Teaching practices that facilitate learning at the elementary level – a case study

As was noted by Lachman (1997), most textbook definitions of learning refer to learning as a change in behaviour that is due to experience. This is essentially a very basic functional definition of learning in that learning is seen as a function that maps experience onto behaviour. In other words, learning is defined as an effect of experience on behaviour .In the present study; the researcher does an in-depth study of a private English medium school in Kolkata, West Bengal. The Elementary section of the school is selected for the study. To study what facilitates learning among the elementary school learners, the researcher utilises various Observation techniques, interview schedules, focus group discussions, field notes and various forms of formative and summative evaluation techniques. The main purpose of the study was to identify the different teaching practices present in the school. The factors facilitating and obstructing learning. The investigator concludes that there is no fixed practice that facilitates learning. Though experiential learning was found to be the most effective of all ,various other factors other than the teaching practices also affect learning in a child.