Human-beings are equipped with a variety of   mental faculties. Just as one may have the artistic mind, the entrepreneurial mind or the political mind, there is the scientific mind. As one adopts a particular frame of mind, one considers various situations of life in the light of such a mindset. Therefore, different people respond differently to a given situation as each person views that situation from his/herown perspective. Irrespective of one’s specialization in a particular field or interest in a chosen area of work, it is important that everyone should have the scientific mind, as only the scientific mind provides a perspective of deep understanding that complements the various other mindsets. The present day school environment lays greater emphasis   on the mere acquisition of knowledge rather than on enhancing the curiosity of young minds.  Emphasis on securing high marks and gratifying grades, our education system is predominantly based on curricula and assessment procedures that, unfortunately, lay importance on rote learning. The present situation demands the refocusing of school based learning for acquiring various attributes of the scientific mind that include reasoning, logic ,openness, quest for knowledge, curiosity, imagination. In this context, overhauling of the formal education system is the need of the hour, as the present thrust in schools is on memorization, which seriously hampers innovative thinking. Most of the parents pressurize their children to garb high ranks out of their own frustrations. The different environments, in which a child grows, right since birth, play a crucial role. Did you know that a baby is born with a brain that is already one quarter the weight of an adult brain ? It is quite amazing, but it is true that brain development takes place during the pre natal period and is greater during the formative years of life. The first four years are crucial for brain development, as half of a child’s adult intelligence is formed during this period. In the next four years, another thirty percent (30%) of intellectual development takes place. In other    words, when a child is eight years old, he/she has 80% of adult intelligence. The remaining 20% of brain development occurs in the next ten years. Early childhood experiences are crucial to the intellectual development of a child, as they affect the progress of the developing brain where interconnections between the brain cells or neurons are being rapidly formed. The influence of early environment on brain development is long lasting. This simply means that during the first few years of life, children form their main learning path ways in the brain; later in life everything an individual learns simply grows from the information gained during these early years. For promoting healthy human learning, the family environment, the school environment, the peer group environment, communication environments facilitated by radio, television and internet are all important and it is improving the conditions of these learning environments that would ultimately help in shaping a young mind to develop the qualities of the scientific mind. Let us work hard to develop our scientific minds.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 2 Jan 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 2 Jan 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 3 Jan 2012 00:00:00 IST