Learning Links Foundation - Usha Bhaskar

This presentation was given by Usha Bhaskar at the conference “Creativity and Critical Thinking Skills in School: Moving a shared agenda forward” on 24-25 September 2019, London, UK.

2. Our Vision Our Mission Our Domains of work
About Learning Links Foundation
To foster a
bright future
where
education
is optimally
delivered
and learning
is truly
inspired.
Outreach
Education Solutions
We provide customized solutions to
bridge the learning divide and
empower students to achieve their
potential
Skill building & Entrepreneurship
We provide need-aligned
professional development for youth
with skills for self-reliance and
productive participation in society
Technology & Innovation
We leverage technology to
accelerate and deepen learning
and foster collaboration. We
stimulate change and create
sustainable large solutions through
innovation.
Consultancy & Advisory
We are the trusted advisor on
education strategy development,
enabling systemic changes, and
policy reforms

3. Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Delhi
Haryana
Uttar Pradesh
Rajasthan
Gujarat
Maharashtra
Goa
Karnataka
Tamil Nadu
Andhra Pradesh
Telangana
Chhattisgarh
Jharkhand
Assam
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
West Bengal
Presence

4. The Current Reality-India
As the country struggles
with improving learning
outcomes for Literacy &
Numeracy ,Skill
Development is naturally
deprioritized!
76%
% of students who could not count
money
71%
% of enrolled children are attending
school on any given day
50%
% of 18 year olds who cant read
a simple sentence of English
35%
42%
% of 14-18 age group who are
working regardless of their schooling
% Children in Grades 3 & 4 who do not
recognize numbers

5. Participant country in PISA in 2009. Indian fared poorly and
bagged the 72nd rank among 74 participating countries.!
Growing Need for
Creativity &
Critical Thinking
Introduction of HOTS (High Order Thinking Skills)
in all classrooms and for all subjects wasn’t
successful & discontinued!
Bridging the Reality to Expectation Gap-Small Attempts at Policy Level
Content development efforts by the national
education policies such as the 2005 National
Curriculum Framework, the 2009 Right to Education
Act, and the 2009 National Curriculum Framework
of Teacher Education, has affirmed the importance
of critical thinking & creativity
National Education Policy 2019 -Government proposes
to establishing an autonomous Central Institute of
Adult Education, for a National Curriculum Framework
for critical thinking skills enhancement among other
skills!

6. 6
Assessing
Progression of
Creative and Critical
Thinking Skills
among Students
Selection & Recruitment of
Schools
Development of pedagogic
activities by teachers &
transaction in classrooms
Assessment of student
learning levels
Teacher Professional
Development & Pedagogical
Interventions through focussed
observations & support
OECD-LLF Intervention Objectives
Selection & Recruitment of
Schools
Development of pedagogic
activities by teachers &
transaction in classrooms
Assessment of student
learning levels
Teacher Professional
Development & Pedagogical
Interventions through focussed
observations & support
Realizing the need to develop 21
st
Century
Skills of Creativity & Critical thinking, the
research study by OECD came at the right
time to cater to the same!

7. 7
The quasi-experimental pre-test, post-tests control group design has been chosen to
conduct the present research study on the students of Classes III and VII of schools of
intervention and control groups.
OECD-LLF Intervention Methodology

8. 0
1
2
State
Government
Schools
Government
Aided Schools
Private School
Type of Schools
InterventionControl
Grades –VI & VIII
Discipline -Math and Science
Number of Schools
2280
Number of Students
60Number of teachers
OECD-LLF Intervention Key Statistics
Name of the School Type of SchoolSchool Type
Government High School,
Uttarahalli, Bangalore
Intervention
School
State
Government
School
Government High school,
JeevanBheemaNagar,
Bangalore
Intervention
School
State
Government
School
SadhuVaswani
International School for
Girls, New Delhi
Intervention
School
Private School
Army Public School, Daula
Kuan, New Delhi
Intervention
School
Government
Aided School
Army public School,
Shankar Vihar, New Delhi
Control SchoolGovernment
Aided School
RamjasSchool PusaRoad
and Day Boarding, New
Delhi
Control SchoolPrivate School
Government High school,
Vasanthpura, Bangalore
Control School State
Government
School
Government High school,
Arehalli, Bangalore
Control School State
Government
School
8

9. Selection & Recruitment of Schools
Development of Pedagogic Activities
Baseline-End-line Assessment
OECD-LLF Intervention Key Activities Undertaken
Expert Sessions Facilitation
Teacher Professional Development
Group Discussions

10. OECD-LLF Intervention Key Activities Undertaken(cont.)
Review of Pedagogical Activities

11. Exemplary Examples of ‘Creativity & Critical thinking skills’ in Technology!

12. Exemplary Examples of ‘Creativity & Critical thinking skills’ in Technology!
Other TIs can be found here& here.

13. 13
OECD-LLF Intervention Key Outputs
78%
73%
75%
76%
73%
81%
77%
78%
79%
75%
68%70%72%74%76%78%80%82%
I have to use my imagination
I have to solve problems with more than one
possible solution
I have to explore different points of view on a
problem
I have to produce/perform something of my own
I have to asses stregnth and weaknesses of ideas
Student's View on Classwork in intervention Subjects
(Secondary)
Endline (n=737)Baseline(n=654)
SCHOOL-WISE ANALYSIS
Baseline Endline
14 yr old Intervention 64.04 68.8
Control 66.5 66.5
9 yr old Intervention 54.3 63.8
Control 75.2 72.18
The survey of primary school students in intervention schools
showed that while at baseline only 37% of the students often felt
excited about what they learnt at school, this number increased to
42% at the end-line.
The survey of students in intervention schools showed that there
was 4% & 9% increase in skill learning levels for secondary &
primary students respectively.Forcontrol schools, that there was 0%
& 3% decrease in skill learning levels for secondary & primary
students respectively.

14. 14
Other Key Strategies:
Specialized Expert Sessions -Organized discussion session in different
schools where subject experts from NCERT(National Curriculum Body)
were invited to guide and facilitate pedagogic practices of teaching Math
and Science to inculcate creativity and critical thinking skills
Focused Teacher Trainings-Teachers developing pedagogical
activities using different strategies to inculcate creativity and
critical thinking skills
Cross Collaboration among schools-Organized sessions with different
schools where teachers shared best pedagogy practices for inculcating
creativity and critical thinking skills in students
Who helped us in the journey?
1
2
3
The National Council of
Educational Research and
Training-Academia Partners

15. Teachers found it
burdensome, hindering
theirenthusiasticparticipation
dueto limited school time and
the vast national curriculum
Systematic Issues
Challenging for teachers
to shiftgears from
conventional teaching
styles to incorporate
new
methods/approaches
Innovative vs Traditional
Individual testing of
EPOC (oral recordings)
turned out to be a time
consuming exercise
Time consuming Oral
Assessments
Imparting Skills of
Creativity & Criticism
Thinking was relatively
difficult as compared to
younger kids
Secondary Student’s
Mindset
1
4
2
3
Challenges we encountered-a Few Hiccups!

16. GloboClean is a self-
sustainable system that
addresses the cleanliness
issues of the city. It is an
innovative way of waste
management through mobile
application
Project Maais a technology
solution which helps in LPG
gas detection in rural and
lower middle class urban area
.
Exemplary Examples of Creativity & Critical thinking skills

17. Students conducted a
research on underlying
reasons for ‘Dengue’ ( water
borne diseases) & areas
where it was more prevalent
Students conducted a research
on dying lakes of their city since
the city originally had 262 lakes
& there are less than 81 left now
Exemplary Examples of Creativity & Critical thinking skills

18. Using the learning from the OECD project, LLF
set up dedicated Math labs, where following
activities are undertaken:
•Project Based Learning –It has been
adopted to create various projects, based on
subject concepts taught to students, as part
of their school curriculum.
•Competitions like ‘Math Fashion Show’were
organized to kindle curiosity and competitive
spirit among children ,
•Math Mela was organized which provided
students to come up with creative,
innovative projects that were displayed.
Exemplary Examples of Creativity & Critical thinking skills

19. www.free-powerpoint-templates-design.com
Central & State Governments have
taken measures to develop
pedagogical skills during Teacher’s
In-service period( training period)
Government of India has taken
calculated decisions to inculcate
Creativity & Critical Thinking Skills
through various missions! One such is
‘Atal Innovation Mission’ which has
been initiated keeping in mind that its
time that Indian students are given
exposure for development of 21
st
Century Skills
Learning Links Foundation has been
leveraging Skill assessment rubric
developed by OECD to assess the
future skills of children Creativity and
Critical Thinking at the center of it.
.
What Next?
Government of India has been leveraging the learnings from the program to bring
out systemic changes in the schools’ ecosystem.

20. THANK YOU