Swati Basotra
In this phase of my life when my kids are learning trigonometry and calculus, I always think where have I used calculus and trigonometry in my life or infact I don’t remember now, so it is self evident that they are not required for everyone.
In the late 1800s, schools were designed and intended to teach obedience during the rise of our industrial age. Big corporations needed workers for their factories and the purpose of the academic system was to create obedient and compliant workers who never asked questions. Our academics system became a factory to standardize all growing students to ensure they fit the desired mould.
As John Holt wrote “the human animal is a learning animal” schools are running on the theory of carrot and stick approach, meaning reward and punishment. Their subjects and class hours distort our natural curiosity and imagination. Kids have no time to ask questions which daily life organically throws up to them related with nature, travel and household activities.
A child has every right to dislike a subject, however, it’s the teacher’s job to make it interesting and loveable. The idea is to make the school environment loving and safe, learning is a consequence, it will happen anyway.
Education is not about credentials at all and should be just about learning. Human being is a rational being and if you give reasons and facts for something, children understand it better, for which we need to inculcate few skills in our children.
* Art of understanding
* Art of articulation (written and oral)
* Art of asking questions
* Art of imagination which mostly we neglect during studies.
Psychology of fear never helps in learning and always suppresses above mentioned skills. “Fear helps you to manage kids”‘ we think so straight, but if kids are only managed they never learn to manage their own feelings and instead try to use force and anger to meet their needs.
Need of the hour is to create diverse schools which give life lessons and experience to children and make them more empathetic and emotionally stable so they have an extraordinary comfort in their own skin. I believe that along with our primary education, we certainly need to nurture different art forms. Such learning becomes a foundation for other avenues in the future. Moreover the values that come with this kind of learning are precious and can solve a lot of social problems like depression, rape, terrorism, etc. In Japanese schools, the students are not required to take any exams until they reach grade four (the age of 10) because the goal is not to judge child’s knowledge or learning but to establish good manners and to develop their character. This method ensures manners before knowledge.
Each kid has a right to discover its own creative journey and may find expression in any form it chooses to. We need to understand that we are dealing with a wise and an energetic generation which is fully capable of learning. Embrace your child’s gift and realize that he has the ability to multi task. When a kid’s hands and eyes are mildly entertained, its brain responds wanting to soak up knowledge. This is a high time to remind myself and all the educationists that giving your kids proper moral values with simple life experiences instead of heavy words will make them more independent and confident.
The famous philosopher Plato once said, “do not train children to learn by force and harshness but direct them to do what amuses their mind so that you may be better able to discover”. This quote perfectly summarizes the need and importance of primary education for creating a generation that we can be proud of.
(The author is Counselor & Life Coach Co founder AMIGO)
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