Practice, Feedback and Life Skills

There is an age-old adage: practice makes perfect. Every skill we acquire requires practice.  But not all forms of practice are the same. Decades of research reveal that strategic, evidence based practice combined with timely feedback creates lasting learning gains across  academic subjects and life skills alike.  

The Power of Practice

For anybody to improve at a particular skill, they  need to practice it.1 Research has found that ‘expert  level’ performance is actually the result of  prolonged efforts to improve performance.2 When one exercises and trains for a sport, their muscles  undergo micro-tears, repair and become stronger,  which makes them better at the sport. However,  mere repetition isn’t effective. One needs to engage  in ‘deliberate practice’3 with the goal of improving. It is the method of practice which is crucial. 

 When one learns something new or difficult, they require effort, make mistakes and feel stress,  which is the mental equivalent of micro-damage, similar A common method of learning  among students is massed practice- the idea of ‘cramming’ a subject a couple of days before  an examination. Known as ‘blocked learning’, this method has several problems. It is often  difficult to understand and process large amounts of information at once, and even when one  memorises multiple concepts, essential details are glossed over. Any learning benefits  obtained from this method are forgotten just a few days later.4 

Instead of cramming, spacing out the learning of a subject over a longer period enables a  person to learn more information and retain it longer. This method also aligns with how our  brain learns, strengthening memory pathways and fostering long-term learning.5 

Another powerful approach is interleaving- mixing different topics during practice rather than  studying one subject at a time. Interleaving has been shown to improve long-term retention  and transfer of learned knowledge.

The structure of a typical school week, with students practising multiple subjects,  incorporates the idea of interleaving. Vinoba supplements classroom learning by conducting regular assessment tests throughout the academic year and providing teachers with practice  tests on various subjects they can use to ensure their students have the spaced practice they  need.

Feedback: The Learning Accelerator

Feedback is a key part of learning. When one exercises with the wrong posture, they become  worse, not better. Practice must be coupled with feedback that communicates a student’s  performance within fixed parameters and how they can  better meet them. This kind of feedback is called  ‘formative feedback’, and it allows students to  understand what they have already mastered as well as  specific areas that they can improve.  

The feedback given must be timely and ongoing. A  student must understand how their performance on an  Interim test was before their final examination.7It is  also crucial for feedback to address what is done well  and the methods to correct the areas that need improvement.

Feedback has a greater impact on primary-age school  pupils and on low-performing students. Its  effectiveness is also ubiquitous across all subjects.8

Vinoba adheres to this principle by providing detailed feedback on the tests that it conducts.  In select districts, Vinoba also provides a combined analysis of a class’s test results, allowing  a teacher to focus their efforts on areas where a subject is lacking.

Practising Life Skills

The principle of practice extends far beyond academic subjects. Vinoba organises a number  of life skills activities, such as poetry recitation, creative writing, storytelling, and spelling bees,  to help students build confidence and become more comfortable using the language they  have studied in a more conversational setting. Other activities, such as kitchen gardens and  environmental clubs, teach children the essential values that will underscore their lives.  

It is crucial that these activities also be organised on a regular basis, and studies have shown  that students participating in regular life skills programs have significantly better self-esteem,  coping skills, overall emotional adjustment, and prosocial behaviour.9

Vinoba’s Role in providing practice

Vinoba conducts a number of academic programs in its districts to support regular practice  for students. Since 2024, Vinoba has also provided students with a number of opportunities  for practising life skills, and since 2025, conducted in-person programs like Nanhe Sitare, 

where finalists in life skills activities like Spoken English, Spelling Bee, Poetry Recitation and  Storytelling compete with each other and show off their skills and abilities at the district level.