Reasons Why Children Should Be Trained to Reason
Our Weltanschauung, or the way we
perceive the world around us, is mediated by the Internet. The umpteen
technological means and devices load us every moment with new ideas and
information. This information deluge leaves us wondering what is actually worth
our attention. Does it help us plan our career or future? What is useful?
What is relevant? What is valid? In short, what criteria should we adopt
to weigh the utility and significance of the ideas and information we receive
every day? One answer is formal training in reasoning.
Reasoning is one of the most important life skills
that need to be developed in children from the early stages. The abilities of critical thinking, logical interpretation and
intelligence help young minds make sense of information, and also make the
right choice in different life situations. Moreover, they can assess, analyse,
tackle and resolve a particular situation or problem with a rational approach,
by applying logic based on existing or new information. Reasoning is the art of
choice making: it is instrumental in weighing the benefits and disadvantages of
two or more courses of action before choosing the one that is more beneficial
or suitable. Furthermore, it can help them handle uncertainty, verify
claims and assess situations carefully. Among other benefits of learning
reasoning are better problem-solving, sharp and creative thinking, and superior
goal-setting abilities. All of these are crucial from the point of view of
career development.
The ability to reason logically defines a child’s
leadership abilities at an early age. In short, reasoning is the starting point
of all manner of right thought and action. Teachers, therefore, need to train
the learners to apply reasoning to excel in academics, enrich their learning
experience and gain the respect of teachers as well as peers.
Reasoning is a practical life skill that helps
handle different problems of day-to-day life. At different levels of
teaching-learning experience, reasoning should be recognised as a major component
of classroom teaching and pedagogy for its gamut of applications cutting across
almost all fields of knowledge. As such, the use of multiple interrelated
thinking skills to objectively analyze different problems and find their
rational solutions should be stressed during the course of classroom learning.
As the world witnesses unprecedented automation and
diverse applications of artificial intelligence, being human will come to be
characterized by higher-order
thinking skills like reasoning and creativity. These skills are the need
of the hour for the learners, besides the fundamental skills of calculation,
arithmetic and memorization.
Reasoning has a gamut of applications, from
everyday decision-making to powerful algorithms. So, it’s time we started getting
future-ready and came up with new tools and formats to develop in children
skills such as critical thinking, analysis, comparison and appraisal.
The recently released National Education Policy emphasizes the need to adopt a
practice-oriented approach to classroom teaching with stress on the skill of
reasoning. It emphasizes the acquisition of both hard and soft skills while
discouraging the traditional rote-learning practices. The recommendations of
the NEP pave way for courses in reasoning to become a crucial constituent of
the regular school curriculum.
Check out 'VOLT Reasoning and Aptitude', a blended academic course for kids focusing on cognitive skills for school students.
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