admin If Nigeria is to emerge as one of the developed nations of the world, then its system of education has to be rejigged in line with the demands of the 21st century. One way by which this can be achieved is through a new teaching approach and technique, described as experiential teaching.
Experiential teaching, according to its proponent, Prof Ifeolu Koni, a Professor of Law and an educationist of repute is a “Student centered approach that gets a student involved in the entire teaching process, unlike the old method, which is teacher centric” Explaining further, Prof Koni stated “within our own environment here in Nigeria there is a new trend, which is very dangerous – the youths are beginning to see education as something of a
scam. They query what a student gains, “after spending six years in primary school, six years in secondary school 4-5 years in a tertiary institution, and at the end of the day, they join the increasing army of unemployed youths, roaming the streets of Nigeria looking for a job? “The experiential approach, however, will go a long way to correct whatever might have led to the impression that education is a scam. It is a pervert impression”.
The goal of experiential teaching”, the university don explained, is to ensure that the student “is leaving the tertiary institution equipped with the right skills, competences and knowledge that they need to stand on their own.” The students are already equipped with their own ‘meal-ticket’ since they have already learnt the practical aspect of their course in a ‘do-it yourself ‘manner and thus, the ability to become self employed poses no difficulty.
On how the experiential approach can impact on our national life, socially, economically, health and environment wise, Prof Koni proffers: “In the course of researching into this topic, I realized that the experiential approach will even be of greater benefit to a developing country like Nigeria than even the so called developed world. That is because, most of the challenges that are associated will education in Nigeria are what this particular approach sets out to address.
For example, we talk about active engagement of students and instructors; about interactive and collaborative approach; about student being able to reflect on what they have learnt; about having enough time in the classroom and so on and so forth. Particularly, professional courses like Law, Medicine, Architecture,
Mass Communication, Engineering etc. need it.
“What we have learnt as educationists is that under the old approach, the focus is on examination, and that is usually ‘garbage in, garbage out’. Students can learn by heart (that is cram many things), but the moment they leave the exam
hall and you ask them a question, they cannot answer. You find out that somebody who made a First Class in the university, may not even be able to defend it, under the old method. But under the experiential teaching approach,
the teacher serves as a facilitator and not the sole knowledge dispenser.
“The developed worlds, have been making use of this approach for years, but now that we are putting it on the front burner of the educational system in Nigeria and in Africa, we stand a great deal to benefit from it, if fully adopted.
By our reporter.
