In recent months, the country’s educational quality has been subjected to further analysis, revealing the shortcomings in the teaching model, which unfortunately affect thousands of students, both in the public and private sectors.
In this scenario and now more than ever, education experts reiterate that it is essential to promote a competency-based learning methodology from a comprehensive training perspective, in which educational objectives based on memorizing concepts are left aside. theoretical, so common in traditional learning, to give way to the development of capacities and abilities necessary to respond to the different problems that they will face in all stages of their lives.
MelaniaBaltodano, Kumon instructor in Costa Rica explains that “competency-based education aims to develop the student’s critical sense, teaching them to relate their ideas and to be able to solve problems. It is not a matter of memorizing and forgetting, but of ensuring that the content of each subject enhances their analytical skills and helps them form their own opinion with solid arguments to defend it”.
Learn by themselves
The model offers children and young people the opportunity to learn by themselves, gain autonomy, be constant and disciplined, and increase self-esteem and confidence in their abilities, fundamental aspects to approach the school year with all the guarantees and to prepare for looking to the future, both professionally and personally.
According to experts, a student who is capable of learning new things understands learning as a natural process and develops a positive attitude towards any task.“Educating by competencies is synonymous with developing the ability to learn by oneself. If we want our children to be responsible, we must let them be the ones to think and make an effort to resolve each situation”, adds Baltodano.
Although it is not in the hands of parents or guardians to modify the national educational methodology, they can carry out practices and habits to promote the development of discipline that will allow success in any activity, through perseverance.
Routines are important to lead an orderly life and promote responsible attitudes, so that little by little students are able to manage their time, plan and adopt a positive attitude and behavior towards studying.With just a few minutes of dedication a day, long-term results are visible because children and young people internalize the work routine and enjoy the advantages of being disciplined.
Other recommendations for parents to promote adequate learning are:
- Reinforce the concept of academic self-esteem from an early age, affirming that they are capable of learning and achieving different achievements related to the study, since on some occasions a negative connotation is usually given to the lessons.
- Explore what is the best way in which children and young people learn best, since everyone does it differently. Some learn better if the visual part is exploited, for example, underlining portions of a text; others, through an auditory format, such as studying aloud, and others learn kinesthetically, so they need to move to learn (walk or sway while studying to satisfy the need for movement). Therefore, it is important to observe the way in which our children learn and promote it at home.
- Develop self-regulation, which means being able to set goals and achieve them through motivation and persistence. To achieve this, among other things, you must set goals, have a work plan, encourage students to experience a sense of achievement, and always use positive language.
- Adopt self-assessment to teach them the importance of identifying mistakes and learning from them, always seeing them as opportunities for improvement.
Changing the mentality
“Changing the mentality and academic culture, although it is a great challenge, would bring great benefits, since we would be ensuring professionals with more skills that would increase the quality of the national working population. Meanwhile, it is up to parents to promote the skills of our children and young people, for which tools such as extracurricular classes can be used ”, concludes the KumonEscazú instructor.
