Importance of Practical Knowledge Integration into the Educational System

According to conventional perceptions proved by numerous life situations, knowledge is valued higher than its practical application. For example, at the exams, students are assessed on the basis of what they know, not what they can; while applying for a job, the employer considers the applicant’s school records in the first place, not trying to check their skills; and in any social setting, we are more likely to boast of our degrees and honors trying to astonish the others, who do not even question our practical achievements.

In contrast, when a fresh specialist starts working at an enterprise, they are most likely to be assessed by their abilities and quality of their work. However, in light of everything said above, the current education system that tries to cram the students with dry theory and subject basics cannot guarantee real practical knowledge able to make the applicants fit for the given position.

Of course, theoretical knowledge is important; it grants the overall cognizance about the matter on the basis of other people’s experience. It provides students with deeper understanding of the concepts and notions in the broader context. Nevertheless, it is not enough for shaping the right skills that are so important in the rapidly changing reality since they can only be attained through practice and experience.

While theoretical knowledge helps to understand the basics of the issues, practical knowledge is instrumental in understanding the way and being able to apply these basics in real-life situations. Schools offer the perfect basis to get started, but they seldom provide an opportunity to use this theoretical knowledge to get skillful. In the adult corporate world, it is not enough to find a good annotated bibliography writing service or a reliable custom essay writing help. Your job responsibilities are sure to demand much more than that.

Should Practical Knowledge Be Integrated into Educational System?

Any activity, be it car driving, operating a complex machinery at the plant, or even using a new electronic gadget, requires practice. The same applies to any sphere students study for in school. Practically all the disciplines and professions are skill-based; thus, theoretical basis is not enough, requiring a sufficient part of practicality. While conceptual understanding is indeed significant to comprehend the core of the issue, it is useless if a student cannot apply it on practice. The realization of this simple truth shows how important it is to integrate practical knowledge via conducting deep research, laboratory experiments, and various projects.

Types of Integrated Curriculum

A curriculum that crosses topic boundaries and places a focus on overarching ideas are referred to as an integrated curriculum. The goal of integration is to help students make connections so they can participate in activities that are pertinent to their lives. The goal of an integrated curriculum is to link academic theory to practical, real-world knowledge and experiences. Service learning facilitates the experience and practical learning component of an integrated curriculum.

Integrative curricula and how they appear in the learning and teaching environment have been the subject of substantial investigation. There are three distinct integrated curriculum concepts with overlapping and congruent components. These include:

1. Multidisciplinary integration – Largely focuses on the disciplines. With this strategy, various subjects are related to a central idea. With this strategy, teachers integrate abilities, information, or even attitudes into the standard curriculum. For instance, in certain schools, every academic area teaches learners to respect the environment.

2. Interdisciplinary integration – Teachers structure the curriculum around cross-disciplinary learning in this integration strategy. They group the shared knowledge present across the disciplines to highlight transdisciplinary concepts and skills.

3. Transdisciplinary integration – Teachers plan the curriculum around the queries and concerns of their students while using the transdisciplinary approach to integration. As they use disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge in a practical setting, students gain life skills.

Each of these paradigms uses service-learning as a tool to engage students, improve their educational experience, and inspire them to study. As a component of an integrated curriculum, service learning tackles relevant topics and community needs, which increases engagement and increases the likelihood that students will devote time and effort to their studies.

How Do You Implement an Integrated Curriculum in Your School?

An integrated curriculum has countless advantages for both teaching and learning. It is true that a well-planned and produced curriculum is necessary for an integrated curriculum to be successful. When creating an integrated curriculum, keep the following steps in mind.

  • Choose attainable learning objectives.
  • Think about what volunteer opportunities will help students attain the intended results
  • Contact potential neighborhood partners
  • Organize the experience carefully.
  • Plan how you’ll get students ready for the encounter.
  • Choose lessons that are acceptable and worthwhile for the kids
  • Incorporate critical thought and experience
  • Organize the logistics
  • Create a strategy to assess student accomplishment and community results
  • Find a resolution, acknowledge, and enjoy success

You may alter the teaching and learning process for both the instructor and the student by integrating service-learning into your curriculum. With the aid of integrated curricula, students can gain a deeper knowledge of the course material and learn how to apply what they have learned in the classroom to real-world scenarios. In the end, this aids in preparing them for their subsequent coursework, careers, and general life.

Practical Knowledge vs Theoretical Knowledge

When we talk about practical knowledge, we presuppose the experience gained through accomplishing some tasks on a daily basis. It is based on attempts and work fulfilled regularly in real-life situations. This experience gained gradually is important to achieve the mastery in certain activities and techniques to attain the set goals.

In its turn, theoretical knowledge is gained through reasoned understanding of the techniques needed to achieve some goal. In contrast to practical knowledge, it is based on other people’s experience and helps to understand the appropriateness of one approach or way of doing things over another. Theoretical knowledge aids in building proper strategies of achieving the goals that can only be proved and sharpened in the process of practice.

So, Is Practical Knowledge Important in Schools?

Undoubtedly, practical application of theoretical knowledge is important in schools to make students more prepared and fit for their future careers. Here are some of the reasons that can justify the importance of practical knowledge integration into the educational system.

  • Considering the description of both theoretical and practical knowledge, it can be deducted that they cannot exist in isolation, which makes it the first reason the latter must be integrated into the educational process and complement the former. You cannot do anything practically without knowing its theoretical basis. Similarly, theory will remain just a set of dry facts if you do not try to implement it in practice.
  • Any work performed by a person enhances its understanding and helps to remember it better. Thus, when students carry out any task in practice, they can comprehend any subject or issue clearer, and this understanding stays with them for longer.
  • Practice facilitates experimental and factual understanding. Since empirical learning is more significant, every theoretical background should be supplemented with practical application to figure out how to put it into use in real-life situations.
  • Practical work gives motivation for independent learning. Being equipped with theory and conceptual knowledge, a student is eager to try it and experience the process as well as the outcome of real activity. As a result, it motivates to improve the skill and even learn something additionally.
  • The more we perform some particular work, the better we become in performing it. Thus, practice leads to gaining expertise. People become experts only during trial and error learning, when they can make their own mistakes, figure out their causes, and learn how to avoid them. Such an outcome is only possible via practical performance of the same task over and over again.
  • Independence gained during such a process, enhances confidence. When students see that they can do something on their own, they are eager to improve through constant practice, increasing the performance even further. A positive result makes them more confident and ultimately, more ready for the future job.
  • Attaining theoretical knowledge is a very dull and monotonous process. Listening to long lectures, making notes, and absorbing dry theory reduces students’ interest, engagement, and concentration. A switch to practical work is a life-saving change that brings some variety into the learning process in the first place and ignites learners’ enthusiasm by offering an opportunity to implement their knowledge into something real.
  • Lastly, practical tasks assigned in school usually presuppose group work. Such collaborations bring additional benefits, cultivating social skills and nurturing the characteristics necessary in any corporate setting while working with other people.

Of course, all these positive outcomes are impossible without the solid theoretical base. It has already been noted not for once that successful implementation in practice can only be accomplished on the basis of theory. More than that, in some fields like chemistry, engineering, or physics among others, certain practical assignments may be rather dangerous and lead to detrimental consequences without the sufficient knowledge of theoretical concepts. Thus, a good balance between theoretical and practical knowledge must be maintained to achieve best results.

What Will Your Children Learn From Practical Knowledge?

Children are inherently curious and inquisitive beings who love to explore and experiment, but as they get older, some of these natural tendencies are frequently decreased by time restraints on school schedules or social commitments outside of the classroom, which deters them from continuing to learn about subjects like math, science, technology, engineering, and other subjects that are useful in their daily lives.

Using the abilities required for these sectors, the innovative teaching and learning method known as “Practical Knowledge” takes one step further by preparing students so they may not be ready for their future careers or possibilities in life.

Gaining practical knowledge is an enjoyable approach to practicing the critical thinking abilities that are essential for academic and professional success. Since no particular training is needed to teach Practical Knowledge, anyone who is proficient with technology and has a basic understanding of STEM disciplines can do so.

How to Increase the Practical Knowledge of Children?

  • Engage your children in a variety of brief projects, whether it be an arts and crafts project, a math project, or a scientific project.
  • Make a project journal so that your kids can take notes and journal about their adventures.
  • Keep an art or craft supply box for them so they always have what they need to create something whenever the mood strikes.
  • Keep guides for common chores like mixing paint colors, stringing beads on wire, measuring components in baking recipes, and more handy for quick access whenever you need them.

Which Skills Get Enhanced Through Practical Knowledge?

1. Enhances children’s abilities  -Children’s capacity to organize and carry out tasks is improved by practical knowledge.

2. Teaches them how the world works – Recognizing patterns and finding solutions, it can also aid improve your child’s understanding of how the world functions.

3. Helps the child develop skills – It will aid in your child’s development of a skill set. When the mood strikes, they will need these to create something.

4. Help children set goals – It helps teach kids how to develop and achieve goals. When your child has numerous ideas for things they want but you don’t have the time or resources to fulfill all of their desires, practical skills are essential.

5. It helps kid learn different language – Practical knowledge encompasses more than simply practical skill sets; it also includes language. For instance, becoming familiar with the phrases “stop” and “go” will help kids one-day cross streets safely.

6. Help children develop skills – It aids kids in acquiring abilities in a variety of areas, from more concrete activities like following adults’ written directions to more abstract ideas like finding patterns through problem-solving.

Integrated Leaning Characteristics

  • It places a lot of emphasis on problem-solving.
  • It includes the preparation of the curriculum, faculty development, and assessment.
  • Examining and using information successfully is the goal of integrated learning.
  • It enables them to construct new learning environments by fusing their knowledge and experiences.
  • Creativity, adaptability, critical thinking, and teamwork are the defining traits of integrated learning.
  • The teaching method takes into consideration a variety of ideas, learning styles, and levels of intelligence.

Integrated Leanings’ Advantages

  • Integrated learning aims to increase general concept knowledge, retention, and application.
  • It facilitates learning the material.
  • Active participation in situational learning is emphasized in integrated learning.
  • It serves as ties several academic fields together.
  • Higher-order thinking skills are enhanced.
  • It guarantees that learners will participate fully.

Final Conclusion

Skills necessary in life in general and in professional work in particular are gained when a person can apply the knowledge attained from a variety of sources in practice. The cognizance with theoretical aspects is very necessary to understand the basis of the issues you are going to work with. However, it will not lead you anywhere if you have no idea how to apply these concepts in real-life situations that you encounter on a daily basis. Therefore, contemporary educational system must extensively integrate practical work into its syllabi to enhance students’ learning and give them the opportunity to gain the necessary experience, enhancing their competitive advantage in the talent- and quality-oriented corporate world.

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