Gone are the days of the old pedagogical methods of listening and learning mentality. Students today do not want is to be preached to in the overwhelming style of the outdated classroom teaching systems.

Everybody learns differently. Teachers and Trainers have to remember today that when they are dealing with more than one student or trainee, they will likely have to cater for multiple learning preferences, habits and styles  –  that of audio learners, visual learners, kinaesthetic learners, or a combination of all the three.  

This is one of the main challenges of teaching or training in the present times : “How do we, as teachers and trainers keep our students and  trainees engaged and open to learning?”

The answer to this is Thematic Learning. This provides a truly immersive experience for the student and keeps them engaged in their lesson content.

Significance of Thematic Learning

Thematic Learning is a newer concept in pedagogy. It is an instructional method of teaching in which emphasis is given on choosing a specific theme for teaching one or many concepts. It is based on integrating various information and using it to demonstrate the topic. It has proved to be a powerful instructional method for integrating various concepts in curriculum by daily life examples and experiences. Thematic Learning helps in promoting learning with understanding and discourages ‘rote learning’.

Thematic Learning is based on the idea that knowledge acquisition is efficient among students when they learn in the context of a coherent and holistic way and when they can associate whatever they learn to their surrounding and real life examples. Thematic instruction seeks to put the cognitive skills such as reading, thinking, memorizing, and writing in the context of a real life situation under the broad aim to allow creative exploration.

Steps include:

Deciding a theme: Theme can be decided by teacher and sometimes by students and it can be a smaller     concept (e.g. village, mother, climate etc.) to a large and integrated system (e.g. ecosystem, atmosphere etc.)

Integration of theme with existing curriculum: Next step of thematic learning is designing the theme in an integrative ways to existing curricula keeping the skill and content knowledge in mind.

Designing Instructions and co-curricular plans: This step includes organizing other resources and extra-curricular activities for demonstrating the theme (e.g. field trip or visit to botanical garden).

Group Activities and Discussions: Group activities and Discussions enable students to participate and reach on a shared perspective of the theme. This also helps in creative exploration of the subject.

Applying a Theme to learning makes it fun and most importantly makes it a memorable experience for those who want to learn. In a learning and development context, a Theme is simply a metaphor to help the Trainer express the skill that they wish to teach and it can be tied directly into the workshop content.

For Example :  If a Teacher selects a theme that is focused on growing, a gardening theme may engage your students. Similarly a detective theme may lend itself to problem solving and encourage further engagement with your workshop objectives.

A theme can help to:

• Create a fun and relaxed training atmosphere.

• Humanise the learning process- If your learners are intimidated by the typical classroom atmosphere and engaging with training, then this process should help to bring their personal goals into a safe and enjoyable environment.

• Stimulate creativity- if your students are stimulated and feeling creative then your workshop will naturally flow.

• Create strong learning links to everyday objects- creating connections is an essential part of learning, creating thematic connections can create strong neurological links for participants and enhance their learning experience.

• These links will then make it easier for your learners to apply their training to their everyday lives. Whether you are a coach who is focusing on personal development or a trainer who is working towards a business goal, thematic learning can help you to achieve your objective.

The theme should flow throughout the entire learning experience, this creates a sense of consistency for the learner and allows them to really settle in to the learning environment.

If Teachers & Trainers can tie their chosen themes into their workbook, peripherals and learning environment the underlying metaphors will add an entire new dimension to the learning experience, helping the students to learn, develop and grow.