This is the first decade of the 21 C - many things around the world are changing / have changed. Global power shift are happening. China and India have stood up. In India - upheavals, Kashmir, Maoists, SEZs, nuclear energy and also movement in education.
Flexibility in approach, a thrust towards engagement rather than accomplishment, schooling as an experience rather than meant mainly for certification, the right of each child to schooling, the right of each child not to be failed, the thrust to inclusion, compulsory inclusion of the disadvantaged into the private schooling institutions...
The nation, woken by a complex set of circumstances doubled the allocation for Education to 4% of the national budget. This has set in motion a scramble for showing some result other than the complacent status quo. The status quo has a compelling logic - if nothing has changed since 1947, how can we hope for any change! But the logic of money is even more compelling. If a country spends thousands of crores, however imperfect the democracy, there is an impatience to see some movement.
Also, however imperfect a democracy when the divergences become unendurable the push for movement grows stronger. Inclusion and the rights of an individual, each individual, get attention and a society seeks solutions. We, human society, seem to know little about this. In this situation we have entered the zone of lurches and jerky movement, discomfort and wishes for a new order, an impatience to find a new space of security and comfort.
We have simultaneously entered the zone of life long learning. And this means living in a culture of change and movement. Our agrarian roots are being shaken to the gills and the song of the hunter gatherer is heard again. (or is it the the whistle of the dragon riders?)
For the teacher, the educator - learner, not the guru or wise person in a gurukula, this is a time of crises and reexamination. "Who am I? What am I to do? What is my relationship to the student, to knowledge and to the institution? So much is shifting, do I really wish to be here?"
For us who are in a K school - what does all this have to do with Krishnamurti? Some may say 'everything' and others 'little'.
In the hands of the teachers Krishnamurti has left certain imperatives. One can even call them injunctions - thinking for oneself, working together, get off the pedestal, question everything, cultivation of a religious mind and being responsible for the whole. He also urged his listeners to 'move'.
This is a time which will be attractive only to the bravest, boldest - those who wish to find out how to live in these times, circumstance and with these teachings.
For us who are at The School, some new, some here for a quarter of a century, this is a special year. We have together started a new school, Pathashaala - and will launch the ABL school shortly. This teachers' day for me is marked with a lot of feeling for colleagues with whom i have shared many voyages of discovery, shared work and experiences and above all an atmosphere of working together that has been tinged with something very special - a concern for the large good, for the larger questions of life and eucation.
I wish you a continuing wonderful journey as a teacher.
Aug 9, 2010
THE COUNTRY’S FUTURE IN THE HANDS OF THE TEACHER
Thus spoke an ex President
And the press reported it faithfully!
It has been said before!
Glory to the teacher,
who shapes against all odds
a person, a personality, a leader!
But, May I differ? I a teacher of 20 years!
May I speak, and
break the conspiracy of tame silence?
When showered with such words,
It is churlish to protest,
But protest I must
Lofty words hide truths
and shameful facts, always
And this is no exception
Have you hear it said,
The most important things in life cannot be taught?
And that life teaches in strange places?
Why then the teacher,
why the good sounding words
of importance and value?
Is it because, like a kept vassal of a king
needs to be acknowledged,
his loyalty sealed again?
Is it because he handles the sorrow
of values loftily spoken
But betrayed in daily acts!
Not by a few, but many, may be most
Live by deeds
That they don’t wish for their young!
And then they send their children
to teachers to learn values
to lead a good life.
The teacher decides each day
if he will engage with the tower of corruption
and lull the minds of the young!
Or, will he stand away and point
to a way of life, unsupported by parents
who send their children?
If truth be the basis,
and there is little else,
One can bank on
Our history, our experience
and the sorrow we carry
of man’s follies on earth
Then the teacher’s dilemma stands stark,
and he stands alone
exposed and unarmed!
Does he speak to the children, the youth
a truth they do not see in their lives
and invite the wrath of society?
Does he speak the truth, a nourishing truth
of the sordidness of human greed and ambition
and invite retribution?
Does he speak and run the risk
of losing his job and becoming
an outcaste whom no one will touch?
Does he echo the values of the marketplace
the idiom of success
assured shelter, food and clothing
… There will be token respect accorded
as to toothless elders
Harmless and impotent
And eulogies will be sung
in lofty words, bestowing
a kept legitimacy, a part of the corruption!
If truly the words mean something
will the village grow the child
by example?
Do the parents love their offspring enough
to forsake gold and land and fame
for right, dignified conduct?
Does society uphold
egality for all,
including those with little resource?
Do people speak truth
and act the way
they want their children to?
If not, the words mean little!
An invitation to humiliation
and a warning!
You have to support this edifice!
Stray away and see what happens!
Beware, O teacher!
So stand away I must
from the lofty eulogization of the teacher
and speak a different truth
The real teacher will not teach,
as there is little to be taught
but individuals may learn…
If truth be told
lofty words hide much corruption, uncertainty,
bestowal conceals hollow intentions.
G.Gautama
9 Aug 2010
And the press reported it faithfully!
It has been said before!
Glory to the teacher,
who shapes against all odds
a person, a personality, a leader!
But, May I differ? I a teacher of 20 years!
May I speak, and
break the conspiracy of tame silence?
When showered with such words,
It is churlish to protest,
But protest I must
Lofty words hide truths
and shameful facts, always
And this is no exception
Have you hear it said,
The most important things in life cannot be taught?
And that life teaches in strange places?
Why then the teacher,
why the good sounding words
of importance and value?
Is it because, like a kept vassal of a king
needs to be acknowledged,
his loyalty sealed again?
Is it because he handles the sorrow
of values loftily spoken
But betrayed in daily acts!
Not by a few, but many, may be most
Live by deeds
That they don’t wish for their young!
And then they send their children
to teachers to learn values
to lead a good life.
The teacher decides each day
if he will engage with the tower of corruption
and lull the minds of the young!
Or, will he stand away and point
to a way of life, unsupported by parents
who send their children?
If truth be the basis,
and there is little else,
One can bank on
Our history, our experience
and the sorrow we carry
of man’s follies on earth
Then the teacher’s dilemma stands stark,
and he stands alone
exposed and unarmed!
Does he speak to the children, the youth
a truth they do not see in their lives
and invite the wrath of society?
Does he speak the truth, a nourishing truth
of the sordidness of human greed and ambition
and invite retribution?
Does he speak and run the risk
of losing his job and becoming
an outcaste whom no one will touch?
Does he echo the values of the marketplace
the idiom of success
assured shelter, food and clothing
… There will be token respect accorded
as to toothless elders
Harmless and impotent
And eulogies will be sung
in lofty words, bestowing
a kept legitimacy, a part of the corruption!
If truly the words mean something
will the village grow the child
by example?
Do the parents love their offspring enough
to forsake gold and land and fame
for right, dignified conduct?
Does society uphold
egality for all,
including those with little resource?
Do people speak truth
and act the way
they want their children to?
If not, the words mean little!
An invitation to humiliation
and a warning!
You have to support this edifice!
Stray away and see what happens!
Beware, O teacher!
So stand away I must
from the lofty eulogization of the teacher
and speak a different truth
The real teacher will not teach,
as there is little to be taught
but individuals may learn…
If truth be told
lofty words hide much corruption, uncertainty,
bestowal conceals hollow intentions.
G.Gautama
9 Aug 2010
Jun 10, 2010
Failing children in school
If a child is unable to pass despite having been in school for years, who has to take the responsibility? School and teachers, unless the child is very badly off.
Assuming that child is bad academically, failing the child is acceptable, with some provisos, if the teachers can guarantee, not just a pass, but high improvement. Can the teachers guarantee this? Failing a child without taking responsibility for the circumstances is morally wrong! Failing a child without guarantee of passing is even worse.
There is one more point, possibly the biggest of all. Nothing has been of greater sorrow to human beings than being ostracised, being excommunicated, being thrown out the tribe. Even if we can guarantee a pass in the next year, what mechanisms, structures do we have for taking care of the child's sense of self esteem? If we cant deliver confidence, the least we can do is not to cause injury?
Our society creates the same age fixed membership classroom - a sense of belonging is developed. And for some silly reason a child is banished into a shameful existence. Failed, punished and cast down, is it surprising that we breathe injustice with every failure of this kind.
With RTE schooling is elevated to the status of a right and an experience. A further long awaited move by CBSE to erase the pass fail line. Education is a life long experience and cannot be easily assessed by short term digital evaluation. If I cannot ensure that child can read and write 3 cogent sentences and do simple arithmetic through years of schooling, it is not the child who needs to experience banishment! It is the system that needs reexamination for its basis, emphasis and its outmoded processes.
Today we have arrived into the Rights era and the challenge for schools is immense While most schools languish in the dark age metaphors of discipline and obedience and uniforms, the ground has shifted. Schools are required now to do justice to all children, each child! Schools cant get by with a 'by and large'.
The judgement of the court is a welcome move restoring a child to his rightful class.
But surely there have been solutions that allow children to learn at heir own pace - only these cannot coexist with a 'class' and prizes and ranks and celebrations
Assuming that child is bad academically, failing the child is acceptable, with some provisos, if the teachers can guarantee, not just a pass, but high improvement. Can the teachers guarantee this? Failing a child without taking responsibility for the circumstances is morally wrong! Failing a child without guarantee of passing is even worse.
There is one more point, possibly the biggest of all. Nothing has been of greater sorrow to human beings than being ostracised, being excommunicated, being thrown out the tribe. Even if we can guarantee a pass in the next year, what mechanisms, structures do we have for taking care of the child's sense of self esteem? If we cant deliver confidence, the least we can do is not to cause injury?
Our society creates the same age fixed membership classroom - a sense of belonging is developed. And for some silly reason a child is banished into a shameful existence. Failed, punished and cast down, is it surprising that we breathe injustice with every failure of this kind.
With RTE schooling is elevated to the status of a right and an experience. A further long awaited move by CBSE to erase the pass fail line. Education is a life long experience and cannot be easily assessed by short term digital evaluation. If I cannot ensure that child can read and write 3 cogent sentences and do simple arithmetic through years of schooling, it is not the child who needs to experience banishment! It is the system that needs reexamination for its basis, emphasis and its outmoded processes.
Today we have arrived into the Rights era and the challenge for schools is immense While most schools languish in the dark age metaphors of discipline and obedience and uniforms, the ground has shifted. Schools are required now to do justice to all children, each child! Schools cant get by with a 'by and large'.
The judgement of the court is a welcome move restoring a child to his rightful class.
But surely there have been solutions that allow children to learn at heir own pace - only these cannot coexist with a 'class' and prizes and ranks and celebrations
May 22, 2010
Feb 16, 2010
Feb 15, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)