February 9th, 2010

Rules for female teachers – 100 years ago

While reading a book on Formation and Management of Educational Institutions, I was surprised and humored to find the following rules supposedly applicable to female teachers in New Zealand in 1915.

  1. You will not marry during the term of your contract
  2. You are not to keep company with men
  3. You must be home between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. unless attending a school function
  4. You may not loiter downtown in ice-cream stores
  5. You may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have the permission of the board
  6. You may not ride in a carriage or automobile with any man unless he is your father or brother
  7. You may not smoke cigarettes
  8. You may not dress in bright colors
  9. You may under no circumstances dye your hair
  10. You must wear at least two petticoats
  11. Your dresses must not be shorter than two inches above the ankle
  12. To keep the schoolroom neat and clean, you must: sweep the floor at least once daily; scrub the floor at least once a week with hot, soapy water; clean the blackboards at least once a day; and start the fire at 7am so the room will be warm at 8am

As my inquisitive nature got the better of me, I decided to find out how New Zealand’s teacher regulations had evolved over the last 100 years. Hoping that the internet might bring me joy, I was again surprised to find the above (or similar) so called rules of conduct attributable to the teaching profession in more countries that one. Not finding any authentic source to confirm if the above prescriptive rules did indeed enjoy any degree of authority at any time (sic there was no internet in 1915), it seems that the rules may be a product of a humorous person’s highly active imagination.

Having no cause to continue with my quest to find out more about New Zealand teacher regulations, I decided to post these rules here with the hope that it will evoke a smile and raise some brows.

There is a message here – one should not assume that all information one comes across is accurate / correct – even in academic literature.

Do let me know if you have come across instances where the information made available to you, though seemingly from a credible source or having been paid for by you was inaccurate or misleading.

In my next blog, I will write about the new set of problems being created by information explosion and the new skills required by the users of such information.

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February 6th, 2010

Islam, Women & Violence in Kashmir: Between India & Pakistan

Featured Book

Islam Woman Author: Dr. Nyla Ali Khan
Associate Professor
University of Nebraska-Kearney

Let me say at the very outset that this is a much-needed perspective on a region that has come to exemplify conflict per se, thus crowding out all time-honored allusions to bahisht reverberating in the Mughal Emperor Jehangir’s eulogy, “if there is paradise anywhere on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here.” For more than six decades now Kashmir has been one of the most conflict-ridden regions in South Asia.

Nyla Ali Khan is the grand-daughter of Sheikh Abdullah, the first Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. It is thus no surprise that the author offers us a uniquely etic, as also emic perception, her social location provides both the rationale and the commitment, and she does an excellent job of walking the tight rope. She states the context and her intent in the preface itself. “I belong to Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), a highly volatile South Asian region with rich reservoirs of cultural, social and human wealth… Despite my emotional investment in the issue, I have tried to veer away from the seductive trap of either romanticizing or demonizing certain political actors and initiatives”. [ix-x] She is not wary of treading controversial terrain and she claims the Kashmiri ‘national identity’ is a composite collective one, emerging from the silence of a people “…Caught between the rival siblings India and Pakistan….”[ix]

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Reviewed by:
Jaskiran Mathur, Ph.D.
Chair Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice
St. Francis College, Brooklyn NY

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February 2nd, 2010

Children take naturally to technology

If I had any doubts that kids take naturally to technology, it got dispelled yesterday. In less than 60 seconds (35 seconds by my wife’s estimate), my not-yet-4-year-old successfully unlocked and operated my new Nokia N97 phone. He is now the demonstrator-in-chief for the Nokia N97 for all those who visit the house (Nokia should appoint him their sales agent – really).

That’s nothing short of an achievement, if you consider the fact that I had to read the manual to figure out how to use the gadget, while my wife pushed and pulled for a lot longer time than my son.

Here is my assessment on why kids take naturally to technology:

1. Today’s children are born into technology. Technology is all around them and they grow up interacting with technical devices – TV, DVD players, computers, phones, music systems to name a few devices that are commonly found around the house. My son has played with and used all devices that he can lay his hands on. Every night, before he sleeps, he has to punch the keys on the computer and write a make-believe document. He prefers this activity to writing on paper. In fact, that’s where he reinforces visual recognition of letters and knows the exact position/function of all the keys.  He can move the mouse with precision and format text with different colours, fonts and font sizes.

It seems to me, that he will be more comfortable typing than with writing.

2. Children are naturally inquisitive. They are not burdened with prior knowledge.  As adults we become accustomed to doing thing in a particular manner.  Our first reaction to something new is to test our prior knowledge and if something does not conform to our existing schema, we are at a loss.

This is not the case with kids.  They will push and pull, touch and jab till they figure it out.  If a particular method does not work, they try something new. They have all the perseverance and determination in the world.

3. Children do not carry the baggage of fear. Fear is one of the biggest reasons why us adults produce sub-optimal results – fear of failure, fear of damaging, fear of doing something that will result in additional costs, etc. Will it break if I press this button? Will I connect to the internet, which will result in additional costs? Will I dial the number of some unknown person? etc.

Kids when they set out to do a task, they display all the creativity in the world because they are not thinking about the consequences. The only thing that limits a child in his interaction with technology is his environment and interest. 

But are these characteristics of children restricted to technology alone? No they are not.  Children’s interactions with people & materials are based on their natural instincts that are hardwired into them.  As we grow older, some of these natural instincts get suppressed, due to control and compliance.

As caregivers and teachers, we should nurture and enhance these natural instincts, within reasonable parameters of safety. It is a grave injustice to them to burden them with the baggage we adults have grown accustomed to carry.

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January 26th, 2010

Children and the Community

It is oft repeated that it takes a village to raise a child. As parents, in the mad rush of drop-offs, pick-ups, office angst and social engagements, we tend to confine our children’s “village” to our immediate family and friends. In our baba-culture, children inherit a sense of belonging to this small world, contrary to traditional precepts of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.

Schools, either by choice or compulsion, try to create opportunities for children to get involved in their larger community; but the quality and level of engagement depends on the holistic profile of the school and the vision and priorities of its management. Just like schools are not expected (and in fact are not equipped) to manage all the learning needs of all the students, schools are not equipped to provide all relevant, meaningful and engaging community involvement experiences. As parents, we take cognisance (in some cases anticipate) of the former and take remedial steps but not many parents make up for the latter. For instance, if my child is not able to learn math well at school, I take remedial measures by getting him extra help (say tutorials) but if my child is not learning how to connect with the community of which he is a part, I do nothing or precious little about it.

My mother, who was a teacher by training; but housewife by circumstances, understood very well that her children need to be aware of the diversity around them before they could be sensitised. I vividly remember how my sister and I celebrated our birthdays and festivals. The day began with prayers in the house, serving breakfast to the kids at the local orphanage, going to school thereafter, distribution of candies within the class, come home to a house-full of guests and celebrate in the evening with relatives and friends. The first two activities of the day were non-negotiable; everything else could be adjusted and adapted. During the summer vacation, among the zillion other things we had to raise money as contribution to the orphanage; I would choose to embroider napkins and table covers and sell them to family members while my wise-Alec sister used to organise all kinds of performances by the neighbourhood kids and sell tickets to parents to watch their kids perform.

I have initiated something similar with my three-year old son with the hope that he will further connect with his humanity and identify with the real, idiosyncratic world around him. There is a good deal of education, real education in these activities provided they are undertaken with sincerity, consistency, patience and respect.

Here are some community involvement projects that parents can undertake with their children:

1. Plant trees within their own house and neighbourhood
2. Pick up litter at the local park
3. Spend time with and engage (play, create, perform etc) the less fortunate
4. Collect and donate (clothes, books, play materials, old eyeglasses)
5. Make a holiday/festival basket for someone in need or crisis

The list is endless;

What’s important, is the attitude the children bring to these projects / tasks and the learnings they take away from these experiences and not what they do. The spirit behind these projects is not to help anyone else but oneself, because our individual wellbeing is dependent upon our collective wellbeing.

I leave you with this touching and inspiring video of a speech made by Severen Suzuki at the 1992 Plenary Session Earth Summit in Rio Centro, Brazil. At the time Severn was only twelve years old.


Transcript of speach

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January 14th, 2010

Studying at a top public university in the US

Snapshot_20100109_1-1Continuing with our series of guest blogs, we have a Korean student narrate how he had to realign his expectations when he switched from a private high school in Asia to the top-ranked university in the US.

There are valuable pointers for anyone aspiring to take that route.

If anyone asks, “Which is the top university in the United States?” you get the usual answers: ‘Harvard’, ‘Princeton’, or ‘MIT’. Discrepancies do exist in judging the single best university since every institution has its distinct learning atmosphere that cannot be assessed nor compared in terms of mere scores and numbers.

However, if one asks, “Which is the top ‘public’ university in the United States’, a consensus is easily reached. Despite the recent financial crisis and reduced support from the government ever since the late 80’s, the ‘University of California at Berkeley’ (a.k.a. UC Berkeley or Cal) still stands firm in its position as the top public university in the nation. With this thought in mind, I was full of excitement and expectations for the college I was going to. I couldn’t wait to spend four years of college life at “Cal”.

Well, that emotional wave did not last long. As soon as I said goodbye to my relatives who accompanied me to Berkeley, I realized that I was on my own. Not to mention that all the welcoming people were gone after two days of move-in period – only a few pages of pamphlets lying around the dorm remained. I felt lonely! It was not the typical loneliness that one encounters as part of their transition from high-school senior to a college freshman. I was feeling both lonely and disappointed – the picture of Berkeley I had drawn in my mind was a pleasant, joyful place crowded with talented students sharing academic and non-academic issues. Well, frankly speaking, UC Berkeley seemed dead!

Lectures were no different. As I stepped into the lecture hall, it reminded me of a popular concert that consists of a large audience. Roughly 300 students were attending the lecture. In addition to the threatening number of students at the hall, everyone was preoccupied with listening to the professor; I couldn’t talk or make friends with anyone. After a series of intimidating lectures, I came back to the dormitory, discouraged and exhausted. I longed for an outlet to relieve stress, but all I could find at the dorm was my roommate. The sense of belonging at this university was completely absent, and I started having second thoughts about this institution, which I never had before coming to Berkeley.

Looking back right now (after a year), I am really enjoying my life at Cal, I can confidently say that it was my expectations of the public university that was the main reason for my disappointment. Educated in the private institutions from the first year of elementary school, I was not familiar with the system of public education. Compared to private institutions, public institutions are a step closer to society, where you are absolutely on your own. And so is the case in UC Berkeley. Private universities aim to provide a high quality of service to every single student. On the other hand, public universities do not exactly strive to provide a service of education to everyone, but rather offers an opportunity for the best education possible for those who desire it and are determined to learn. People refer to today’s world as the age of limitless competition. Indeed, UC Berkeley imitates today’s society where only the strong survive and make the most of the given environment.

Today, I am actively involved with student activities and classes at UC Berkeley that I strongly feel involved at the top public university. Although the huge classes are still uncomfortable for asking questions and engaging in active discussions, I now go to the professors’ office to talk to the professor or clarify doubts. After the lectures, I go to the ‘Student Learning Centre’ to work as a tutor. I am also involved with various kinds of club activities such as Korean Studies Club, International Students’ affair, etc.

The key to becoming an engaged student in a public institution is being an enthusiastic, self-motivated and passionate student; a quality most of Cal students have. Staying idle and complaining is not going to do anyone any good, but once you start looking around for opportunities to learn, experience or get together with inspired students, you realise UC Berkeley is the right place to be at. Courtesy its outstanding faculty, students and academic resources and the fourth largest library in the United States, the school offers plenty of research opportunities and can help you to realize your potential to the fullest.

There’s an old saying, “God helps those who help themselves” and that’s exactly what you should keep in mind.  Staying quiet in the lecture, you will never be able to make a friend. Coming back to dorm straight after class is the last thing you want to do, because there are so many valuable experiences outside the lecture halls – student organizations, hobby clubs, undergraduate researches, outings, speeches and much much more.

Take the initiative and do anything that you enjoy. Once you learn to participate and be a part of those school activities, the sense of belonging eventually follows.

By

Hyuk Ki (Harris) Shim
Economics and Statistics -Class of 2012
University of California, Berkeley

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December 28th, 2009

What’s in a language!

Of the many languages that children are born with, the verbal is the most prized by society. As parents, we are in a hurry to teach our children to talk. We want them to have a rich repertoire of words and for them to use their vocabulary appropriately. Since most of us are not linguists, but like to read parenting and self-help books, we ensure that our child reaches not just the milestones specific for his age group but also masters those appropriate for the next developmental stage as well. As a result, we have verbally articulate kids all around us, and they grow up into adults who can speak confidently almost all the time that they are awake.

Last year around this time, my then two-and-a-half interpersonal son was fluent in English and a beginner in French as a result of his environs in Canada. One year in India and Hindi has joined ranks with English as his receptive language. In this short one year, Hindi has been elevated to the status of his primary expressive language. If I did not understand the nuances (more to do with the “how” than the “what”) of language development and the concept of whole language, I would lament at the development of one language (Hindi) at the expense of the other (English) at an age when children can learn multiple languages simultaneously.

In this context, a few observation/perceptions come to fore:

  • We tend to overemphasise verbal language, marginalizing the expressions of non-verbal or intrapersonal people. In societies like ours, we forget that language is one of the vehicles of ideas with functional, expressive and aesthetic purpose; it is not the only one. People express themselves in mannerism, art, music, dance, touch, etc – the list is endless. Sadly true, our over-dependence on the aural is at the expense of the visual and other sensorial receptions.
    Do we teach our children how to understand and interpret these languages?
  • There seems to be a perceptible hierarchy of languages. Acquisition of certain languages is valued over others. For instance, in India, we want our children to speak English as native speakers. Realistically speaking, the environment of our preschoolers and early language learners is rich in vernaculars, be it the domestic help at home with whom they spend long hours in the absence of their parents, or didis in preschools who are their primary teachers both within and outside the classrooms. Learning of a language is a social process and the environment is a key determinant.
    Is it realistic to believe that our pre-schoolers, in India, are socially immersed in English?
  • A fascination for a particular language is so strong that we ignore metacognitive aspects of language learning. The expressive language should clearly and coherently reflect the thought process. Our main concern for preschoolers should not be “what” language they use but “how” well they are able to construct that language to align with their thoughts. The proficiency with the “how” is going to be the linguistic base and the learning pattern that the brain will follow for the acquisition of other languages.
    Isn’t proficiency in one verbal language, irrespective of which one it is, an indicator of success in new language acquisition?

Our first language is part of our personal, social and cultural identity. Maintaining first language is a vital factor in the educational development of your child. It doesn’t matter which one it is as long as he is well grounded in that language; because language has more to do with functions of the brain than social projection and pretensions.

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December 9th, 2009

The Labeled Child

Anyone with a heart or with children must read this, reflect and begin the journey of empathy and respect for ALL kids!

The Labeled Child

I pray for the labeled child:
That child who is GIFTED AND TALENTED.
No longer can she be lazy and idle
Or a day dreamer
So much more is expected
Of those as gifted and talented as she.

I pray for the labeled child:
That child who is LEARNING DISABLED.
No longer will the world expect brilliance.
No longer will someone tell him to reach for the stars
Because that is where greatness is found.

I pray for the labeled child:
That child who is DYSLEXIC.
Reading—oh, the joy of reading!
Will always be hard for her to recite—no sing—
“Mary had a little lamb;”
She won’t be able to read it,
At least not without difficulty.
She will learn that all her friends
Who laugh and cry and wonder about books
Can do so because they are not dyslexic.

I pray for the labeled child:
That child who is A.D.D.
An unorganized bubble of hyperactivity.
No longer will someone teach him to cope in a world
That values compliance.
No longer will someone say, “You can do this:
Oh, it may be hard, but it is within you to do this.”
A dose of medicine now replaces the need for that inner effort
And eliminates possible victory.

I pray for the labeled child:
That child who is EMOTIONALLY HANDICAPPED.
That child who rebels
Because she should rebel.
The child who acts out
Because there is nowhere else
For the hurt and anxiety to go.
The child who is diagnosed “sick,”
When perhaps her actions are the one true sign of sanity
In the demented world in which she is forced to live.

conference meeting

I pray for THE CHILD OF NO LABEL,
In a system which marks so many special.
This child neither shines nor demands.
For this child, life has been neither harsh nor generous.
This is the one who “makes” the teacher’s day
Because there are so many children who need REAL attention.

I pray most of all for some magic day
When the tests, the labels, and the names
Will disappear—will be forgotten.
When each child who enters a classroom
Will be an apprentice of learning.
When each classroom will be a safe place
To discover—on your own—
What will be the struggles of your life,
And the victories.
When the feeble and the bright,
The gregarious and the shy
Will all find their place
In the great adventure of education
When the only label that will be
Attached to anyone is LEARNER.

By Karen Morrow Durica

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December 5th, 2009

Real and meaningful education

Last week unfolded itself in a very pleasant way making me more receptive and appreciative of the power of small – small towns, small schools and more importantly small steps to make the world better for our children.

This is about a school in Rishikesh that we had the good fortune to work with. Our initial reaction was that there must be a lot that we could contribute to the school, as they would not have very many opportunities of interacting with and learning from people outside the town. The reality was very different from our initial perception.

Today, when education shops with fancy infrastructure are preferred over innovative and sound practices, education has become a compromised commodity. Yet there is this completely unassuming school that is exemplary in its approach towards education, its children and towards society at large. The management, which is of a certain religious hue charges nominal fee from the parents, based on the principle of no-profit and giving back to the community more than it receives. Some of the exceptional features of the schools are:

  • Social Responsibility: The management runs another school for the economically disadvantaged, where the curriculum and resources (human and material) are comparable to this school. The students in this particular school do not pay any fee and get all supplies and nutritious snacks from its in-house bakery and dairy. There is constant interaction between the teachers and students of both the schools as equals in both curricular and co-curricular activities. What a wonderful way to instil a sense of social responsibility!
  • Health & Safety: The school has its own bakery and cowshed where they raise milch cattle to provide for milk product and healthy (unadulterated) snack for all children. What a wonderful teaching resource these two places can be while at the same time ensuring quality and purity of produce!
  • Environmental Responsibility: The school has its own sewer treatment plant and the filtration plant provides irrigation to their well-manicured and green lawns. What a wonderful way to inculcate a sense of environmental responsibility!
  • Belonging & ownership: The school has aesthetically designed waste bins all over the campus, in very child-friendly forms and the children have been taught to look after them. As a result of the carefulness of all concerned, especially the children, the bins look brand new, even after years of being exposed to the elements. What a wonderful way to instil a sense of belonging and pride of ownership of common areas in the school, among students!
  • Religious tolerance: The prayers in the morning assembly are taken from different religious texts. What a wonderful way to elevate religious tolerance to respect for religious diversity!
  • Conservation: Efforts are underway to set up water harvesting plant and solar heaters on the campus. What a way to instil respect and appreciation for water & fuel; two of the most significant and increasingly scarce resources, not to mention the environmentally positive implications of these measures.

Sometimes, as educationists the glare of flashy appearances blinds us so much that we overlook what it means to educate and be educated. Yet there are these little and yet very significant things that we can do to bring about a paradigm shift in how we do schooling and in instilling a sense of social responsibility.

This school in Rishikesh leads by example. It tells us that our institutions of learning should be more than passive mirrors of the society at large, but laboratories for shaping and nurturing the kind of society that we want to create for our children and ourselves.

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November 20th, 2009

A father’s letter to his son’s teacher

For a poor listener, yesterday it turned out that I am an avid eavesdropper. At the inconspicuous tailoring shop, I overheard a mother drilling and harassing her 3 years old in order to prepare her for the interview to get admission into the “big school”.  Its not a “big school” that matters, but a “good school”; and I was reminded of something that I once read.

A father’s letter to his son’s teacher

He will have to learn, I know,
that all men are not just,
all men are not true.
But teach him also that
for every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish politician,
there is a dedicated leader…
Teach him for every enemy there is a friend.

Steer him away from envy.
If you can, 
teach him
the secret of 
quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that
the bullies are the easiest to lick…
Teach him, if you can,
the wonder of books…
But also give him quiet time
to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun,
and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him
it is far honourable to fail 
than to cheat…
Teach him to have faith 
in his own ideas,
even if everyone tells him they are wrong…
Teach him to be gentle with gentle people,
and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son
the strength not to follow the crowd
when everyone is getting on the band wagon…
Teach him to listen to all men…
but teach him also to filter
all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good 
that comes through.

Teach him if you can,
how to laugh when he is sad…
Teach him there is no shame in tears,
Teach him to scoff at cynics
and to beware of too much sweetness…
Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag 
on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears
to a howling mob
and to stand and fight 
if he thinks he’s right.
Treat him gently,
but do not cuddle him,
because only the test 
of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage
to be impatient…
let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always
to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have 
sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order,
but see what you can do…
He is such a fine little fellow, 
my son!

-X-X-X-

Very often the authorship of this profound letter is spuriously attributed to Abraham Lincoln
but its authorship is inconsequential
It is the beauty and sincerity of the words
that one needs to imbibe.

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Posted in Education, Learner centric teaching, Poem | 1 Comment »

November 17th, 2009

Technology – a good slave but poor master

Yesterday I read about an alarming piece of news about the seemingly harmless iPods corrupting the minds and souls of our children. That made me step back and think about technology in general and the attitude of those around children towards technology.

As parents:

  • do we teach our children about making informed choices or oscillate from laissez faire to making those choices for them, potentially crippling them for life?
  • do we make it our business to find out what our child is reading, listening to, accessing, borrowing, downloading or swing from disrespectful intrusion to hands-off right to privacy non sense?
  • do we make time to enjoy the boons of technology and learn from our kids or look at it as something to keep them out of our way after a long, stressful work day?

As parents, we probably have a much skewed view of technology associating it with largely electronic gadgets that are ever so rapidly evolving in terms of complexity and sophistication. We patiently teach our children how to use and master the art of eating with a fork and knife, writing with a crayon/pencil/pen, riding a bicycle for days/weeks/months till the child masters both the skill and attitudes related to it, rarely associating these with technology. We associate technology with electronic gadgets like computers, iPods, e-gaming and the like, giving them access or ownership but absolving ourselves of all responsibility to train and educate them about their judicious usage.

Also as parents, we find it difficult, if not impossible, to keep up with that which we consider “technology”, and therefore take the easier option of surrendering our parental responsibilities of helping our children grasp and responsibly handle technology to teachers, peers and other second or third parties.

As teachers, we train our children to handle laboratory apparatus and classroom resources like manipulative so that they learn to use them to enhance their learning. But when it comes to computers and associated accessories, the onus of their proper use is conveniently palmed off to the IT teacher. The IT teachers, given the length and breadth of their curriculum, and probably because they themselves are inadequately informed or because this aspect of technology is not covered by the syllabus, bypass these crucial life skills in their classes.

With little or no guidance from parents and teachers, children either “figure-it-out” for themselves or learn by trial and error, or turn to equally inadequately informed peers for guidance or worse turn to strangers exposing themselves to manipulation.

In the meanwhile, it is not surprising ,that, children make poor choices in handling technology.

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