Flinders University: Modern and Traditional Teaching Balance

This coursework project, submitted in partial fulfillment of a Master of Education (Leadership and Management) degree at Flinders University, investigates the critical need for a balanced approach between modern and traditional teaching methods, particularly within the context of the Indian education system. The report begins with an introduction that sets the background by exploring the current state of education in rural areas of Punjab. It then delves into a literature review comparing and contrasting traditional and modern teaching methodologies, highlighting their respective advantages. The study then moves into a discussion of the importance of combining these methods, including the use of technology like BYOD, blended learning, and flipped learning. The project concludes with recommendations for achieving this balance, emphasizing the need for infrastructure development and wider world connections to enhance the learning experience. This report underscores the significance of adapting teaching strategies to meet the evolving needs of students in the 21st century, ensuring that students receive a comprehensive and effective education.

Why is balance needed between the Modern and Traditional
teaching Methods
A coursework project submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Education (Leadership and
Management), Flinders University EPSW (College of) Education,
Psychology and social work.
SabiaBhullar
Student Id: 2173949
Date: 5 November, 2017
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Contents
DECLARATION:............................................................................................................................4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:.............................................................................................................5
Chapter 1: Introduction..................................................................................................................6
Background.................................................................................................................................6
An overview of the school system in India................................................................................7
What is the problem or Issue?...................................................................................................7
My Story: Two Schools...............................................................................................................7
A need for balance (significance of the research).....................................................................8
Research Question......................................................................................................................9
The Research Approach...........................................................................................................10
Research method............................................................................................................10
Limitations of the study..................................................................................................10
Delimitations of the study..............................................................................................11
Chapter2: Traditional and Modern Methods (Literature Review).......................................12
Introduction...............................................................................................................................12
What is meant by education?...................................................................................................12
The Indian education context...................................................................................................12
Punjab Education context:..............................................................................................13
The ancient traditional methods:....................................................................................13
The modern concept of teaching....................................................................................14
Traditional methods..................................................................................................................15
Description of the traditional method.............................................................................15
Advantages of the traditional method.............................................................................15
Modern teaching method..........................................................................................................16
Description of the modern method.................................................................................16
Advantages of the modern method.................................................................................18
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................19
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Chapter 3: Discussion........................................................................................................20
Introduction...............................................................................................................................20
Importance of maintaining the balance between the two-.....................................................20
Combination of traditional and modern methods..................................................................21
BYOD............................................................................................................................21
Blended learning-...........................................................................................................22
Flipped learning-............................................................................................................23
Mobile Learning.............................................................................................................23
Wider world connection.................................................................................................23
Design for learning.........................................................................................................24
Physical Infrastructure....................................................................................................24
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................24
Chapter 4: Conclusion..................................................................................................................26
Recommendations..........................................................................................................27
References......................................................................................................................................28
DECD Department for Education and Child Development
LSM Local School Management
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DECLARATION:
I hereby certify that, this coursework project which is submitted by me is completely my
own work and is being submitted for the completion and fulfillment of Masters of
education (leadership and management) at Flinders University. I further make declaration
that the contents of this paper have not been submitted in any other university and all
the other references are acknowledged.
Signature: - Sabia Bhullar
Date: - November, 2018
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
I acknowledge all those people who help me and provide guidance while completing this
project and writing this thesis. I must say that, without this assistance and guidance, I am
not able to complete this project. I would like to thank all those who provide me guidance
and required information on time such as government of India and ministry of education
for providing all those materials which contain adequate information in this context, and
after that I would like to express by deep gratitude towards my supervisor Nicola Parkin,
who supports me throughout writing this coursework project. I thank her to spent time
with me and for her guidance, advice and feedback which enhanced my work. Lastly, I
would like to thank my family and friends for their intense support especially my
husband, who always stay besides me and encourages me to successfully complete this
coursework project.
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Chapter 1: Introduction
Background
Once, Nelson Mandela, the South African Noble Laureate stated that “education is the most
powerful weapon to change the world” (Biswas, 2009). He further stated that education is
the cure of all the ills as it play most important role on the development of the country’s
economic growth and also pushed down the social culture and political reforms. In this we
discuss the level of education provided in the rural area of Punjab, and it also investigates
for the purpose of balancing the requirement to balance the modern and traditional
methods of education for ensuring best education to the students. Idea of this dissertation
is influenced from the experience which I get after visiting two schools in the rural area of
Punjab.
On the basis of my experience as a student of this coursework, I am interested in
conduct research in the context of methods and approach used in the current education
system in the rural areas of India. This research paper allowed me to use my skills, and I
also enjoy the challenge to work with the different experts and analyze their statements.
This research is conducted for all those individuals such as parents, teachers, and
institutions who want to analyse the quality of the education system in the rural areas of the
India provided to the students, and this also highlight the efforts of government of India in
lieu Indian education.
As an education leader, I mainly lead the readers of my coursework paper, and as an
education leader I mainly concentrate on the methods of the teaching which must be
followed in the present education system.
The main purpose of this study is to provide the deep understanding of requirement of both
traditional method of teaching and modern method of teaching in rural areas of Punjab
(State in Northern India). This paper discusses the need for balance between the traditional
& modern methods of teaching, and how this balance might improves the rural education
system of India.
This report presents the deep understanding related to the educations methods
used by the educational institutions in the rural areas of the Punjab. Structure of this report
includes the chapter 1 which contains the introductory context, chapter 2 literature parts,
chapter 3 requirements, and chapter 4 which concludes the complete paper.
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The actual question of this paper is the required balance between the traditional and
modern teaching methods in the schools established in rural areas of India. As defined by
this paper, only traditional method of teaching is not sufficient. These schools require the
combination of both the methods in terms of achieving the goal of better education for their
students.
An overview of the school system in India
The term education system includes public schooling and not private schooling, and it
includes classes from kindergarten to high school programs. Generally, schools or schools
district are considered as smallest recognized form of education system and countries are
the largest.
What is the problem or Issue?
Education system in India is classified into two sectors that are private sector and the
public sector, and both the sectors engaged in providing educational facilities to the
children’s. It must be noted that, public sector is controlled by the Government of India and
funds related to this sector are coming from almost three levels that are central level, state
level, and local level. Under different articles of Indian constitution, free and compulsory
education is given as the fundamental right to children between the age of 6 and 14.
Currently, the ratio of private sector schools and public sector schools is 7/5.
The main issue faced by Indian educators is that all the digital technologies are used for
developing the urban education system in India, but rural education system is generally
neglected. Almost 65% population of the India is resided in the rural areas, and education
system of rural areas deserves more attention in comparison of the urban areas. In the rural
area of Punjab, there is tremendous increase in the number of secondary and senior
secondary schools during the period of 1971-2009, but still education quality in these
schools is not acceptable ((Shodhganga, n.d.).
In case of Punjab also quality of education is not satisfactory because it was only 76.7%.
State fails to achieve its national level growth in the education sector in the year 2001-2011.
Increase of literacy rate in Punjab was very low, which means it is even below the increase
in national average (9.21%) (Walia, 2014).
My Story: Two Schools
I am SabiaBhullar and my birthplace is India (Punjab). My primary education and secondary
education was completed in metropolitan city of India. After completing my education I got the job
in teaching sector. While studying in the private school, I got all the facilities which are required to
get the best education. When I was teaching in high school in metropolitancity, I got a chance to visit
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to rural schools to get some ideas regarding how the students are being taught in the rural
schools, so I choose the Samana village of Punjab, where my friend lives.
.
I visited the Government Model School in the Samana village of the Punjab with one of my
friend resides in the same village. I was completely shocked to find that a student of the
school does not even have basic general knowledge such as names of the districts,
parliamentary and assembly constituencies of Punjab, etc. It was very difficult for the
students to understand even some basic concepts. Infrastructure and administration of the
school was good as there were sufficient basic facilities such as proper classrooms, black
boards, drinking water, etc., but school does not have any access to technology such as
computers, and other digital tools. Teachers and other administrative staff of the school
were used proper traditional methods. All these things raise serious concern in my mind
about the quality of the education provided to the students resides in the rural areas of
Punjab.
However, I also visited to the Verma’s Primary School in the Bolewal village with the same
friend, and it was unbelievable for me to see the unremarkable knowledge of the students
studied in that school. They were not only aware about names of the districts and
parliamentary and assembly constituencies of Punjab, but also know the names of some
famous English and Hindi writers. Teachers in this school using E-teaching methods to
educate the children’s and also various other technologies access is provided to the
students.
I noticed that both the schools have similar infrastructure and administration staff but still
there is huge difference between the knowledge of the students.
This experience of visiting the government school was most knowledgeable experience of
my life, because it taught me about the facilities required by these schools and what
changes are must in terms of ensuring the best future for the students.
A need for balance (significance of the research)
After examining the situations of both the schools, I think there is need for improving the
quality of the education, it is necessary to balance both the methods of teaching that are
modern and traditional methods. Students must have access to technology and other digital
tools.
As per the British council Report (2014), education system of India still depends on the
traditional method. There is need to combine the methods used in the traditional teachings
with the methods used in the modern teachings for a better and advanced education
system. However, there is difference in the opinion of people I personally ask in this context
(combination of traditional and modern teaching methods). Some of them believe that
traditional methods are best methods for the purpose of providing education to the
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children’s, and some believe that modern teaching methods are best for providing
education to the children. As stated by the Ludwig (2004), in different rural areas of India,
traditional methods of teaching are still used in the education institutions, and it is
considered as the biggest reason of downfall of education system in rural areas of India. In
this modern world, only traditional methods of teaching are not sufficient for complete
education. In other words, there must be combination of both traditional and modern
techniques of education in rural areas of India for ensuring imparting of quality education to
the students.
Digital technology in India has been evolving from last few years, and it also changed the
way through which students learn concepts in schools (Goswami, 2014). It ensures quality
education in the schools and also removes the disadvantages related to the traditional
methods of teaching (ICBSE, 2013). Current generation is more connected with the digital
technologies and because of this it is beneficial for schools to provide them education with
the help of digital technology. However, traditional methods of teaching are also important
because these methods ensure direct interaction between the teachers and students and
considered as best source of learning (Frost Sullivan, 2016).
Therefore, in my opinion, balance between traditional methods of teaching and modern
methods of teaching is necessary, because both the methods have their own pros and cons.
In other words, both the methods can be used simultaneously for the betterment of the
education. The main purpose of this study is to provide the deep understanding of
requirement of both traditional method of teaching and modern method of teaching in rural
areas of Punjab (State in Northern India). This paper discusses the need for balance between
the traditional & modern methods of teaching, and how this balance might improves the
rural education system of India.
Research Question
In this paper I put forward the argument that it is important to combine these methods
because combination of traditional methods and modern methods of teaching can result in
the advancement of the rural education system.
The main question of research related to this study is associated with the complete study
aim, and this question is stated as following: “What needs to be considered in the balance
between the traditional & modern methods of teaching in the Punjab, and what might this
mean for the rural education system?” This question includes broad description, and
because of this it is divided into different areas:
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 Background and Overview of the Indian education context in terms of modern and
traditional methods.
 Overview of Punjab education context (Traditional)
 Pros and cons of both traditional and modern methods.
 Possible ways of balancing the two methods and their implications for rural (Punjab)
education.
First two questions provide the essential base for this study, and it also state the necessary
findings, definitions, and other important segments. This paper mainly focuses on answering
the question number 3 that is balance models which illustrate different ways of balancing
the two.
The Research Approach
I am using Qualitative research Approach in this project as this approach is used for the
purpose of conducting research related to this project which includes the collection,
analysis, and interpretation of the data, and it is not possible to reduce this data in numbers.
Data in the qualitative research is based on the social world and behaviors of the people.
Research method
In view of time-constraints, the technique is based on literature.Literature review is used for
the purpose of conducting research related to this project, and data is gathered from
different national and international sources such as peer reviewed articles, journals, reports,
textbooks, database, websites, and reports. There are number of advantages of the
literature reviews, as it allows expansion of the research topic and comparison of results
from different studies. In other words, it can be said that literature reviews provide strong
base for understanding the strong datasets (Hair Jr., Celsi, Money, Samouel& Page, 2011).
Limitations of the study
Following are some limitations of this report which are stated below:
 Research in this paper is mainly based on the skills of the individual that is researcher
and information and recommendations are based on the personal view of
researcher.
 It is a time consuming process because of the high volume of data (Anderson, 2010).
For the purpose of this assignment, author mainly focuses on the key elements of
the scholar articles and journals.
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 For the purpose of dealing with the limitations author use different approaches and
guidelines of the experts such as teachers and others students.
Another limitation related to this research is reliability and validity of the sources used in
this research because they ensure that information related to this topic is collected from
authentic sources. Last limitation related to this paper is access to financial resources
because of which student are not able to collect the information directly from the authentic
sources. This report only answers the importance of balance between the traditional and
modern teaching methods and also the way through which this balance can be achieved or
maintained by the schools. However, this topic is wide in nature and cover number of
elements and concepts in its ambit, but because of the limited time and word access author
only address few of these ways in brief. While conducting this research, history of Indian
education system is evaluated for the purpose of understanding the present roots of this
system. It must be noted that, schools established in rural areas re not considered in this
study while collecting the data.
Delimitations of the study
This report only answers the importance of balance between the traditional and modern
teaching methods and also the way through which this balance can be achieved or
maintained by the schools. However, this topic is wide in nature and cover number of
elements and concepts in its ambit, but because of the limited time and word access author
only address few of these ways in brief.
While conducting this research, history of Indian education system is evaluated for the
purpose of understanding the present roots of this system. It must be noted that, schools
established in rural areas are not considered in this study while collecting the data.
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Chapter2: Traditional and Modern Methods (Literature Review)
Introduction
This section of the paper mainly focuses on the traditional and modern teaching concepts
which defines the detailed understanding of the education approach in context of both
Indian and global context such as issues faced by tutors while providing the education to the
students in the rural areas of Punjab or also in different areas of India.This section isthe
essential base for this study and it also state the necessary findings, definitions, and other
important segments about the Indian education which further stated that the overview of
the traditional and modern methods of education.
What is meant by education?
Education is considered as that process which provides the facility of learning, or it helps the
individual in acquiring knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. There are number of
methods through which education can be provided such as storytelling, training, teaching,
etc. Generally, education is provided by the educators and it can be take in both formal and
informal setting.
The Indian education context
One of the biggest issues across the globe for the educators, and especially in India, is
providing quality education to the present generation. India is considered as nation of
youth, because of the addition of 28 million youth population every year. Almost 50% or
more population of the India is below the age of 25, and almost 65% are aged less than 35
years. By the year 2020, average expected age of Indians is 29 years (Ministry of Statistics
and Program Implementation, 2017). However, population of India in context of youth
won’t be able to help the economy development if concept of universal education is not
adopted in complete India (Ralhan, 2017).
Almost 65% population of the India is resided in the rural areas, and education system of
rural areas deserves more attention in comparison of the urban areas. In the rural area of
Punjab, there is tremendous increase in the number of secondary and senior secondary
schools during the period of 1971-2009, but still education quality in these schools is not
acceptable. Till the period of 2009, total number of high schools in the state went up to
2749 in 2009 from only 1071 in 1971 (Shodhganga, n.d.). Still quality of the education
provided in these schools does not meet acceptable parameter.
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