pre-schools and Anganwadi centers. This is in addition to the more than 6 million girls and boys who were already out of school before the Covid-19 crisis.” 

Recognising how the school closures could lead to a devastating learning loss, pandemic-driven ICT initiatives took learning from the classroom into homes around India.

ICT-Driven Initiatives Across India

BY GOVERNMENTS

Chhattisgarh: The state’s dense forest cover impedes its ability to digitally connect with all young learners. To overcome this, the state launched multiple initiatives during the lockdown. They started local classes called ‘Padhai Tuhar Para’, during which study material was shared via Bluetooth. They even crowdsourced content from teachers, NGOs, and other content development firms at zero cost.

Kerala: This government launched virtual classes through their educational television channel called Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), which had launched in 2005. This government had already digitally linked classes – even primary classes – well before the pandemic hit, and transitioning online was relatively seamless.

Maharashtra: The Government of Maharashtra partnered with the Department of School Education and UNICEF (only technical support) to keep learning going. Their program – named The Learning from Home Package – comprises educational content from various technological platforms like TV, radio, and the internet, and is shared daily with parents and children to ensure even the most vulnerable receive educational support. 

Madhya Pradesh: This state envisioned a new learning initiative called DigiLEP, integrating digital learning with classroom teaching in the post-Covid era, using one of the most widely used phone apps – WhatsApp. 

*These initiatives make these states the perfect launching pad for the World Bank’s STARS project, which will provide USD 500 million to the governments of Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan, to support and strengthen the quality of school education.

BY ORGANISATIONS, NGOS, & INDIVIDUALS

SmarterED Platform by Lenovo: The technology company partnered with Vidyalaya, a non-profit, to enable volunteer teachers to educate young students from grades 5 to 12.

School-to-Home by Square Panda India: Square Panda’s ‘School-to-Home’ program recognises the importance of keeping the learning going and is extending education beyond school boundaries. Using blended learning and AI based technology, our system allows children to learn and improve their literacy skills even when they are physically distant from schools. Additionally, teachers can stay connected to students’ learning and build a partnership with parents too.

Individual Efforts By Educators And Anganwadi Workers: Adding to the national, international, and local efforts are the bravehearts fighting to deliver learning – our educators and Anganwadi workers. Meet some inspiring folks innovating during the learning crisis, here.

Challenges To Integrating ICT In Education

• Usage of technology is subject to its availability. This digital availability is intermittent at best across multiple regions in India, although measures have been taken to shore up these access gaps.
• Integrating technology into preschool and early education requires the presence of skilled educators and facilitators who can deal with issues as they crop up. Training teachers in ever-evolving technologies, regularly upgrading their skills, and keeping them informed of the latest developments and best practices is a Herculean task.
• Learning centres need the latest hardware and software for effective integration of digital technology. Setting up such facilities needs large investments on the part of the educational institutions and governments.
• Without guidance and effective integration, ICT has the potential to turn active engagement into passive use, affecting children’s cognitive, social, and emotional development.

3 Strategies To Incorporate ICT In Early Education

1. Continuous Training & Assistance For Educators: The involvement of educators and caregivers is critical to the success of technology integration in early learning centres.  Teachers need skilling in ICT to understand how technology can be used as a lesson delivery platform to present information to children. Additionally, regular training can overcome the initial resistance to technology in the classroom, and constant support serves to give educators more confidence as they use technology to drive learning outcomes.
2. Public-Private Partnerships (PPP): Leveraging private organisation funds and technology in public schools can solve accessibility issues and raise infrastructure support across grassroots. The public sector will also benefit from the constant innovation and security protocols that are in place in such private entities.
3. Create Blended Or Hybrid Learning Centres: This model combines new-age technology with traditional methods of learning to get best results out of both. For example, traditionally, a teacher would use flashcards, story books, and puppets to tell a story. New dimensions can be added using a digital drawing board, or even by an app that makes sounds to enhance storytelling time.
   *Read our expert suggestions on how to set up blended classrooms easily.

Square Panda India & ICT

At Square Panda, we recognise the importance of equipping educators with technological know-how. Our educator empowerment programs include basic training about ICT, where we include topics about cyber safety and age-appropriate digital tools too. Our aim is to empower educators and help them use various tools and platforms effectively for teaching and learning, which in turn improves their professional development. Our programs are built to shape the future of our nation by transforming the way educators teach.

Square Panda India MD, Ashish Jhalani, remarks that “Many young children are first time technology users. Even before the pandemic increased edutech usage in schools, we saw how digital literacy improved over just a short time with our program. Children went from having no exposure to digital tools to being able to use tablets and mobile apps with ease. All this apart from the foundational literacy skills these children picked up.”

How do you use technology for teaching and learning in early childhood education? Comment below.

The ‘learning loss’ is real.

Multiple early education experts have sounded the alarm, saying the gap in learning caused due to school closures can impact an entire generation of children. In India, around 320 million students have been affected by COVID-19 school closures, and the numbers show no signs of abating. This situation is compounded by the fact that India had already noticed signs of learning poverty among our children. The ASER 2019 report shows only 16.2% of children could read Std I text while in Std I, and this number improved to 50.8% of children in Std III. This puts children’s ability to read at least two years behind where the current curriculum expects them to be at their age.

Why A Learning Loss In The Early Years Is Especially Worrying

Cognitive psychology suggests that without practice, children are most susceptible to forgetting facts and procedural skills (Cooper & Sweller, 1987). A WHO research paper shows a poor start in life can lead to poor health, nutrition, and inadequate learning, resulting in low adult earnings as well as social tensions. Because of this shaky start, affected people are estimated to lose about a quarter of their average yearly income, while their country may lose up to twice their current GDP expenditure on health and education. These consequences impact not only present, but also future generations.

Types Of Learning Loss

According to the CEO of Azim Premji Foundation, Anurag Behar, learning loss is of two kinds:

a) What children should have learnt during the period when schools were closed (e.g., in 2020-2021).
b) What children have already forgotten from their previous year (e.g., until March 2020) of learning, which we can term ‘academic regression.’ This phase is similar to children’s experience during the summer vacations when they forget parts of the previous year’s learning.

Experts warn that these effects will only compound over time. For early learners who are missing out on learning during the most crucial period — 85% of the brain’s development happens in the early years before the age of eight — this loss will negatively impact their future.

How Edtech Helped During This Crisis

India has always been invested in early childhood education; we are the proud flag bearers of one of the most extensive ECCE programs in the world – the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS). We have taken further measures to increase the focus on early education with our National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

As a nation, we recognised the need for urgent intervention and have taken (and continue to take) steps towards mitigating learning loss. Educational initiatives by several nonprofits, learning institutions, and edtech organisations followed announcements of public-private partnerships by various state governments.

Teachers’ Ability To Use Technology Rose: The mayhem caused by school closures led to a nationwide crisis. However, educators across India rose to the challenge, valiantly fighting to deliver education to their students. Since in-person learning was not a possibility, educators used innovative modes of delivery, like loudspeakers, WhatsApp, and more. (Read their efforts, in The Inspiring Educators Innovating Teaching-Learning During This Health Crisis) While striving to figure out a way to teach despite school closures, multiple educators have reported a rise in their technology-based knowledge and ability.

Opinion About Using Technology In Education Has Changed: The scale tipped towards a more positive outlook, say educational experts. A significant portion of this change came from the outreach and support given to traditional learning by multiple edtech organisations and the Government itself. The Centre emphasised digital techniques and tools to help teachers navigate teaching and learning during this crisis. The increased usage of technology has given educators a better understanding of how to leverage online learning for better outcomes in their classrooms and learning centres.

Online Instruction Took Hold: With little to no contact between children and their teachers, online instruction was one of the few ways educators approached the crisis. Fueled (at least in part) by increased access to digital devices, online learning emerged as a strong alternative to traditional learning. To withstand tech-equity issues, problems of internet access, and the dizzying array of approaches to online instruction across states and schools, governments partnered with the private sector, boosting access to educational technology programs and digital learning.

Our world as we know it has changed, and how we impart learning to children has to change accordingly. The pandemic has highlighted multiple areas of improvement in the early learning landscape in India. How we bridge the learning gap will decide our children’s future and the future of India.

What have been your young learners’ experiences with learning loss during the pandemic? Comment below.

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Ours is a world brimming with myriad cultures. Often, large segments of this teeming population have a working knowledge of more than two languages, making them multilingual. Estimates indicate that now on an average, one in three people all over the world are bilingual or multilingual (Wei, 2000). 

Given India’s diversity, many children across our nation grow up in a multilingual environment, surrounded by varied languages and dialects.

How India’s Multilingualism Gives Us A Benefit

Understanding and using more than one language is a critical benefit, opening doors for more academic and employment opportunities in a highly competitive world. A study conducted on bilingual and monolingual Konds-speaking children in Odisha (Mohanty, 2000) showed multilingual children both inside and out of schools had an advantage over their monolingual peers with respect to their cognitive and intellectual skills. Says Dr. Nandini Chatterjee Singh (PhD, Cognitive Neuroscientist from National Brain Research Centre, on deputation to UNESCO-MGIEP), “Unlike everywhere else in the world, in India, we do everything differently. We are the only country in the world that exposes our children to read two distinct writing systems.”

In a TedX talk, applied linguistics professor Panos Athanasopoulos remarked that we do not necessarily need both eyes to see as one eye does the job just as well. However, having a pair of functional eyes helps us see three dimensional objects, in high definition. Both eyes see objects in slightly different dimensions; the brain then maps these images and combines them into one multidimensional image. The same way, learning and using multiple languages present different world views and cultures to the mind, which helps us see the world in a different way.

Challenges Multilingual Classrooms Face

A multilingual student population requires educators and Anganwadi workers who can converse or simply understand multiple languages. This is especially true of many primary education facilities across India, where one teacher/worker is responsible for imparting knowledge on various subjects. To explain content when they are not well-versed in at least one common language themselves, will deprive children of a chance at holistic early education and the opportunity to flourish in a global environment. 

However, realistically, in a country with 22 official languages and numerous dialects (recognised and otherwise), one teacher may not always be proficient in the language(s) of a respective region. Few early childhood educators are fluent in more than one language, and fewer receive training in cultural and linguistic diversity. Additionally, today’s population speaks such an array of languages and dialects that it is entirely possible for bilingual or even multilingual educators to have no context for their students’ languages.

Lessons To Support Multilingualism In The Classroom

• Non-verbal communication is key: When encountering an unfamiliar dialect or language in the classroom, educators and Anganwadi workers can increase responsiveness by active listening and gesturing. This also helps communicate caring to a child, especially when you cannot understand or speak their first language.
• Support development of multiple languages simultaneously: Data and multiple studies establish how bilingual and multilingual children outperform their monolingual peers. Every early learning stakeholder must be similarly aligned towards fostering inclusive growth by enhancing multi-language acquisition.
• Encourage learning in pairs: Strong social and emotional foundations support all other learning, a fact that authors Iliana Alanís and María G. Arreguín-Anderson prove in their paper ‘Paired Learning: Strategies for Enhancing Social Competence in Dual Language Classrooms.‘ Their observation of children in dual language classrooms, from preschool to first grade led them to the conclusion that learning in pairs increased conversational opportunities for dual language learners and greatly reduced their stress. This in turn led to better overall learning outcomes.
• Take time to explain one word in multiple languages: Languages often have varying degrees of similarity to each other, something that educators and Anganwadi workers can use to enhance a child’s foundational literacy skills. From here, the explanation can move to how one word changes across languages. For example, the word ‘flower’ is pronounced and written the same way in Hindi (फूल) and in Marathi (फूल).

Learning to speak and read in multiple languages is healthy for the brain as it requires more concentration, focus and thought, which conditions our mind to handle a higher cognitive load. Learning a language alongside a child’s native language prepares them for the future, opening up a world that is not accessible to them otherwise. Additionally, a workforce filled with multilingual workers, who can speak different languages with confidence, will help improve income levels and socio-economic quality in our country.

At Square Panda India, we believe that in a multilingual country like India, children AND educators need to be well-versed in more than one language to properly succeed in the future. Our Aarambh initiative, which immerses educators, Anganwadi workers, and children in local languages, will greatly impact India’s early learning landscape. Learn more: ecce.squarepanda.in

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Early Childhood Care and Development or ECCE. 

This term has gained much attention across India, a country that has long since taken strides to bolster early development with world-famous schemes like the ICDS scheme, and more. The NEP 2020’s focus on bringing early childhood education into the formal schooling framework serves to support such schemes, and revive interest in ECCE. While the focus is on providing equal access to early childhood education across the nation’s grassroots, this is only the first step towards becoming a literate India. What we need is equal access to quality early education.

Global and national organisations both heed this fact; renowned children’s social welfare organisation, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), always prefaces the word education with ‘quality’ across their policy documents and resources.

This, however, begs the question…

How Do We Define ‘Quality’ In ECCE? 

This definition differs from country to country, and even across the stakeholder groups, depending on values, socio-economic context, and more. Research has tended to use structural or process dimensions, or both, to gauge the quality of preschool programmes (Lamb, 1998). 

*Structural measures refer to staff–child ratios, staff qualifications, teaching experience and stability, health and safety factors, and the physical setting. Process measures include the quality of interactions between staff and children. These measures are then related to favourable child outcomes.

Low-quality Programs Hinder Progress

The research is clear; early experiences have a longstanding impact on children. To summarize, all brain development depends on what we have experienced before. All our neural pathways are formed as a result of repeated actions, and occur from the bottom up. These early experiences shape our learning capacities, our behaviours, and even our physical and mental health. When these early experiences — of which early education is majorly responsible for — are not supported by an adequate quality of ECCE, we risk our children’s future.

Square Panda India Recommends: How We Go About Implementing Quality In ECCE

• Trained ECCE stakeholders: There is strong evidence that enriched stimulating environments and high-quality pedagogy are fostered by better qualified staff, and better quality pedagogy leads to better learning outcomes (Litjens and Taguma, 2010). This suggests well-trained and well-educated adults are key to providing high-quality early educational programs for favourable child development. However, training is simply one factor that impacts child outcomes. It is the ability of the trained adult to create a holistic learning atmosphere and pedagogical environment that makes a difference in quality. This includes:
  – A good understanding of ECCE
  – Knowledge of how an early brain develops, and how early experiences impact learning
  – Supporting resources (like tools, infrastructure, and a strong early learning community) to reduce burden on educators and Anganwadi workers

• Content Backed By Early Childhood Research: Global research is clear; not only are the early years crucial to children’s development, but they also need to be supported by a stimulating and enriching environment. For a well-rounded development in these early years, ECCE programs need to include quality content that is based on the latest learnings in early childhood research. This curriculum needs to take into account the entire ecosystem that comes into play when a child begins to learn, and integrate multiple crucial components of early development into the programs.
  Read more about Square Panda’s research into neuroscience and the early learner.

• Measurable Outcomes: While driving up the accessibility to early education is a noble cause, attention must be taken to ensure high quality programs reach India’s children. Data from multiple countries share a cautionary note; evidence from high-, middle- and low-income countries alike demonstrates that even when access goes up, children’s outcomes do not always improve (e.g. Wong et al., 2013). Measurement is the only way to gauge if our early learning programs are having the required impact on children’s development. We can track outcomes at scale across the entire early learning landscape, customising the indicators of development as per each state. The data derived can then be used for actionable insights and corrective actions. 

As innovators of high-quality ECCE programs ourselves, we are uniquely positioned to partner with multiple stakeholders at different levels of India’s early learning landscape. Learn more about us and our NEP 2020-aligned programs at ecce.squarepanda.in.

*To view our approach to implementing our foundational learning and educator empowerment programs, read this article.

The largest child care program in the world, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), is a powerful testament to our nation’s commitment to children and their development. Spanning each region in India, Anganwadi centres aim to reach children across rural areas and marginalised and disadvantaged sections of society. There are 1.36 million functional Anganwadi centres and over 25 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers across the country. 

While initially conceptualised to address malnutrition problems and provide nutrition to young children and mothers, the Anganwadis have now evolved to include intersectoral collaboration between health and education. At present, these centres focus on food, nutrition, and early childhood education equally.

Why The Focus On Early Childhood Education?

A young child’s brain sees the highest period of brain development in the early years; if this development is not nurtured in a supportive environment, their growth can falter, causing irreparable damage and lifelong repercussions.

While recognising the important role of nutrition and food in the growth and development of children, our policymakers kept in mind the nature of ECCE, which involves a holistic intervention that covers health, nutrition, and foundational learning (including psycho-social and emotional needs).

As the primary care providers for a majority of the population — out of the 240 million children in India aged between 0-8 years, 74%, i.e., 178 million live in rural areas — Anganwadi workers truly are at the frontlines of early development.

These warriors have already proven their mettle while impacting nutrition across India. The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) calls them instrumental to child development for the role they play in fighting malnutrition.

The New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 recognises the immense reach and potential of these centres. The guidelines now require Anganwadi workers to impart pre-primary education to their charges, thus turning them into early years’ educators.

While a visionary thought, certain challenges impede a swift transition for the workers: adequate knowledge of ECCE, qualification and training dedicated to early childhood education, structured curriculum and resources, and an understanding of 21^st century skills and methodology.

Journey From Anganwadi Workers To Anganwadi Educators

As leaders in the early education space, we at Square Panda India believe we need a three-pronged approach to empower Anganwadis as the NEP 2020 envisions:

• Training And Skills Development: Anganwadi workers will need to be skilled in the pedagogy of today’s changing world, including adapting to a teaching-learning methodology that is more hands-on, experiential, and play-based. The main objective of this training should empower Anganwadi workers with knowledge of ECCE, including the neuroscience behind early learning, an understanding of various early childhood education schemes, and a well-rounded understanding of nutrition and how it affects learning and the young mind.

• Build An Early Learning Ecosystem: An early learning ecosystem cannot exist without the support of each of the early childhood education stakeholders – parents, pre-primary and primary teachers, principals, Anganwadi workers, administrators, and other early years’ educators. To create a nurturing environment for children, we need to combine the efforts of each of these stakeholders and build an early learning community to share knowledge and information, taking our early learning landscape to new heights.

• Hand-holding And Support: To ensure seamless transition from Anganwadi workers to Anganwadi educators, they  need to be supported by a network of resources that are easily available at their disposal. Technology and digital tools can be leveraged for a more comprehensive approach to reduce the Anganwadi workers’ burden. 

India has left its mark on the world and the early childhood development sector with the ICDS scheme. The Anganwadis have the power to break the vicious cycle of undereducation, and holistically develop children’s minds and health equally. All that is needed is our support, investment, and an enabling environment.

Square Panda India’s Anganwadi Workers Upskilling Program aims to empower Anganwadi workers, transforming these centres to their fullest potential for children’s holistic development. Learn more about our programs here.

Innovation and change have been the only constant over the past few years. We are facing a digital revolution, which completely upturns the way we currently function at work, at home, and even in educational institutions. The needs of the economy and nation are changing, thus altering the needs of 21^st century learners. These young children need to develop skills that empower them to stand tall and garner future success, skills like critical thinking, socio-emotional development, foundational literacy and numeracy, and more. 

Based on our years of experience in the early childhood education domain, we suggest these five ways to create an efficient 21^st century classroom:

1. Introduce Technology

NASSCOM data names India as one of the top enterprise hubs, second only to the USA. Even the Indian government has recognised the crucial need for technology in education and is investing in ed-tech, setting up global standards, and emerging as a key player in this sector. 

The Indian ed-tech sector has boomed since 2008; multiple start-ups, and increasing awareness have made this an attractive field. In a country like India, which caters to learners with varied needs and requirements, technology-led education is a valuable resource. AI & ML-powered learning makes classrooms accessible to every single student, regardless of their geographic location. Not only can tech be used to enhance learning for students, but can even be used in teacher training, and increasing educators’ digital literacy for a better teaching experience.

2. Blend Physical Learning Into Theory
Memorisation based on repetition, or rote learning, is not the most effective way to educate young children. With a child’s attention span being relatively low and research showing us that periods of focused attention improve cognitive information processing (i.e. learning), a blend of different techniques like using games in teaching and incorporating play-based activities and instructions will show stronger learning outcomes. 

A similar blended structure with teachers, Anganwadi workers, and other educators getting a chance to participate in activities and games themselves is precisely how training programs are to be structured. Educators learn to use the physical applications, tools, games, and activities so well that they are completely prepared to implement them inside their classrooms.

Want to set up a blended learning model in your classrooms and institutions? See our expert tips on how to get started here.

3. Include The Traditional With The Modern

India’s rich heritage has gifted us a wealth of learning tools that continue to hold value in today’s day and age. Every classroom, educational institution, and Anganwadi centre must take special care to adopt traditional games, music, art, and more alongside modern applications, linking children and their education to the past while bringing them into the future.

4. Transform Assessments

To paraphrase the revolutionary NEP 2020, assessments will undergo a shift from traditional rote memorisation tests, to ones that measure competency and higher-order skills, like critical thinking and analysis. This revision takes our existing teaching-learning process and optimises it to improve student outcomes across all levels of education. 

Realigning this process as per the NEP’s vision will take the help of technology and tools, for better delivery of feedback at every step of the process. Many such assessment tools personalise the feedback for each student, and provide a snapshot of the entire class at the same time, allowing educators to evaluate progress at various levels.

5. Professional Development For Educators And Anganwadi Workers

For a well-developed early learning landscape, we need to enhance the  21^st century skills of our educational community. These Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) stakeholders, comprising pre-primary and primary teachers, counsellors, principals, Anganwadi workers, etc., should be taught to understand early learning and the neuroscience behind it, basic digital literacy, and varied skill sets required for teaching today’s learners. Only then will they be equipped to create learning environments that nurture children with valuable life and academic skills, setting them up for a successful future.

In a step towards a stronger India, more attention has been accorded to developing crucial new-age skills in young learners. Advancing this vision is Square Panda India’s very own Aarambh initiative, which is powered by leading-edge technological innovations and the expertise of educators and neuroscientists. Our teaching-learning programs under Aarambh make us effective partners to various state governments and impact organisations across India. To learn more, visit ecce.squarepanda.in

The strategic reform in policies that focus on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), as proposed by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, has prompted a call to realign the very structure of teaching-learning methods used to educate India’s young learners.

However, change cannot happen without people, organisations, and institutions learning from each other’s failures and success. Such a transformation requires open dialogue and a platform to collectively ask and learn from questions, problems, and solutions.

Currently, multiple challenges force our early education system to operate in silos. For example, two of the major early learning providers are handled by two different ministries within the government: Anganwadis fall under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, which is run by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and ECCE is looked after by the Ministry of Education. 

To see effective change, we need an interconnected and inclusive framework that links each element in the early childhood education landscape; we need learning communities.

What Are Learning Communities? The term ‘learning community’ indicates a group of people with similar academic goals and attitudes who collaborate regularly. 

Why Is This Network Important? When all the people invested in early learning—key stakeholders including parents, teachers, principals, etc.—are able to work together, they will be able to build a network of knowledgeable individuals, thereby improving student outcomes.

1. Facilitates the development of learning communities
2. Stakeholders begin working together as equal partners
3. A support system is formed that provides the means for early childhood innovators to set goals and share results
4. Such a network builds the framework for professional development and teaching-learning opportunities
5. Cultivates not only leaders, but also ideas

As our ECCE experience has taught us, such learning communities are crucial in ensuring the creation of a robust and healthy early learning landscape. That is why Square Panda India is building a community with each stakeholder in the Indian early education ecosystem — Anganwadi Workers, pre-primary and primary teachers, parents, and others who care about early education.

The following initiatives are examples of our active learning communities:

#1: Square Panda Thursdays

Educators are visionaries inspiring change in their students’ lives, shaping them for the future. Their passion and dedication influenced us, and a fun educational idea was born!

Picking up where our previous educational talks (Square Panda Sundays) left off, our new series is honouring the commitment of early years educators towards early childhood development. Each Thursday, we delve into insightful topics and discussions with early learning expert Ms. Sonia Relia (Author of MY LEARNING TRAIN-Activity-Based Series for Early Years, and Developer Activity-Based Learning Programs – KINOLEARN, KINOPHONICS).

*Catch next week’s talk on ‘Connecting Heart, Head, Hand – The Need for Activities and Play in Early Years’ live, on March 18th at 5 pm, only on Facebook @SquarePandaIndia

#2: Behind Every Step

This inspiring series celebrates each contributor (teachers/parents/other stakeholders) who stands behind young learners, supporting them as they take their first steps along their educational journey. Each week, we showcase inspiring tales from educators, children, parents, and other ECCE stakeholders across our social media platforms.

Teachers, Parents, Early Educators, other early learning stakeholders, we want to hear from you! Tell us the motivating/inspirational story behind your journey, what made you become a part of this community, how you support children as they take their first learning steps, and more. Send us your tales via DM, and we will share them across our channels.
Facebook
Instagram
LinkedIn

We recognise the value each stakeholder holds and how this impacts the ECCE ecosystem. Our online programs, together with our early learning initiative Aarambh, are specially designed to enhance each person’s impact and build a supportive learning community.

*Aarambh empowers all stakeholders in the early learning ecosystem through NEP 2020-aligned programs. Learn more: ecce.squarepanda.in