This post is inspired by my observations made on teaching systems in schools (both formal and non-formal) in India. Directly it is a result of my visit to a formal school for girls about 3 hours drive from where I live. The teachers lamented that they do not have good teachers and that their girls are scared of speaking or reading English. The two are connected in many ways.
The girls are scared of English because no one around them speaks English. There is no body to correct their mistakes or to encourage them to read story books. If they had a teacher who could speak English and who taught only in English then there is a chance that they will pick it up. A good teacher would use different methods to get them over the psychological barrier. One way is to make them keep a diary. Tell them to write a story and then read it out to the class. Mistakes will happen but the more they write the better they will become. Include a library hour where they will have to read English story books. Currently, they do have story books for the primary classes but it is a structured reading. They are not encouraged to imagine. This is not the problem of this particular school. Many schools (including even the so-called good ones) fall into this trap where the teacher is more anxious to finish the syllabus than to worry about the imagination of the child. In fact lesser the imagination the better it is because the child will accept anything that the teacher says and not ask questions.
This is now tied to the second point. What is the definition of a good teacher? And can one get a good teacher by paying enormous amount of money.
I believe that a good teacher is the one who can hold the attention of the class and inspire them to imagine, to ask questions. As a teacher, I might not know all the answers but as I teacher I should be ready to read about it or to point the students into the direction where they can get the answer to the question. Of course the student will also have to put in extra effort but many times they will do it as long as the teacher demands it.
Yesterday I was observing the science classes and I felt so sorry for the children. In biology they were reading about Spirogyra, which reproduces through fragmentation. A student wanted to know how it happens. The teachers said it just happens. The girl was silenced. It is not the fault of the teacher. That is all she has been taught.
Many of the biological principles can be taught by experiments. Instead the students sit in a blank room memorizing photosynthesis, starch production, and principles of genetics, unaware how you can relate it to the world outside you.
Yesterday I was really itching to step in at some point. I would love to teach and see if I can make the change but I am also scared that I might bite off more than I can chew. Making a commitment like this implies that I should be ready to fulfill it.
The girls are scared of English because no one around them speaks English. There is no body to correct their mistakes or to encourage them to read story books. If they had a teacher who could speak English and who taught only in English then there is a chance that they will pick it up. A good teacher would use different methods to get them over the psychological barrier. One way is to make them keep a diary. Tell them to write a story and then read it out to the class. Mistakes will happen but the more they write the better they will become. Include a library hour where they will have to read English story books. Currently, they do have story books for the primary classes but it is a structured reading. They are not encouraged to imagine. This is not the problem of this particular school. Many schools (including even the so-called good ones) fall into this trap where the teacher is more anxious to finish the syllabus than to worry about the imagination of the child. In fact lesser the imagination the better it is because the child will accept anything that the teacher says and not ask questions.
This is now tied to the second point. What is the definition of a good teacher? And can one get a good teacher by paying enormous amount of money.
I believe that a good teacher is the one who can hold the attention of the class and inspire them to imagine, to ask questions. As a teacher, I might not know all the answers but as I teacher I should be ready to read about it or to point the students into the direction where they can get the answer to the question. Of course the student will also have to put in extra effort but many times they will do it as long as the teacher demands it.
Yesterday I was observing the science classes and I felt so sorry for the children. In biology they were reading about Spirogyra, which reproduces through fragmentation. A student wanted to know how it happens. The teachers said it just happens. The girl was silenced. It is not the fault of the teacher. That is all she has been taught.
Many of the biological principles can be taught by experiments. Instead the students sit in a blank room memorizing photosynthesis, starch production, and principles of genetics, unaware how you can relate it to the world outside you.
Yesterday I was really itching to step in at some point. I would love to teach and see if I can make the change but I am also scared that I might bite off more than I can chew. Making a commitment like this implies that I should be ready to fulfill it.
You are exactly right - I don't blame the teachers either. The teachers came out of that system, so they only know so much. The problem perpetuates.
ReplyDeleteThe one project I know of that has successfully addressed this is SEED PLAN in Madurai. It is a smaller project (about 200 students in a study center, with more emphasis on about 40) coordinated chiefly by one person. (For higher numbers this one person will have to be replicated). The founder/coordinator has been able to bring out in the children a key aspect - critical thinking. So if the Spirogyra incident had happened at SEED PLAN, the child would have asked the same question at the study center, and one of the volunteer teachers would have answered. The culture of the study center encourages questions, and the culture also encourages volunteers to find out the answer if they don't know it themselves (the center has a good library). This culture has been created over a few years, and a key element that has influenced this is the encouragement of discussion. For example, they will watch a Hollywood movie from 1980, and discuss it. They discuss local festivals, local history. This is where the coordinator has made difference. Once the children get the thrill of learning, looking at things differently, hearing different points of view and so on, the basic job is done. After that the children, with the availability of resources such as books, internet, other people to talk to start to really learn.
At SEED PLAN they are aware that their school environment is not perfect, and that the study center compensates for it. They discuss this too - why they sometimes have to memorize wrong answers from the text book to get marks in SSLC, etc. They learn how to compensate for it with the resources available at the center. As the coordinator says, "you have to learn this for the exam, and learn this for life."
All SEED PLAN graduates are thriving in their respective workpaces, rising rapidly. They are articulate, confident, speak well, and can understand how to solve a problem. In the private sector these skills are recognized. They are all really doing well.
If you choose to teach at any project, my recommendation is to intervene in a similar manner instead of directly teaching the students. The teachers will get excited too, but they will soon start enjoying 'thinking' too. It is fun to get something instead of just parroting it.
Melli, that is a good idea. We have two projects in Delhi where I think this sort of intervention can be implemented.
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