Nature Wise

In our previous posts we have shared our thoughts about the change that is in happening in schools, families and within society. Meanwhile the mother of all changes has been taking place around us.

Mother Nature has been stretched quite a bit with all the human action of ‘modernization’. Her reaction to the mayhem we created has come forth through global warming, changing seasons, melting glaciers, parched lands in one geography and torrential rains in another. It is not difficult to understand that impacts of these changes are going to stay with us for a while.

We often hear environmentalists complain about people being completely disinterested in issues related to conservation of the natural environment.
Most middle-class families have a car, often more than one. They consider it inconvenient to use public transport, have a car pool or walk. People pluck leaves and flowers from trees with the same nonchalance as they throw a soft drink can out of a moving car or dump garbage under a tree or any vacant plot they can find. 

Yet, we also know that some people like our friend Tara carry back a toffee wrapper home to dispose it in the bin if they do not find a suitable spot to trash outside. Tara attributes this to the fact that ‘No littering’ was a message drilled in her school. She explains that the convent she attended was spotlessly clean at all times. The teachers constantly talked about the importance of cleanliness.

This brings us to the question: “Given that each one of us needs to become more sensitive and caring towards the environment, how do we instill this in the minds of young children?”

A story that a kindergarten teacher shared with us recently, provides us with a clue to answer this.

This teacher is a Nature lover. She introduced her students to gardening in school. Every day her students would visit the patch of garden where they had sprinkled some carrot seeds, until one day it was time to pull out the carrots from the ground. Her fondest memories are of the look of wonder and amazement on the little ones’ faces as they realized that the seeds they had sprinkled had grown into marvelous red carrots. “This was hiding under the ground,” one child said.  “Miss I can smell the mitti!” said another one. This small exposure for the children to the wonders of Nature would have probably developed a greater sensitivity and interest in plants than all poems, stories, songs put together they had heard in class.

So let’s think of how adults can create real and authentic experiences with Nature for their little ones. What about lifting a huge rock and asking children to see what is underneath? Or pointing to a squirrel seated outside the window and having children decide on a name for it? Then weaving a story around it?

In this context we share a curious problem that a teacher faced in her class. There was a lizard that refused to be chased out. Several of the children were scared of the lizard; while many others were for throwing things at it or stamping on it. The teacher named the lizard ‘Changu- Mangu’ and created a story about it. So every morning the Circle Time concluded with a story about “Do you know what Changu-Mangu did last evening?” Finally when the housekeeping was able to remove the lizard from the class, the story was concluded because “Chang-Mangu had gone visiting her friends.”

This is not to suggest that we allow our classrooms and homes to be infested with pests. We want to highlight a teacher’s ingenuity in turning an irksome situation into an opportunity to help children develop a feeling of compassion for animals including the not-so-cute-ones.

Simple initiatives like setting up a bird feeder so that children can feed and observe birds can bring children close to Nature. Another suggestion is to have children lie on their backs, observe the clouds and then draw them. Or have them adopt a tree or a plant during a year and care for it.

We adults in our role as mentors and parents have myriad ways to help our children develop a sense of fascination and respect for Nature. Caring for the environment will be a natural corollary.

Yes Ma’am

As adults we reminisce fondly of our school days. We hold memories of our teachers walking into class, all students becoming silent, scrambling up to stand straight and saying “Good Morning/Afternoon” in a typical sing song voice!

Contrast this to a classroom of today ... A teacher walks in. Some students become silent; many continue to talk regardless. The teacher looks dismayed and asks students to stand up and greet her. A lecture on respecting teachers follows. Most students hear her out with a bored look. The teacher goes back to the staff room fuming about how this generation lacks manners and values!

Why has the behaviour of students changed?

In the past was it fear or was it respect that prompted students to stand up and greet the teacher? Or was it the successful drill of the moral science classes where they learnt endlessly to “Respect your elders!”

On this thought we would like to share a school bus episode. A few front seats of a school bus were always ‘reserved’ for teachers. Over time the number of teachers commuting on that bus went up. Students who travelled on the same bus resisted giving away seats to teachers, especially those who did not teach their class. This prompted a senior teacher to scream at them and ask them to give up their seats. She questioned their behaviour and told them that they needed to have respect for their teachers. Some students got up reluctantly that day only to repeat the same story the next day.

As adults we find it natural to impose authority and demand respect. However, do we really look at children to offer us seats for the fear of punishment? Or do we want them to respect us because they consider us worthy of their respect?

Teachers in the past were revered as being the fountains of all knowledge. Today children have access to this knowledge easily in the print and electronic media and on the Internet.
The school system in the past was entirely geared towards ‘doing as you are told to’. So students unquestioningly accepted all information that teachers provided; and did as they were told to do.

On the other hand, teaching methods now adopted in schools encourage children to think, ask questions, debate and share opinion. To demand respect and unquestioning obedience from students who have internalised these skills is - unrealistic.

Let us also reflect on current societal attitudes. Adults nurture relationships only when they see some tangible benefits from them. Children imbibe this at a very early age.

The days of blind respect and obedience are over. Teachers today need to work on building bridges with children; enjoying the new age children who at times are ahead of adults!

Teachers may need to think of new age roles for themselves - as facilitators or mentors and work towards bringing wisdom rather than just knowledge to their students.

Learning to Introspect

As times have changed, so has parenting. Unlike mothers of yesteryears who were preoccupied with catering to large families and a never ending series of house-hold tasks, mothers in modern times have clear cut priorities.

Raising a ‘perfect’ child seems to be the unspoken ambition for them. Mothers of toddlers are seen in a frenzy of buying picture books, educational CDs and toys. Mothers of five to eight year olds hunt desperately for the ideal activity class to bring out their child’s hidden talent. The more the child grows, the more parents become excited and anxious to go that extra mile to bring him/her up perfectly. What the child needs is often asked but seldom understood.

At the same time parents are anxious to instil the right values in their child. The child is made to learn the 'good behaviour' norms almost as quickly as he/she is encouraged to learn the multiplication tables! The rigour with which this is enforced can make a Marshal proud.

Inspire believes that along with exhibiting these aspirations and expectations for the child, parents must consider giving the child the ‘space’ he/she deserves. This space eventually helps to accentuate emotional and intellectual growth in the child.

Here we would like to share Arun’s story with you.

Arun shared a special relationship with his mother. Every morning she would drop him to school in their Maruti 800. For some years the arrangement went on well. As Arun entered teenage he developed a sense of self-consciousness. He began to compare their Maruti 800 to all the big and fancy cars that streamed in to the school entrance each morning. One day, he casually told his mother, “You don’t have to drive all the way in mother. You can park the car a little before the main entrance and I can comfortably walk to school from there.”

What do you think the mother did?

She could have indulged in morality talk and lectured the boy on being content with what they had. She could advise him to stop comparing and look at himself with dignity. She could even go ahead to prove that owning a Maruti 800 did not in any way make her or her son inferior.

Arun’s mother, however, did none of this. Instead, she did exactly as her son had asked her to do. In doing so she honoured the state of mind her son was in. She gave him the space he needed to think and realise his feelings. Although she wanted her son to be happy and proud of what he was, she drew a line and did not rub her own values and thoughts on to him.

Six months later, Arun brought up the topic again. This time he said, “I am fine with it mother, you can drop me right in. I think it is just fine.” His mother smiled with pride and warmth. She knew her son had come around.

During the six months that her child went through a confusion of identity, she resisted the temptation more than once to ‘help out’. She chose to give him the space and independence to develop his own sense of self.

The question that arises here is, - 'Will a child always make the right decision? Will a firm value system evolve if children are always allowed their space and freedom?'

If the focus shifts away from trying to raise a perfect child, this is definitely achievable. We will need to trust our children and give them the opportunity to figure things out for themselves.

As one of the first steps in building a sense of self worth in children, we do not have to immerse the six year old in days packed with back-to-back activity schedules. He/She should be able to appreciate learning things instead of running against time to complete his/her karate- skating-swimming-drawing- dancing routine. The value of learning increases manifold when the child understands that he/she does not need to do all of this, but he/she may like to do some of them.

Similarly the child should find it natural to make a few minor mistakes or errors of judgement without bringing forth a strong reaction from the parents. These mistakes will help him/her explore choices, experiment, and eventually pick the right one.

* Inspire does not claim copyright of this image

Nothing in the world can work better than this to boost the child’s self-worth and confidence.

Socialising Over the Net

The journey of our young students from socialising to social networking has been a rather quick one. LinkedIn, Netlog, Friendster, Classmates.com are some of the popular sites that help in keeping friends ‘connected’. But Facebook is the one social network site that seems to be rocking.

Inspire asked people across age groups what Facebook meant to them.

Well, social networking is all this and perhaps more. Networking sites provide a medium that has global reach and yet is personalised. It connects countless people to each other. Yet when you are logged on, it speaks to you alone. To top it all it is free.

Children, preteens, teenagers and even adults seem to be thriving in this ‘Net Connect’. The pictures that we get to see on these social networking sites have created a revolution of sorts. Bizarre hairdos and wacky tattoos; pouted lips and blowing kisses; cool clothes and funky gear; hugs and goodbyes; hills and flowers; cakes and cookies; cars and cell phones...you name it and you’ll see it.

‘Chatting’ consists of all subjects one can think of under the sun. Social network mania is not just affecting the upbeat metro children and youth. People from small towns and cities are equally under its influence with phones and sms. The chatting lingo is a hit with all. All feelings, expressions, thoughts—find a place in the little space of the chatting window. New found confidence is kicking in everyone. There is also a great deal of exhibitionism seen emerging from this addictive habit.

One wonders why a twelve year old schedules his evening hours to catch up on the Net assured that his tennis and guitar practice can wait. Schools and parents are in the blame-game mood. The child’s over-indulgence in social-networking is the discussion point of many meetings.

Inspire feels, parents, teachers and older siblings have to play the role of moderators for young children. These children are growing up in a digital age, where they see the parent responding to an sms before responding to the doorbell. If the parent is more relaxed that the child is ‘happy and safe indoors’ even if he is for hours on the Net, then the child will surely find ways and means to thrill himself through that channel. Then again, telling the child – “You cannot go online”- may be less effective than connecting with the child on a personal level and explaining how they should also try ‘offline’ things like playing a game of football or painting perhaps.

Social networking can be fun and useful, as long as it does not get addictive; does not hamper studies; does not become a source of temptation; does not lead to overpowering fantasies; and does not eat into one’s time for work and other interests.

It is a matter of concern if it comes in the way of real-life socialising. There are people experiencing healthy and meaningful friendships online, though their actual flesh and blood friendships and associations are going through a dip. This can be alarming as the virtual world is after all not absolutely real.

The High-Tech Factor

As Inspire explores ‘change’ in a student’s everyday life, the magnum of it seems vast and almost infinite. We delve into the different facets of change through a series of articles. The first of this is on technology.

Today we focus on digital media and its repercussions on students. Educational CDs, online portals, computer games, the very popular PS3, specialised educational digital boards are all different avatars of digital media, that have become an integral part of a student’s life.

Gone are the days when getting to know the happenings in the school involved reading notes from the child’s School Diary or scheduling a meeting with the Class Teacher. Today, school portals have it all accessible for students and their parents within a few clicks, sitting in the comforts of their homes. The class lists, class schedules, events, competitions, breakthroughs, results, loads and loads of pictures- you name it and it is there. So schools are on an all-time communication high thanks to digital media. This at any rate does not seem to affect the student’s performance or level of interest in academics.

Specialised educational digital boards, on the other hand, are innovative teaching and learning tools. The blend of interesting visuals complemented with audio keeps students engaged. It facilitates the teacher to present otherwise mundane topics in interesting ways.

The amazing popularity received by ‘Hole in the Wall’ (where NIIT made breakthroughs in taking technology and education to the neglected strata of society) speaks volumes about the power of digital media.

The wow factor however takes a u-turn when we look at some other aspects of digital media. Take for example the PS3, Kinect or Nintendo games - that have half the current generation of children glued to them. Look at educational and interactive CDs that are marketed by the dozens to over indulgent parents for their ‘tech savvy’ children. The publishers of such ‘educational’ games and CDs have a limitless market. So they have enough reasons to smile.

The virtual world of social networking sites (with the likes of games like Farmville on Facebook) demands so much of a child’s attention that he forgets to connect with the real world outside. Infact, when did you last hear a child say – “The sky looks so beautiful today.” Or, “The rain feels so fragrant and cool.” At this rate, that day is not far when a cricket expert will mean someone who is an expert in digital cricket!

The proficiency of digital media is in fact gearing up to challenge the entire system of teaching.

At Inspire, we find this alarming - for the child, for the student, for the teacher and for the entire system of education. Imagine the epitome of a tech-savvy class for a four year old. A self sufficient specialised educational digital board backed by perfect audio, teaching the child a nursery rhyme; or perhaps the sound made by ‘b’. Sounds astonishing, but it is not very far into the future.

Teaching, however, is so much more than a pre-recorded flawless voice, attractive visuals and overload of information. For children in formative years, it is the compassion, affection and the human factor that brings the classroom to life. Teaching is reaching out to the child, knowing him and helping him learn and evolve; something that digital technology can not supplant. Like any other place, here too we cannot assume a ‘one size fits all’ approach. Different children may respond differently to this technology.

E-books, online education and projects are all very welcome, provided the teacher is there to mentor and scaffold a child’s learning. Digital media - as a stand-alone mode of education is an impersonal and soul-less style of education for our children, even though its opportunists may say otherwise.

After all tele-factor and online friends that are ‘soul-connects’ for children don’t have souls, do they?

Feel the Change

Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything - George Bernard Shaw

Change is inevitable, change is constant and change is a necessity. The 80s, 90s followed by the turn of the century have left us all elated and puffed up with ‘change’. It sure is a great feeling to be ‘updated’ versions of what we would have otherwise been. The ‘generation next’ is indeed a progeny of this process of change.

However, there is another perspective of ‘change’ that is happening alongside. These are the intangibles that are either changing, or getting influenced by the elaborate progress that is happening all around us. From talking about sundry things with the unassuming kiryana wala bhaiya to getting greeted by a somewhat English speaking attendant at a big store - has not our approach towards shopping changed?

How are relationships today – within homes, amongst friends and most importantly at school? Does the sanctity that marked a teacher-child relationship remain still? Or are we experiencing a change there just in many of the other things?

One look at schools, arty classrooms – and you can say that ‘we have changed’. Preschools today look bright, pretty and all done up. At a senior school level, ‘digital media’ is infusing newer techniques into the teaching and learning process. With technology, consumerism, exposure, media, the change is happening at express speed. What we see as a result of this is – a student who belongs to the ‘generation next’.

Inspire is all set to explore this phenomenon of ‘change’ and its impact on the child today. We question - are we changing with a direction and purpose? Is change getting transferred in to a teaching and learning style where rote learning ceases to exist? Is change happening in the teachers approach towards the over informed child of today?


Are we ready for the change we are inviting?

Beyond the Curricula

At Inspire, our commitment towards the cause of education is paramount. Over the past half year since we launched the blog, we have covered a broad spectrum of issues that touch upon education in its different manifestations.

The child being the ‘inspiration’ behind Inspire, we have shared how varying levels of ability, diverse reading habits, different approaches towards textbooks and even examinations have had an impact on our education system and the children who are part of this. We reiterate that we view ourselves as facilitators creating relevant learning experiences that will help children to gather, examine, validate, modify and extend knowledge.

In this drive towards education, there is yet another perspective that crops up. This takes us beyond the curricula and brings us face to face with some pertinent questions. Is the educated generation reaching where it ought to? What about the not-so-lucky ones who have not had the opportunity to complete their formal schooling? Can the onus of their development simply be left to fate? At Inspire we strive to make a difference there as well. Today, we share with you - Maya’s Story.

Coming from a small town in Nepal, with a responsibility to support herself and also send money back home, Maya was just another girl struggling to survive in the big city. Trained in a parlour, her meagre salary was barely enough to make both ends meet. At Inspire we realised that Maya could do much better for herself if she became functionally literate.

She underwent a ‘Functional Literacy Makeover’, with Inspire under our ‘Empowered to Share’ initiative. We supplemented her education as per her needs. Maya, who had decided to be a ‘beautician at your door step’ needed support with language skills to begin with. She needed to look and talk like the businesswoman that she was becoming. Above all she needed to build her network with ladies who belong to the ‘sms’ and email-cult. So Inspire guided her through the stepwise process – where the concept of her beauty services business was formed; next we made her aware about work culture and ethics; in parallel we helped her design the collaterals and refine her communication skills; finally we taught her nuances of operations, budgeting and accounting.

Today we see a new Maya sporting a business card-with the brand name ‘Arshia’, dressed in a crisp uniform, and making conversation confidently. Her ‘education’ also comprises of maintaining her ‘Customer Database’ which she is now beginning to do in MS Excel, and learning to write business emails and sms.

Maya is now a confident young lady, who has a business partner, Krishna. She is inspiring many others like her to adopt functional literacy, to create a better position in life.

There are people from all strata of society, with distinct skill-sets and different aspirations. For education to become holistic, they all have to be guided within the circumference of modern and practical education. The amazing part is, it is people like Maya, who tell us, “We are eager to learn, provided you teach us what we really need to learn.” That is precisely how functional literacy can be successful.

As educationists we need to identify what education needs to provide. Whether we ‘teach’ children, adults or skilled commoners, it is education that is ‘worthwhile’ that really matters in the end.

Progression of Textbooks

Textbooks have an indelible influence in the lives of children, such that that it is almost impossible to imagine a school scene without simultaneously thinking of chalkboards, chalk, notebooks and textbooks.

For a very long time textbooks were the only teaching- learning aid in the classroom. Typical to any demand-supply scenario, they changed character based on the needs of the education system.
In olden days, the teacher was the head of the classroom. He was the mentor – who guided students with his words and wisdom accompanied by the writings in the textbooks. The textbooks were mostly ‘reference material’.

However for the past many decades, the purpose of teaching became simply to ‘complete the syllabus,’ prescribed in the text book rather than focusing on knowledge gain for the students. This system relied less on the teacher’s competency and more on the textbooks. Teachers merely read out from the textbooks; students learnt to memorise the words and reproduce them exactly in their examinations.

In this system it was easy for publishers to develop textbooks. New text was really regurgitated material from books written ages ago. Old content was sold under a new cover. This worked very well to save development costs. More students and schools meant higher volumes of sales. A combination of these two gave publishers enormous margins. The books had little to engage a child and cater to his interest. A by-product of this system was a generation of students who ‘learnt’ by rote - including the answers for a published list of questions, and promptly forgot what they had learnt once their exams were over.

Fortunately the wheel has begun to take a turn. There have been significant changes made in the education system – NCERT being a pioneer in this. Teachers now enjoy a higher status, including more pay and benefits. This has led them to move beyond just reading the books out to their class. Emphasis has gradually begun shifting from rote learning to one that is based on experiencing, thinking and applying. As a consequence to this change in demand, the character of textbooks has begun undergoing changes. Books are being designed to be engaging and containing text that is relevant for modern-day students. They are interactive and provide many hands-on activities for students to apply their learning.

Textbooks continue to form an integral part of this ‘collaborative’ learning process. The influence of technology has helped give them a fresh lease of life since the medium is now no longer only print, but digital and mobile as well. Research has shown the necessity of including support or supplementary learning material alongside the text books. This material like the textbook not only helps in classroom teaching, it also makes learning easier and more interesting for students.

With rapid changes in technology, it is hard to imagine what form textbooks will take in future. One thing can be said however – just like a good teacher is irreplaceable in the life of a student, a good textbook is non-pareil.

To ensure that all children benefit from the current ‘revolution’ in textbooks, it must reach schools and students across different strata of society. Moreover focused effort needs to be given to research; content needs to be reviewed and upgraded periodically and feedback from actual classrooms needs to be incorporated in order to make these books most effective.

Just like a favourite storybook, a textbook should hold a special place in the heart of a student.

Bring on the Reading!

Eleven year old Sabina loves to read. Even at the breakfast table she has a book propped open in one hand. Sanjit’s mother makes it a point to buy books for him regularly, but he rarely gets beyond the first few pages of a book.

As educationists, we have thought for a good reason to this phenomenon - why some children read and others don’t? We find that in an average class, perhaps 10 out of 30 children read habitually, while the rest seem to shy away from books. They are all taught in the same classroom, exposed to the same texts and teachers. So what could possibly cause some to befriend books while their classmates show no such inclination?

The reason we found is quite simple.

Children in classrooms have varying levels of ability and interest in Language. Just like their performance in school, their extracurricular reading is also influenced by this. Thus some children develop an interest in the literature prescribed at school, and also like reading similar books outside school. The majority, on the other hand just about complete their prescribed readings at school.

To make all children read with interest, we need to answer - what are the books that most of them would find appealing?

Everything in our children’s lives has gone through dynamic changes over time. Supplementary reading lists remain the same as they were thirty years ago. We cannot expect modern children to naturally relate to texts from a bygone era. The language of the books, the flavour of the characters, the settings and contexts are very different from what they are familiar with. Contemporary languages, particularly English have evolved so much over the years that it is hard to understand the language of a book written hundred years ago. Most of the books are presented with limited or no illustrations making them even less attractive.

In earlier times, children loved to hear or read stories of fairies and dwarves and princesses. A few decades ago Enid Blyton was the reigning author for children. She created a world of boarding schools, full of adventure and pranks. Children from today’s age of technology find it difficult to relate to the adventures of the Famous Five and the Secret Seven. It was for this reason that Harry Potter became a global hit. The series came at a time when writing for children was going through a lull, and reintroduced children to the world of magic and fairies; only this time the context was modern. A world of Playstations and computers. Harry Potter gave children the gift of imagination without taking them back in time.

Comic books also hold a special place in the hearts of children. They are attractive and do not contain too much text, thus engaging even struggling readers. The graphics help children better visualise the story. While this is not to say that all comics are good, they can certainly be used to gradually build children’s interest in books and help them enter the fascinating world of literature.

So why aren’t these alternative reading materials referred to at school? Why do we leave it to the children to bump into these by accident, that too beyond the purview of scholastic activities? After all, the purpose of introducing children to literature at school is to ensure that they read. Why can we not tell them about Tintin and Potter at school? Why can we not get them to discover Nancy Drew and Wimpy Kid in school? These texts do classify as popular literature. They use decent language and manage to hook the children’s interest. They encourage children to use their minds and give wings to their imagination.

Why then, can they not be part of school reading? That is a question to ponder upon.

Endorsing Children’s Opinions

Our education system includes all the following persons in the decision making in schools – school owners, schools leaders, teachers, parents, representatives from politics and bureaucracy.

It does not however include an important stakeholder - the student. While we have built the entire edifice of education around students, we make them passively accept and imbibe all processes and policies that we adults consider pertinent. When we incessantly talk of moving away from teacher-centric classrooms to child centric ones, should we not also consider schools adopting a more child-centric approach to decision making?

Many adults may respond to this saying - “Ah! But children do not really know what is good for them. If given a choice they will only like to spend their time on fun activities. In any case they cannot think about serious issues such as learning and education.”

So we spoke to some children to understand what they had to say in this matter. We asked them to mention one thing they liked in their school and another that they wanted to change. The responses we got from them were startling. Here is a sample of what the children shared.

•  Mridula is 13 years old; fond of dance and painting. She has this to say about the public school in a Tier 2 city she goes to.

• Eleven year old Akshat is quite a musician. He plays the keyboard and the tabla. A voracious reader, he loves to read the ‘Wimpy Kid’ series. He writes:

•  Thirteen year old Meena studies in a government school. She aspires to use her education to succeed in life. She said that she likes her teachers in school because most of them teach very well!

These three responses from three very different children emphasise that they notice and appreciate the intangibles in their school environment. They’re not just thinking about having fun, having things easy, or focusing on the obvious such as infrastructure and comfort.
When we asked some children about one thing they would like to change about their schools, the suggestions were equally insightful as their opinions about their schools.  

• Mridula wrote:

• Sanah has just stepped into her teen years and has an equally relevant comment. She says:

• When asked to cite an example of a pointless rule she shared that they are allowed to borrow only one book from the library every week. She often is able to read through a library book in three or four days but has to wait for the next library period to get her hands onto another book.
• Meena would like her school to teach more English and Math since she considers them important for her future education and career. She also suggests they should offer extra-curricular activities like dance and music.
• Jay would like his teachers to be more willing to answer questions rather than telling him not to be cheeky. He says he asks questions because he is really intrigued by a topic and not because he is trying to be as his teachers call him - ‘oversmart’.

Notice how none of the respondents spoke about having air-conditioned classrooms, comfortable bean bags instead of chairs, soft drinks instead of water in the hot summer months. Each child has tried to focus on a real and essential issue.
This small survey reiterated that children are thinking individuals; they can distinguish between their wants and needs and express them clearly. Children's expectations from their schools are not frivolous or immature. We must begin to accomodate their thoughts and aspirations for their centres of knowledge. Not only will this make schools more democratic, it will instill in children a greater sense of responsibility towards their own learning.
 





 

Testing Times

In our last article, we discussed how children should be exposed to a balance of good and bad in order to make informed decisions in their future lives. By ‘protecting’ children, adults just manage to delay their point of contact with bad. Since there is no way to remove it altogether, it leaves children unprepared for the bad or ugly things in life.

On the same lines, today we look at the role of examinations in children’s lives. Several policy changes have been demanded for our examination system – some of these managed to see the light of day and others remained buried under bureaucratic files. One such was the shift from a ‘marks’ system to a more egalitarian ‘grades’ system. Strong voices had been raised for some time about how the percentage/marks system was causing obscene levels of competition among children and leading them to great stress. The superficial change to the grades system meant to control this. Effectively it was like saying to a child, “You must get an A+,” instead of, “You must get above 90 percent.” How these two statements were any different to the child was anybody’s guess.

Let us for a moment play the devil’s advocate and plead the marking system be. Before you think of us as callous and insensitive, just step back and reflect on life and work. Can you single out a job that is completely devoid of stress? Can you name an area of expertise where people don’t face competition? Then again, can you forget the joy and sense of self actualisation that we experience when we achieve something that is difficult? If their future lives are going to be about managing a certain amount of stress, pressure and competition, then how correct are we to shield our children completely from it in their present lives?

Examinations can be stressful for children who are unprepared and have not learnt time management skills. They have also been made ‘monstrous’ by the gamut of adult influencers – parents, schools, society - who are more pressurised than the children themselves!

Let us share here about Akshat - a 6th grader who is appearing for a formal examination for the first time. When asked if he is scared, he replies “No, my teacher says exams are just like worksheets that we do in class all the time. They are only a bit longer.”

*Photo Disclaimer - Inspire does not claim copyright on this picture. Any resemblance to any person alive or dead is purely coincidental.

For a child, annual examinations, continuous assessment and the grading system are all the same. Each experience can be equally stressful or completely blissful. A child is not anxious about an examination till adults make it seem that his/her entire worth is dependent on the received marks or grades. So, no matter what the mode of assessment is, as long as we adults continue to pressurise the child, there is no solution to this examination conundrum.

The only way we can prepare children for the future is by creating an atmosphere where they want to do the best for themselves. They are guided by their natural instincts to excel and achieve in any area of their interest, and not just math or language or science. Let us not make them wilt under our expectations and pressure. We need to reflect on the role we play as facilitators to bring up children who are informed and prepared for their future without having undergone unnecessary strain to learn all of this.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

In today’s world, where children have multiple sources of information, parents feel the need to be the primary communication source for their children. Parents are seen often adopting a rather protective stance, not wishing to tell children about the bad that balances the good in the world. It is useful to think if children should be shielded from everything bad or ugly or made aware of them, perhaps in moderate measures - so that they gradually develop the skill of dealing with such things on their own.

We recount an event which exemplifies this - from Dussehra, a well-known festival in India celebrating the triumph of good over evil.

During a particular Dussehra, one preschool designed the following play to help children realise how it is important to identify one’s mistakes, be apologetic for them, and learn from them.


Scene 1
Children having fun - drawing, playing, talking in a classroom. Suddenly, Raavan enters the scene. He has only one head.

Child 1: “Hello! Who are you?”

Raavan (sadly): “I am Raavan, and I am very sad.”

Child 2: “Why are you sad? And if you are Raavan, where are your other heads?”

Raavan: “That is why I am sad! I have lost the rest of my heads! Dussehra is just around the corner. If I don’t find my heads, what will people do for Dussehra?!”

Child 3: “You want to find your heads, so that people can punish you? Why don't you hide or run away?”

Raavan: “I made a mistake by taking Sita away. So I have to make up for my mistake and say sorry for what I did.”

Child 4: “Oh it is okay if you’re sorry! Our teacher said the most important thing is to be sorry if you have made a mistake! You’re sorry Raavan. So we will help you!”

Raavan: “Thank you children! I will be so happy if you find my heads!”

All Children: “Don’t worry Raavan, we will find them!”

Scene 2
Raavan leaves.

Child 1: “We promised Raavan that we will find his heads. How do we do that? We don’t even know where to start looking!”

Child 2: “It is okay! I know what we can do! Do you remember our last Art and Craft class?”

Child 3: “Where we learnt to make things with papier-mâché?”

Child 4: “Yes! We will make Raavan’s heads with papier-mâché!”

All Children: “Wow! That is a great idea!”


Scene 3
Children at work making heads from papier-mâché.
Raavan enters in a while.

Raavan: “Did you find my heads, children?”

Child 1: “No, but we did something better. We made you new heads from papier-mâché! Look at them..so colourful!”

Raavan: “They are such lovely heads! Now Dussehra should be fun! You saved Dussehra, my dear children. For that reason, I will tell you something important. I was a rich, just and intelligent king. But I became proud and made a mistake. So I was punished. Always remember to say sorry if you make a mistake. I did that - and you all helped me today.”

All Children: “We will always remember this lesson Raavan!”

Raavan: “Bye children! See you on Dussehra!”

Through this simple play, the children were exposed to an example of bad in the world. They also learnt an important lesson – about saying sorry.
If children are not acquainted with the negative influencers and unpleasant aspects of life, they may remain incapable of dealing with them and making informed decisions in their future lives.

The Day that Comes Once in a Year

Annual Days are quite the big deal for all schools. Weeks and months of toil and hard work are put into the preparations for the event. On this day the school comes out and tells the world, “Look at how good we are! All our students participate in extra-curricular activities.” In our adult wisdom we consider annual days a platform for children to exhibit their creativity and develop confidence.

Today we share a story about one such Annual Day.

A harried teacher was instructing her pre-scholars to remain quiet and line up for their performance. She kept running around, from one end of the waiting area to the other, getting her students ready. Just as the Chief Guest was to walk in, one of her students, Priya, started calling out to her loudly. The teacher ran to Priya, first urging her to keep quiet and then asking her what the matter was. Priya, with a face full of wonder and amazement that only a four-year-old can have, looked up at the skies, pointed with her small, chubby finger, “Look! Pigeon!”
The teacher was stumped. Should she shout at little Priya for being amazed by a pigeon, even as the Chief Guest was walking in? Or should she build on this wonder and fascination to talk about pigeons?

As people who are engaged with educating children we often encounter such ‘opportunities’. Yet we often ignore them for our pre-determined agendas. While we talk about experiential education and harp on the Play Way method, we often tailor these approaches to incorporate what we think is appropriate for the children. We try to determine the experiences and takeaway for children from these experiences. What we tend to forget is that each child is capable of thinking. We tend to ignore their authentic responses because we presume that they do not know enough.

Children can partner with adults in their own learning process, if their perspectives are accommodated in. We need to reflect on how we impose our ‘agenda’ on children. Take for example the choice of colour for their dresses - do all girls have to love pink? Or the kind of story books we select, as well as the learning experiences we create for these little individuals.

Let us go back to our story.

The teacher reflected on her experience. She realised that the children were not engaged in the show because it was not something they had wanted to do. They were merely abiding by her instructions. No one had asked them for their ideas or suggestions. So the next year the teacher started a theme on ‘Water’ a month before the Annual Day. Children experimented with water, shared experiences. Among other activities, the class heard stories on water and rivers. The children identified a story they wanted to act out. The teacher then asked the children to pretend that they were 'water' and to decide how they wanted to move. The young children with the teacher’s guidance actually choreographed their routine - deciding movements that were simple, suitable and spontaneous!
Every day the children looked forward to practicing their story. For Annual Day they put up their best performance because they were showcasing ‘their’ story for their parents!

Children have an infinite capacity to learn and express. We as teachers and parents just need to tap the potential and watch how they blossom.

Manifestations of Art in Children

Take a look at this picture.

Picture 1 – A child’s drawing

What do you see? A riot of colours and lines. How would you react if a child presented this as his drawing? Would you think it has a meaning, a story? Or would you be inclined to believe it is gibberish?
Now take a look at this.

Picture 2 – An adult’s drawing

What do see in this picture? Controlled, conformed, structured, lines and a defined form. It looks like the artist had a definite idea of what the objects look like, almost like they couldn’t look any other way.

We live in times of innovation where we constantly look for novel solutions, out-of-the-box thinking, ideas that maybe unconventional but ground breaking. Innovation requires creativity.

Whereas we teach children, with enthusiasm, how ‘apples are red’. When a child comes up with a drawing of a purple apple, we disapprove and tell them to do it ‘correctly’. We never stop and ask the child what he/she was thinking while drawing a purple apple. We are so keen to propagate norms and teach the child what is ‘correct’, that we overlook something equally important. While criticising a four-year-old for drawing a purple apple, we actually tell him/her that thinking beyond ‘apples are red’ is taboo. Thus instilling in his/her mind a rigid thought.

Picture 3 – Adult’s drawing of a house 
 
  Picture 4 – Child’s drawing of a house

Look at these pictures of adult and child drawings of a house. The child’s drawing is visibly influenced by the teacher. Many of us will draw a house similarly when we are asked to draw one. Can we for a moment reflect on where we see such a house that looks like a box with a triangle on top? More importantly, why do we continue to teach children to draw such a house? Since it is a convention?

However, is it really wrong if a child drew a home any other way? From experience or from imagination. Did you ever stop to think that everything that children draw reflects what is going on in their minds? Take for example, Picture 1. It comes with the most magnificent story of a snake eating eggs from a bird’s nest, while the mama bird is away.
When you first looked at Picture 1, you may have never thought that it had such a deep meaning for the artist. Imagine if some adult wrecked this wonderful story by saying, “What are these squiggles? Go and colour within lines.”
This sort of an attitude would just crush the child’s imagination and confidence. He/She would feel uncomfortable when asked to draw again.

Think of when a four year old says, “I can’t draw.” Such loss of confidence at such a young age!

That is exactly what happens when we take a child’s mind - unrestricted, free, a riot of colours with no conformity, as shown in Picture 1, and try to add lines, structure and the ‘correct’ way of doing things.

Build the Trust

Today we will talk about the influence teachers have on the minds of their students. We have a lot of stories to demonstrate this, but the ones we have chosen were shared with us by two parents.

The first story is about Ishaan who is fifteen years old and like most teenagers spends more time in the virtual world. His parents often worry about the amount of time he spends in front of his PC. They feel that he is somehow losing touch with the real world and Nature. On a recent road trip to the country side, Ishaan was spending a lot of time on his smart phone updating his friends about the journey rather than experiencing the real journey. As the car was passing near a village, Ishaan suddenly asked to stop. There were sugarcane fields on either side of the highway. He stepped out of the car, entered a field and just touched a sugarcane plant. He then requested one of the farm hands to give him a cane. He turned to his mother and said, "Mom, do you remember in KG we did the theme on sugarcanes? Seema ma'am got some sugarcane for us and we had so much fun chewing them! I never realized that sugarcane plants grow so tall and that the leaves have such sharp edges! It has always fascinated me….and Nature too."

Seema would never have thought of the deep impact her getting sugarcane to class would have on the children. She had simply done what she thought then was the right thing, to help children learn better. It eventually influenced at least one child in the way he looked or connected with Nature.

Here is another story.

A little while ago, when the environmental conservation drive was just gathering steam, prominent schools across the country started a 'Ban Polythene' drive.

Our friend, a parent from such a school was strictly instructed by her son to never pack his lunch in a polybag again. Back in those days, paper bags weren't readily available. Packing anything for school had become a daily battle. Every morning there were tears and fights about not taking poly bags to school. This continued for quite some time, till one day, during a struggle to find paper bags, the son just shouted, "Give it to me in a poly bag!"

The parent was taken aback. After months of abstinence from polythene bags, why did her son suddenly not mind them anymore? More than anything, she was concerned that maybe her son no longer gave enough importance to rules or socially-relevant causes. So she asked him, "Why are you asking for a poly bag all of a sudden? Won't your teacher tell you off?" To this her son replied, "How can she tell me off? She gets polythene bags to school herself!"

Adults have incredible impact on children. Sometimes this influence is way beyond what they intend or expect it to be. This is an important message for all adults who engage in 'educating' children as parents as well as teachers – Practice What You Preach. Always try to be honest in your intent. Children look at 'grown-ups' with trust and expectation. We need to work towards retaining and building on their feeling of deference. For if children stop trusting us, then who will they look up to for guidance?