Why we need Contextual Learning?

“Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results.”

We all are lifelong learners; our everyday life teaches us something new. It could be cognitive or non-cognitive. We learn from the environment, people around or far away, our situation or others, lifestyle, goals, wants, needs, emotions, psychology, past experiences, discussions, arguments, support, negations, and so on. We do and learn what fits us and our environment and build our context.

The mind naturally looks for meaning in context by searching for connections that make sense and appear useful. Knowing why we are doing something, how it will benefit my goal, what it will add to my personality, and what it can help achieve, can induce curiosity and creativity.

The contextual approach recognises that learning is a complex and multifaceted process that goes beyond routine oriented, impulse and react methodologies. According to contextual learning theory, learning occurs when students exercise new information or knowledge in a way that is relevant to them in their frames of reference (their inner worlds of experience, memory and response).

Contextual learning is vital for any learning environment like school, classroom, playground, laboratories, home, worksite. It gives the open opportunity for educators to design experiences or choose from, to lead to desired learning goals and interest.

Concepts can be understood through discovery, support of content and building relations. It is bridging the gap between abstract ideas and practical application in the context of the world around us.