Have you ever wonderred that the curriculum is two fold . One is the CBSE, ICSE syllabus or whatever, . Perfect ! That's one of them. But we all forget that besides this curriculum which is visible and can be measured, there is one other curriculum called invisible curriculum. That which is not projected or can be measured. This curriculum is very important and in a way affects the actual curriculum to be mastered by the child appropriately and accurately.
The invisible curriculum is the TEACHER and her PERSONALITY which she gets into the classroom. Teacher is a great influence in a child's life and can make or break the childs personality . She is a role model. She can teach a lot by just her sheer presence and tweaking of the environment. Everything of a teacher matters. Her tone of voice, her choice of words, her capacity to love the children, her capacity to GIVE , her capacity to RESPECT the child as IS , her conduct , her convictions, her interaction with the children can create wonders.
Think of your own teachers in your schools days and definitely there comes a image who made you feel good and who felt proud of you and was kind and loving.
A TEACHER who puts down her children, who is more focused on her own interests , who doesn't bother to look into the child needs cannot be called a teacher for she is teaching less and harming more. TEACHER 's are being respected from time immemorial for the kind of impact they have on the child's life and personality. This is one of the most sacred jobs and selfless job. The goal of the TEACHER should always be her children's growth in a wholistic way.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Exam "Bhooth"
Recently I came very up, and dangerously close to exams, nearly after maybe fifteen years .(my masters exams were much different). I am not trying to put down anybody here but am only trying to evaluate what our education system has done to all of us !
what kind of fear and threat it poses ? At any age, when the word "exam" is uttered we immediately start behaving like the little ones who are threatened by this word. Who are made to feel that your worthiness is determined by this Bhooth called "exam", Where we are made to justify all our intelligence by answering word to word as to what is required of us.
How we start evaluating ourselves against this bhooth !
People didn't sleep, they couldn't give the paper before the bell rang ! They had to sit till it was time up. They wrote more than what was asked for it was for more marks ! I can only say these are the by products of the way our education is structured.
We went around collecting question papers, trying to get as much information as possible from the teacher as to what may appear in the exam. I felt somewhere the whole objective of assessment was getting lost. To the extent that, I went and asked a professor that I need some clarification on something , for which she said " don't worry ma, it will not come in the paper " !
I was saddened.
I am no exception to this system and that I could beat this "bhooth". I also had to face this the same way. I had to rely only on my rote memory for the most part. Luckily I am blessed with the kind of memory which co-operates with me most of the time, i am not threatened by this "bhooth". But I had to use only my "rote" memory for the most part , rather my intelligence of the concept. For me exams was a routine to finish rather than a means to assess my worth or prove it to somebody else.
To an extent I have to thank my parents for not evaluating me based on my marks in my early years. I feel it has a lot to do with how I perceive my exams today. What they mean and how much they much ? is decided by me for me .
"Exams" the way it is structured and evaluated no way is geared to real learning and understanding. The whole idea of assessment through exams is defeated . Exams should be a means to assess the understanding of the concept and hence make improvements either in teaching methods or address the issues with the child having problems understanding the problems. Rather assessing or grading your intelligence on the marks.
what kind of fear and threat it poses ? At any age, when the word "exam" is uttered we immediately start behaving like the little ones who are threatened by this word. Who are made to feel that your worthiness is determined by this Bhooth called "exam", Where we are made to justify all our intelligence by answering word to word as to what is required of us.
How we start evaluating ourselves against this bhooth !
People didn't sleep, they couldn't give the paper before the bell rang ! They had to sit till it was time up. They wrote more than what was asked for it was for more marks ! I can only say these are the by products of the way our education is structured.
We went around collecting question papers, trying to get as much information as possible from the teacher as to what may appear in the exam. I felt somewhere the whole objective of assessment was getting lost. To the extent that, I went and asked a professor that I need some clarification on something , for which she said " don't worry ma, it will not come in the paper " !
I was saddened.
I am no exception to this system and that I could beat this "bhooth". I also had to face this the same way. I had to rely only on my rote memory for the most part. Luckily I am blessed with the kind of memory which co-operates with me most of the time, i am not threatened by this "bhooth". But I had to use only my "rote" memory for the most part , rather my intelligence of the concept. For me exams was a routine to finish rather than a means to assess my worth or prove it to somebody else.
To an extent I have to thank my parents for not evaluating me based on my marks in my early years. I feel it has a lot to do with how I perceive my exams today. What they mean and how much they much ? is decided by me for me .
"Exams" the way it is structured and evaluated no way is geared to real learning and understanding. The whole idea of assessment through exams is defeated . Exams should be a means to assess the understanding of the concept and hence make improvements either in teaching methods or address the issues with the child having problems understanding the problems. Rather assessing or grading your intelligence on the marks.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
beliefs
BELIEFS
What are these phrases?
They are nothing but beliefs about yourself and about people around you and the world in general.
Belief as defined by psychologists is a simple form of mental representation And therefore one of the building blocks of conscious thought. It is a solid idea arising from the sub-conscious mind.
They are not facts and hence can be changed.
12inches equals one foot is a fact but “Relationships are hard” is a Belief.
Different kinds of Beliefs
Beliefs can come from two sources: our own experience and reflections, or as a blind acceptance of what other people tell us.
Lets take an example of how a child makes his/her belief
When an idea constantly bypasses your conscious filters straight to your subconscious mind it may turn it into a belief.
Now, how does the idea pass the conscious filter?
The following are some examples that will show you how can this happen:
When the idea comes from a trusted source: when you were a child, your main trusted source was your parents. If your parents told you that this animal is called a dog you will immediately believe them and since you will find that everyone around supports this idea it will turn into a strong belief. Now what if your parents kept telling you that you were fool or dumb? What will be the result? you will grow up thinking that its true, and you may end up feeling inferior without knowing that this was the root cause for your feelings of inferiority. You may be asking yourself now, what will be strengthening this belief? This time it will be you, your subconscious mind will just pick every clue that supports this belief ignoring everything else. For example, if someone rejected you the first thing that you will think of, is that he rejected you because you are dumb.
When the conscious mind gets distracted:
when something catches the full attention of your conscious mind you become highly receptive to suggestions. That’s the same idea advertisers use when they put their commercials in the middle of your favorite T.V series. In this case, your conscious mind will be thinking of what will happen to the hero of the series while at the same time your subconscious mind will be receiving suggestions by the commercial
A belief system is formed and encompasses four elements:
(1) A thought (2) A feeling (3) age, and (4) the consequence (reinforces the thought positively)
A belief becomes stronger if it is accompanied by a strong emotion.
Establishment of Core Beliefs :
Four factors in a child’s development that become part of the belief system of the adult
Self-image: how we perceive ourselves
Relationships: how we perceive our relationship with others
Needs: how we perceive our own needs
Sexuality: how we perceive our own sexual feelings and needs
Making our Beliefs:
Observation – >Select Data Based on my observation -> Make Assumptions based on the meanings I add -> I make conclusions -> I adopt a belief about the world.
Eg: Child is meddling with his pencil -> child is meddling while I am talking -> child is not able to concentrate -> child cannot concentrate -> child will not do well in the exams
Identify the Belief:
You are retiring in the afternoon very tired and the door bell rings and you see a sales person trying to sell something. You say no, and then bang the door, he rings the bell again and requests you to buy something, you again close the door.
What is your belief now on the sales man and the sales man’s belief about you
Ask the child to eat fast … your belief.
How Beliefs Limit Us
Beliefs are like walls we have erected around us.
The words on our walls are metaphors for our self talk, of course.
Many of them are hand-me-downs from our parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, religion, peers, books, TV and an endless list of other “authorities” in our lives.
We all have different words on our walls.
That’s why we appear to have different limits.
Your limits are different from mine because the “truths” written on your walls are different from the “truths” written on mine.
They are hand-me-down beliefs that were written on our walls by others and we have been dutifully obeying them ever since.
“We constantly consult the writing on our walls.”
That writing is our most prominent advisor and we consult it all day long. It represents every experience we have ever had.
It contains all of our “how to’s”.
It contains our cans & can’ts as well as our shoulds & should nots.
It contains our musts & must nots as well as our sense of fair play.
It contains our version of proper behavior as well as what is right or wrong in this world.
It contains our judgments, our successes and our failures. It’s all there—everything we hold to be true—written on our walls.
For example, we eat soup with a spoon instead of a fork because our knowledge base (the writing on our walls) advises us to do so. it’s as if we ask the question, “How do I eat this soup?” and the writing on our walls says, “Use a spoon.” This is why we wear jeans on some occasions and black tie or evening gowns on others. We constantly consult the writing on our walls for what to do. Those words represent the “truth” as we have learned it.
Break Your beliefs :
Reflections : Check your assumptions
Consciousness : Aware of my thinking and reasoning
Inquiry : Question into other’s thinking
Break others Beliefs
Ask Specific Questions “ kids don’t get to have fun”
Exaggerate “Nobody loves me”
Remind contradictory experience ”I can’t climb this”
Break related thoughts “My mother hates me”
Affirmations
What are these phrases?
- I am good at math
- I cannot talk like you
- I am not creative
- I have to do my prayers before leaving the house
- I cannot sing
- Auto drivers always cheat
- My mother-in-law hates me
- This is my lucky pen
- I can do anything
- I am a failure. Whatever I do, I mess everything up
- I am a horrible parent
They are nothing but beliefs about yourself and about people around you and the world in general.
Belief as defined by psychologists is a simple form of mental representation And therefore one of the building blocks of conscious thought. It is a solid idea arising from the sub-conscious mind.
They are not facts and hence can be changed.
12inches equals one foot is a fact but “Relationships are hard” is a Belief.
Different kinds of Beliefs
- Religious beliefs
- Political beliefs
- cultural beliefs
- Social beliefs
Beliefs can come from two sources: our own experience and reflections, or as a blind acceptance of what other people tell us.
- Self-generated belief(Self-generated beliefs are those we create ourselves.)
- Externally generated belief(the alternative to finding things out for yourself)
Lets take an example of how a child makes his/her belief
- Sita gets less marks in math
- Her mother is upset with her and says you always get poor marks in Math
- Sita gets lesser marks next time.
- She overhears her mother talking to her friend “ sita is not good in math”
- She feels sad again.
- She gets lesser Marks again.
- She adopts a belief on herself saying “I am Bad in math”
When an idea constantly bypasses your conscious filters straight to your subconscious mind it may turn it into a belief.
Now, how does the idea pass the conscious filter?
The following are some examples that will show you how can this happen:
When the idea comes from a trusted source: when you were a child, your main trusted source was your parents. If your parents told you that this animal is called a dog you will immediately believe them and since you will find that everyone around supports this idea it will turn into a strong belief. Now what if your parents kept telling you that you were fool or dumb? What will be the result? you will grow up thinking that its true, and you may end up feeling inferior without knowing that this was the root cause for your feelings of inferiority. You may be asking yourself now, what will be strengthening this belief? This time it will be you, your subconscious mind will just pick every clue that supports this belief ignoring everything else. For example, if someone rejected you the first thing that you will think of, is that he rejected you because you are dumb.
When the conscious mind gets distracted:
when something catches the full attention of your conscious mind you become highly receptive to suggestions. That’s the same idea advertisers use when they put their commercials in the middle of your favorite T.V series. In this case, your conscious mind will be thinking of what will happen to the hero of the series while at the same time your subconscious mind will be receiving suggestions by the commercial
A belief system is formed and encompasses four elements:
(1) A thought (2) A feeling (3) age, and (4) the consequence (reinforces the thought positively)
A belief becomes stronger if it is accompanied by a strong emotion.
Establishment of Core Beliefs :
Four factors in a child’s development that become part of the belief system of the adult
Self-image: how we perceive ourselves
Relationships: how we perceive our relationship with others
Needs: how we perceive our own needs
Sexuality: how we perceive our own sexual feelings and needs
Making our Beliefs:
Observation – >Select Data Based on my observation -> Make Assumptions based on the meanings I add -> I make conclusions -> I adopt a belief about the world.
Eg: Child is meddling with his pencil -> child is meddling while I am talking -> child is not able to concentrate -> child cannot concentrate -> child will not do well in the exams
Identify the Belief:
You are retiring in the afternoon very tired and the door bell rings and you see a sales person trying to sell something. You say no, and then bang the door, he rings the bell again and requests you to buy something, you again close the door.
What is your belief now on the sales man and the sales man’s belief about you
Ask the child to eat fast … your belief.
How Beliefs Limit Us
Beliefs are like walls we have erected around us.
The words on our walls are metaphors for our self talk, of course.
Many of them are hand-me-downs from our parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches, religion, peers, books, TV and an endless list of other “authorities” in our lives.
We all have different words on our walls.
That’s why we appear to have different limits.
Your limits are different from mine because the “truths” written on your walls are different from the “truths” written on mine.
They are hand-me-down beliefs that were written on our walls by others and we have been dutifully obeying them ever since.
“We constantly consult the writing on our walls.”
That writing is our most prominent advisor and we consult it all day long. It represents every experience we have ever had.
It contains all of our “how to’s”.
It contains our cans & can’ts as well as our shoulds & should nots.
It contains our musts & must nots as well as our sense of fair play.
It contains our version of proper behavior as well as what is right or wrong in this world.
It contains our judgments, our successes and our failures. It’s all there—everything we hold to be true—written on our walls.
For example, we eat soup with a spoon instead of a fork because our knowledge base (the writing on our walls) advises us to do so. it’s as if we ask the question, “How do I eat this soup?” and the writing on our walls says, “Use a spoon.” This is why we wear jeans on some occasions and black tie or evening gowns on others. We constantly consult the writing on our walls for what to do. Those words represent the “truth” as we have learned it.
Break Your beliefs :
Reflections : Check your assumptions
Consciousness : Aware of my thinking and reasoning
Inquiry : Question into other’s thinking
Break others Beliefs
Ask Specific Questions “ kids don’t get to have fun”
Exaggerate “Nobody loves me”
Remind contradictory experience ”I can’t climb this”
Break related thoughts “My mother hates me”
Affirmations
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Growth of the child ??
We all want our children to grow up to be independent, successful individuals who can take care of themselves. How will we ensure this ? What can we do today, so that our children become competent in taking care of their lives and also the people around them in future. We can in fact build life skills in our children in our day to day interactions with them. How ?
Ok.let's say we want our children to start thinking in various ways for a problem. Then when you have a problem, ask the child how will we go about solving it.
eg: there is no gift wrap paper for the gift we have to take for the party and no time to go buy the paper.
Now the child will come with various options--- eg:bag, make a bag, news paper, painted paper, flowers, leaves etc.( choose something from this so that the child knows that they are do-able)
Here you are developing a skill, where in the child learns that there is no one way of doing things after all !
As an adult , create situations or when there are situations involve the child in solving the problem.
Show the child that he is capable of making decisions and putting them into action . Eg: let him decide what he wants to wear when going for a party even though you think that's not the best. Let him decide his snacks and lunch he wants to take. Let him decide the menu for a party . Execute it , so that he takes pride in his decision and would do more of it.
Many more... any skill you want the child to have, see if there is any situation , let the child take charge of it as far as possible.
Skills you can foster -- independence, creative thinking, problem solving ability, ability to work with somebody, leadership ability, planning and organising , resilience (fallback mechanism), etc ..
Ok.let's say we want our children to start thinking in various ways for a problem. Then when you have a problem, ask the child how will we go about solving it.
eg: there is no gift wrap paper for the gift we have to take for the party and no time to go buy the paper.
Now the child will come with various options--- eg:bag, make a bag, news paper, painted paper, flowers, leaves etc.( choose something from this so that the child knows that they are do-able)
Here you are developing a skill, where in the child learns that there is no one way of doing things after all !
As an adult , create situations or when there are situations involve the child in solving the problem.
Show the child that he is capable of making decisions and putting them into action . Eg: let him decide what he wants to wear when going for a party even though you think that's not the best. Let him decide his snacks and lunch he wants to take. Let him decide the menu for a party . Execute it , so that he takes pride in his decision and would do more of it.
Many more... any skill you want the child to have, see if there is any situation , let the child take charge of it as far as possible.
Skills you can foster -- independence, creative thinking, problem solving ability, ability to work with somebody, leadership ability, planning and organising , resilience (fallback mechanism), etc ..
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Experiences and YOU
Have you ever wondered why you always have bad experiences ? Why you face all the problems in the world ? Have you not ever asked this question "Why ME ?" .why do I have these people around me ? Even I have wondered about that. But I have come to feel that the experiences we go through, the problems that come our way are only a means to grow ourselves ! we need these to grow, these are our weaklinks.
When I was working with children at Geniekids, my mentor used to ask me, were there any conflicts, disturbances in the classroom ? He used to stress more on the points were people had problems rather on people whose sessions went smooth. What he said was, if the session went on smoothly, then there is no learning for you and the children (New learning). on the other hand if there are conflicts, and you were able to steer their thinking in terms of resolving the conflict then there could possibly be great learnings. How true ?
So finally what is growth ? How do you define Your Growth ? For me Growth would be when I am stable inspite of several external triggers . When I am balanced both emotionally and mentally in all situations. When I can look at situations objectively more than subjectively.
Thats what we need to work towards. Afterall all the degrees and education doesn't contribute to your growth. You grow only when you reflect on your own experiences and learn from them.
When I was working with children at Geniekids, my mentor used to ask me, were there any conflicts, disturbances in the classroom ? He used to stress more on the points were people had problems rather on people whose sessions went smooth. What he said was, if the session went on smoothly, then there is no learning for you and the children (New learning). on the other hand if there are conflicts, and you were able to steer their thinking in terms of resolving the conflict then there could possibly be great learnings. How true ?
So finally what is growth ? How do you define Your Growth ? For me Growth would be when I am stable inspite of several external triggers . When I am balanced both emotionally and mentally in all situations. When I can look at situations objectively more than subjectively.
Thats what we need to work towards. Afterall all the degrees and education doesn't contribute to your growth. You grow only when you reflect on your own experiences and learn from them.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Growth !
I recently was asked the question "Can a tree see ? "
What do I mean by looking? seeing? When somebody asks you that I immediately say yeah, i can see red color, I can see this house etc.... but the tree cannot see. it has no eyes!
Recently I posted a mail to all my friends in the US asking them as to how are they all doing ? Everyone of them answered back saying they bought a house in san jose, they have moved their job, they moved away from the bay area, how hectic is the work, their nature of work etc etc... but that was just information . Even if that person calls me and talks to me tomorrow I would n't remember these details and i wouldn't know where he lives or where does he work.
See we are all seeing only externally. what about the internal growth. the growth of my BEING, who am I is the question that needs to be asked over and over?
A tree on the contrary is always doing that. Its focus is completely internal and focussing on how strong it can become. It is least bothered by its external movements. It always wonders about what is going on inside itself.
As human beings we need to grow more internally than externally. now-a-days external growth is attributed to which company you work, your remuneration, how busy you are, how many cars you own, which mobile you carry and how many hours a week you work, where did you go for vacation, this has become our life . so naturally when somebody asks us how are "YOU" doing we start ..... This is what we are passing on to our children BEWARE ! This is our todays way of living created by us for us.
Even I used to get restless when I didn't have any work in the day, felt I was useless, good for nothing, unproductive etc etc....I used to cry ... but when questioned, is that what i want to do, is that what is life , is that what my being all about ..... i got many answers. Why is it so hard to be quiet? Why is so hard to be disconnected from all this ? Why is it so hard to be not like everyone ? (yesterday manasi tells me mamma why didn't you give me egg , i would have developed a taste for it and I wouldn't have felt like an odd man out " ) Why was it so hard to do nothing et all but still be happy and contended like a child ?
Recently when i had gone for an interview for maithilis school, one point that was raised appealed to me a lot. saying " We are not used to living in silence". How true I thought. Why is it so hard to be with oneself. when we are alone, we turn on the TV, radio, or call somebody? also how hard it becomes to lead a retired life later when you are not used being with yourself all the time. I keep wondering when i see my mother or father in law how hooked on they are to the TV. They get very defensive when you raise that point. very delicate issue. I wonder why are they again getting on to the loop . why are they disturbing themselves with the emotional ups and downs the TV takes you through . They also entice the young ones. ( I have become the bad person in this scenario.) why is that they say what else we have to do ?
I am not saying people stop working and sit at home doing nothing. of course once in a while thats good for you and your spouse, what I am focusing is take time to reflect on yourself . What is that makes you come alive ? What is that draws you ? What are your views, beliefs, thoughts, faiths, feelings about things ? how is that helping you or not helping you ? take stock of all these things . understand yourself, your being. How will you do all these ? By watching yourself more closely, by observing your reactions, responses to things , situations and people.
By living this kind of life we are passing on the same to our children. They have come to believe that having a laptop, driver, maids, i-pod, vacations out of india , etc etc are the way of life. They compare themselves with other children having the same as we live in the same kind of environment. In birthday parties the games played are like, which program is telecasted on which channel , a kid who can tell this quickly gets the prize, birthday parties are to be celebrated in pizza hut , food should be ordered according to the taste of the children although why not it be total junk, we call it love for our children. The other day my children were out on a sleep over in one of their friends house and the host ordered pizza and soda and she was very happily telling me that I let the children have complete blast. They had lot of fun she said. Soda! I wouldn't approve of that .She was saying we should do this more often. I wasn't sure about that . So when your child is 16 will you have a beer bash for your teen? Why not ? Thats fun for him then ? Is drinking soda and eating junk fun for children ?
I have observed that Whatever the child does to the environment is accepted as long as he doesn't disturb the parents talk . We call that freedom ? what is freedom without responsibility ? its total chaos within the child and outside the child. The parents say I don't want to talk to him in front of everyone as I know how the child would react . what are we doing to the child and ourselves ?
I have also observed that parents let children watch TV as much as they want and eat as much junk as they say they would not listen and also question freedom. Then as a parent if you know something can be harmful to the child in the long run would you let the child do it, what is your responsibility as an adult then ?
you know, we are a confused lot. our ancestors were atleast clear. Now we don't know the balance . In the name of love to our children we are giving them totally distorted messages . The children are going to grow up to be confused and not sure about themselves. We as adults need to re-look at ourselves and our way of living. Unless we do that it is not possible to impart values to our children .
What do I mean by looking? seeing? When somebody asks you that I immediately say yeah, i can see red color, I can see this house etc.... but the tree cannot see. it has no eyes!
Recently I posted a mail to all my friends in the US asking them as to how are they all doing ? Everyone of them answered back saying they bought a house in san jose, they have moved their job, they moved away from the bay area, how hectic is the work, their nature of work etc etc... but that was just information . Even if that person calls me and talks to me tomorrow I would n't remember these details and i wouldn't know where he lives or where does he work.
See we are all seeing only externally. what about the internal growth. the growth of my BEING, who am I is the question that needs to be asked over and over?
A tree on the contrary is always doing that. Its focus is completely internal and focussing on how strong it can become. It is least bothered by its external movements. It always wonders about what is going on inside itself.
As human beings we need to grow more internally than externally. now-a-days external growth is attributed to which company you work, your remuneration, how busy you are, how many cars you own, which mobile you carry and how many hours a week you work, where did you go for vacation, this has become our life . so naturally when somebody asks us how are "YOU" doing we start ..... This is what we are passing on to our children BEWARE ! This is our todays way of living created by us for us.
Even I used to get restless when I didn't have any work in the day, felt I was useless, good for nothing, unproductive etc etc....I used to cry ... but when questioned, is that what i want to do, is that what is life , is that what my being all about ..... i got many answers. Why is it so hard to be quiet? Why is so hard to be disconnected from all this ? Why is it so hard to be not like everyone ? (yesterday manasi tells me mamma why didn't you give me egg , i would have developed a taste for it and I wouldn't have felt like an odd man out " ) Why was it so hard to do nothing et all but still be happy and contended like a child ?
Recently when i had gone for an interview for maithilis school, one point that was raised appealed to me a lot. saying " We are not used to living in silence". How true I thought. Why is it so hard to be with oneself. when we are alone, we turn on the TV, radio, or call somebody? also how hard it becomes to lead a retired life later when you are not used being with yourself all the time. I keep wondering when i see my mother or father in law how hooked on they are to the TV. They get very defensive when you raise that point. very delicate issue. I wonder why are they again getting on to the loop . why are they disturbing themselves with the emotional ups and downs the TV takes you through . They also entice the young ones. ( I have become the bad person in this scenario.) why is that they say what else we have to do ?
I am not saying people stop working and sit at home doing nothing. of course once in a while thats good for you and your spouse, what I am focusing is take time to reflect on yourself . What is that makes you come alive ? What is that draws you ? What are your views, beliefs, thoughts, faiths, feelings about things ? how is that helping you or not helping you ? take stock of all these things . understand yourself, your being. How will you do all these ? By watching yourself more closely, by observing your reactions, responses to things , situations and people.
By living this kind of life we are passing on the same to our children. They have come to believe that having a laptop, driver, maids, i-pod, vacations out of india , etc etc are the way of life. They compare themselves with other children having the same as we live in the same kind of environment. In birthday parties the games played are like, which program is telecasted on which channel , a kid who can tell this quickly gets the prize, birthday parties are to be celebrated in pizza hut , food should be ordered according to the taste of the children although why not it be total junk, we call it love for our children. The other day my children were out on a sleep over in one of their friends house and the host ordered pizza and soda and she was very happily telling me that I let the children have complete blast. They had lot of fun she said. Soda! I wouldn't approve of that .She was saying we should do this more often. I wasn't sure about that . So when your child is 16 will you have a beer bash for your teen? Why not ? Thats fun for him then ? Is drinking soda and eating junk fun for children ?
I have observed that Whatever the child does to the environment is accepted as long as he doesn't disturb the parents talk . We call that freedom ? what is freedom without responsibility ? its total chaos within the child and outside the child. The parents say I don't want to talk to him in front of everyone as I know how the child would react . what are we doing to the child and ourselves ?
I have also observed that parents let children watch TV as much as they want and eat as much junk as they say they would not listen and also question freedom. Then as a parent if you know something can be harmful to the child in the long run would you let the child do it, what is your responsibility as an adult then ?
you know, we are a confused lot. our ancestors were atleast clear. Now we don't know the balance . In the name of love to our children we are giving them totally distorted messages . The children are going to grow up to be confused and not sure about themselves. We as adults need to re-look at ourselves and our way of living. Unless we do that it is not possible to impart values to our children .
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Learning Netwrok conference
This december I got a chance to attend a conference on learning . Nearly 95 people attended the conference from all over India. People who are doing different kinds of work related to education were present. The questions raised and discussed were something like :
Today our current main streams are very busy producing machines than human beings" thats what they are saying. Our main stream schools are getting our children ready with one particular skill. But is that enough? Do you call that education for which we are paying nearly a lakh per annum. What is that you want the schools to be doing ? Somewhere we have lost the whole purpose of education.
I feel its time we stop and assess what is the role of we parents in this? Are we questioning the school authority or are we equally ignorant and pushing our children into running this marathon. Very serious question to be asked by every parent today.
- How do you teach maths?
- How should language be taught?
- Role of Arts and crafts in curriculum?
- Relevance of Social Science in our curriculum( today's text books.)
- The way science should be taught in schools
- Adivasi education
- Role of different organisations in bringing a change in main stream education
- Why alternative education ?
- Exams and their significance , their impact on children.
- Understanding children behaviour
- Probing the children with the right questions. Questioning as an important part of class room interactions.
Today our current main streams are very busy producing machines than human beings" thats what they are saying. Our main stream schools are getting our children ready with one particular skill. But is that enough? Do you call that education for which we are paying nearly a lakh per annum. What is that you want the schools to be doing ? Somewhere we have lost the whole purpose of education.
I feel its time we stop and assess what is the role of we parents in this? Are we questioning the school authority or are we equally ignorant and pushing our children into running this marathon. Very serious question to be asked by every parent today.
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