Reflections of a Pedagogue

Discipline is thought of as a natural part of the school environment. Most often it is defined as a set of rules about what is acceptable and what is unacceptable behaviour written by those in authority for those who are not. Even more often, there are a large subset of these rules which are unspoken, unwritten, ambiguous or ill-defined. This latter set, when obeyed leads to what is called 'samajh' (Hindi for understanding). Samajh is defined within the social norms that are relevant to the society in question at that point in time, especially with regard to childhood. For example, while debate is sanctioned in a classroom, disagreeing with a teacher's judgement, however politely, is considered irreverent or at best, forgiven as being childish. This can be confusing because the same thinking skills encouraged in the first instance are rebuked in the second. While students are may be encouraged to work independently without supervision, become so absorbed in their work tha...

Most often the problem holding back quality in a school lies within it. It is so deeply entrenched that weeding it out is not an option. The best one can do is either work around it or change it or acknowledge that until the problem dies its natural death, that there is nothing that can be done to affect quality beyond a point. When all systems - financial, administrative, logistical, curricular, academic, pedagogic are in place, there comes a time when the issue that is causing the trouble cannot be avoided anymore. The bull must be taken by the horns. The reason for not putting the finger on the problem before this is done, is because it takes all this time for all concerned to admit to the problem. Although the problem is plain to see for the trained eye, very early on in the audit process, all stakeholders need the time and deliberation forced by the changes during the audit to admit to the problem as well as the solution. Most often there are a few key problems and all other s...

Courage, to me, was like a big wide-brush stroke - Intimidating, an immense gesture, diifficult to commit to, larger than life...and of course something I associated only with failure and guilt.Then I saw 'Hotel Rwanda' - the story of a man who does not know he is courageous. He follows one simple rule. He only does what he can live with and does not do what he cannot live with. His actions are not so much the result of lofty ideals but just his effort to remain true to himself. His effort is to stay human. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other, without any more motive but to do what he feels will make it right, do whatever he can, with what he can, for whoever he can. The film starts with a quote that goes something like this: 'When it is all over, you will not remember the harsh words of your enemies, but the silence of your freinds', (Martin Luther King Junior). It makes me wonder about the texture of courage and the double-edged power of acquiescence, t...

For the last two days, I have been attending a workshop. It is being run by an organisation called Jodo Gyan (www.jodogyan.org) for one of the largest players in Education in India. What Jodo Gyan does and what Shahji, one of the principal researchers have been doing is trying to find ways to make Mathematics a relevant experience for children in school. Listening to him and the work of Jodo Gyan, has been an utterly beautiful experience. The joy of seeing an nimble mind in action, humbly but dexterously turning everything you 'know' (have assumed to be true) on its head, without condescending to 'teach' you but just to share an experience or to invite you to explore your own experience, makes for a fascinating learning experience. I wanted to draw attention to the model of engagement that so many of us have become much more able to articulate but so few of us can pull it off with grace that only comes from compassion and absolute humility. Schools need to become spac...