train for success

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train for success

Wednesday, 02 October 2019 | Nitina Dua

train for success

An internship is one way that the children learn how to balance classroom knowledge with practical application. It also encourages personal development and helps them make better career choices, says Nitina Dua

The essence of good education can be summed up in Benjamin Franklin’s adage: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” The best kind of learning, therefore, always comes from doing. Nourishing the mind with theoretical lessons in classrooms can only foster a student to a certain extent. To nurture them into responsible, confident and discerning adults, well-prepared to transition into competitive workforces and tackle any challenges of life, they need to step out of the sheltered school environment and into the real world. There is a very thin line between, “What a school rewards and what the world values”. The sooner we teach our kids this, the better equipped they become.

An internship is one way to ensure that the children are learning how to balance classroom knowledge with practical application and experiences. The right internship at the right age encourages personal development, provides a greater understanding of self, helps make better career choices through a re-examination of their priorities and may even help in finding role models and professional mentors.

Hurry slowly: Yes, the world is more fast-paced than it ever was before and the competition, as they say, cut-throat. But embarking on a path to success does not require accelerated learning. The process of pausing, reflecting, contemplating and experimenting is equally imperative. Despite the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world that we live in today, it is critical to be in the moment to embrace change and learn from one’s own experiences. An internship is one such experience which takes you ahead in time and yet allows you to correct your decisions in case you falter.

Correction is direction: The stages to a learning process are identified as receiving, filtering, creating and applying knowledge. The purpose of learning and applying knowledge in different environments need to be well-understood by the children. In school, we need to encourage student-led engagements that will help us see our children function in different settings. This way we can offer tailor made remedies for each child. Internships will help students apply their knowledge in a different context where they’re driven to utilise skills like collaboration, critical thinking, communication, greater interdependence between activities and goals. This will help them bridge the gap between learning and execution. It’s a discovery from the known to the unknown!

To mirror a wish: The expert in everything was once a beginner. Internship offers a glimpse into various careers that a student aspires to; thus giving them early skills to cope with and stay ahead of change in an increasingly fluid world. It brings about clarity and bursts the myth of structured and unstructured process of learning, unlearning and relearning.

Theory into practice: The most important element of internships is that they integrate classroom knowledge and theory with practical application and skills developed in professional or community settings. Being hands-on in a professional space is an incomparable experience. After all a concept is best understood when it is practiced.

The right fit: In addition to gaining exposure and experience in the field, internships also provide an opportunity to see if the particular career field is the right fit for a child. It also helps them to explore options and make choices that will help them lead a fulfilling and enriching work life.

A guiding light: Of course, success depends mostly on an individual, but having a strong support system around makes a world of difference. One such helping hand can come from finding a mentor and internships are great opportunities to find a good professional guide. While learning the ropes from someone experienced, they also help young minds with constructive criticism.

We are living in a world that is characterised by an ever-increasing change of pace. To survive, one must remain in the learning mode through life and develop abilities that will be useful in an unpredictable future. There is, therefore, a pressing need to formulate a curriculum that meets the goal of education for life and sees all other goals as smaller components of this goal and internships can be one component of it.

The writer is Lead of Career Development Centre, Shiv Nadar School, Noida

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