According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), 63% of Indian youth (between 20-24 years) are unemployed. Other studies show that almost two million graduates and 0.5 million postgraduates are jobless. Factors for growing unemployment are many, but a primary reason is the lack of future-ready skills. The probability of a successful career depends heavily on student competency. And the home learning environment (HLE) plays a pivotal role here.
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Natural replication
Experts believe that environment shapes a student’s personality, and the home is where one spends a lot of time. Right from infancy, a child imitates the parents’ activity and behaviour. From expressions to vocabulary and social etiquettes to TV habits, a child spontaneously follows the family. It is not unusual to find children pursuing one parent’s profession. It is quite prevalent in the society that children often pursue their parents’ profession.
Learning from elders
Years of bonding with parents and siblings develop great learning and development chemistry between them. After learning academic and social skills from teachers at school, revising them at home can further clarify their concepts and help them understand the practical implications. For instance, an engineer in the family can help an interest in Physics by sharing experiences in the field. Similarly, a doctor in the family is the best person to resolve queries on topics such as Genetics, Human Anatomy, and diseases. In fact, every working professional in the family can impart his/her practical knowledge, induce a student’s curiosity level, and reinforce the overall learning process.
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A family’s socioeconomic status, educational background, approach towards life, desire to grow, and commitment to profession create a healthy home learning environment (HLE). Besides imbibing the familial values, the younger ones also assimilate the knowledge and skills of parents and siblings, consciously as well as subconsciously. Their curious minds and cognitive skills easily grasp the things that seeped into the environment of the family.
Students who have good HLE usually have better time-management skills. They listen to their teachers and cooperate with peers, and these positive attributes ultimately lead to a growth mindset and enhance their competency level. However, it is difficult to explain the individual contribution of each facet in shaping the HLE. As not all the inputs are quantifiable, the outcome depends on their performance in totality.
The foremost requirement of a desirable HLE is healthy communication between family members. They need to spend quality time together and talk to each other. In an ideal HLE, children will be free to raise questions, and elders should answer them with reference to their own experiences and the knowledge gained. This means children can enjoy the benefits only if there is a collaborative and friendly culture in the family.
The writer is Principal, Modern Public School