Why practical knowledge is important for students?

-          A guest post by Ms Keya Sen

When an engineer says, “I am building a bridge”, the expression not merely focuses on the fact that she is creating something, but also talks about her way of expressing her knowledge through practical application. She is exercising what she learnt through books in a real-world scenario. No matter how many tests she might have given or how many assignments she may have aced, what mattered at that moment is how accurately she could apply her learning of so many years. Here arises the question of practical knowledge.

A person who is able to experience things not just gets a hands-on understanding of the subject, but also learns in a faster and easier manner. The same theory applies to students.

A child’s personal mode of learning is in fact through experiencing what is happening and recognising things through practical approach. This makes the child enhance her speculative knowledge and she is able to judge in accordance to the facts.

The child’s practical knowledge paves the way of knowing about things. For example, the teacher may say, if one is building a bridge out of concrete and steel one should use such-and-such a formula to measure the load, she can produce a technical drawing, and she can show a student how to calculate the depth of the foundation. But what would really come handy is to actually let the student work on a model of a bridge, to let her build one from scratch, so that she is able to apply the theory into practice.

So, be it building bridges or making a documentary film, a student should be given the opportunity to explore and gain knowledge, acquired through training, practice, learning facts, and so forth.

Ms Keya Sen is our Senior School Coordinator (Academics).

A typical day in SIS: The story in pictures

At Sehwag International School (SIS), our focus is to develop a student in a holistic manner. We not only stress on creating academic excellence, but also provide value-based education, world-class sporting infrastructure, and an encouraging environment for students to nurture their talents.

A typical day in SIS starts with...

Morning prayer, followed by yoga and exercise sessions…

We ensure that our students are provided with quality food with home-cooked flavor. We follow a stringent meal time schedule:

Early morning meal: 7:00 – 7:15 am

Breakfast: 8:45 – 9:30 am

Lunch: 12:45 – 1:30 pm

Evening snacks: 3:30 – 4:15 pm

Lime juice: 6:30 pm

Dinner: 8:00 – 8:30 pm

Bed milk: 9:15 pm

Our students learn through interactive and practical approaches…

We give individual attention to each student, with a teacher student ratio of 10:1…

We also focus on developing extra-curricular skills of our children…

We believe a healthy body is built through stringent sports training…

We encourage our students to share bed time stories…

Visit our campus to know more.

Importance of sports in education

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", a popular proverb sums it all. Without a balanced approach towards education, a child will only have a lopsided perspective. He will not be able to appreciate the other finer aspects of life, if only studies are in his mind. It is often perceived that sports is a complete waste of time and instead, students should utilise their time in learning and studying. However, such thinking needs to change, as sports has its own benefits.

Advantages of sports education:

Making children active and agile: With the invent of Internet, computers and television, children these days are leading a sedentary lifestyle, either being glued on their TV sets or playing/surfing on their computers. This has led to various lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, heart problems even in kids. Also, obesity has become a major challenge in these children. In order to combat these issues, it is important to inculcate the habit of playing outside or develop a passion for sports that would ensure certain amount of physical exercises. 

Developing mental abilities: In order to play any sports, together with physical ability, it is also important to create mental faculties of the players. A child is taught to sharpen his problem solving abilities, take instant decisions, and handle pressure situations while on the field. These skills are also important in personal life as well, and help in developing the overall personality of a student. 

Nurturing sportsmanship spirit: Sportsmanship spirit teaches to be fair and ethical in one’s conduct, strives to have a winning attitude and even while being in the losing team, should be graceful in one’s behavior. Such an attitude is also essential in equipping a person with life skills and to face various challenges in one’s life.

Initiating team building: A person cannot work in silo, it is essential for people to work together to create greater impact. When a child learns any sports, he is also taught the basics of being a team member and how a match could be won only through team collaboration. He is told that besides individual brilliance, team effort is also needed for success. 

Giving wings to passions: Many kids are passionate about sports. They often want to become a sportsperson rather than an academician. A parent should respect the interest of their children and encourage their kids to take up this passion and translate it into a profession. 

Sports in fact, is the medium through which a child is initiated into another dimension altogether. He is shown another perspective to nurture his curiosity and channelize his energy in a positive manner.So, next time when you go for your child education, ensure to check these small details. These surely would go a long way in the holistic development of your child.