See Myth # 5 of 7 here.
Myth # 6 – Stakeholders are concerned about education
(as educationists understand it)
Curriculum developers, educationists,
policy makers, thinkers on education, many ‘NGO types’, reformers and other
highly respected people often talk of the ‘aims of education’ – be it in terms
of creating a more democratic society or a more evolved person etc. Somehow,
those who are actually affected by education are unable to get this. For the
masses at large, the purpose of education is to make life better, go up the
social ladder by getting a job or being able to earn a stable livelihood. This is nothing to sneer at or term as a
‘wrong’ or ‘limited’ expectation. In fact, this is what millions of parents
are slaving away for, sacrificing a bit every day so that their next generation
may attain a better life. By looking down upon this view, by treating the
situation as if ‘we are doing education to
them’ instead of with and for them (or perhaps us), those who
design education tend to marginalize the very people education is meant
for. They also end up with curriculum,
textbooks and processes that do not build on the experiences that children from
less privileged backgrounds bring, something that is an enormous resource being
wasted, which then continues the cycle of marginalization.
Like parents, teachers too have their own
idea of what they would like. Despite what is often said, most teachers do want
to succeed – what they would like is some practical (not philosophical) advice
on how to handle the really difficult situation they face – increasing
diversity, the changing nature of student population as more and more ‘left
out’ groups join school (in Delhi slums, migration is leading to 7-10 home
languages in the classroom, including Punjabi and Odia which are not contiguous
in the ‘normal’ world), changing curricular expectations they haven't had time or support to absorb. Even after
attaining the PTR norms mandated by the RTE, we are going to have well over 50% schools with
around 80-100 children, with 2-3 teachers handling 5 classes – that is, a very
large proportion of teachers already are and will continue to work in multi-grade settings in
the foreseeable future (while curriculum, pedagogy and materials continue to assume
a mono-grade situation). Given that we are still short of 14 lakh teachers (the
number was reported to have come down to 10 lakh, but with increased enrolment,
is up again, the situation being much worse at the secondary level), the effect
is felt by the 56 lakh who are there. As mentioned, educationists may want high levels
of learning to be attained using their policies and curriculum, but teachers
just want to survive the day and, if possible, succeed in generating some
learning.
And what kind of school would children
want? Exercises on this have been few and far between. Most of the time
children end up having to manage with whatever ‘we’ give out – from mid-day
meals to ‘child-friendly elements’ to colourful books or whatever else. It is
in the nature of children to find interest in whatever is made available, which
is why there is a tendency to assume we have an idea of what they need. But
engaging with them on the issue might reveal a lot more. For instance, talking
with secondary school girls in a remote area in UP, we were discussing the need
for toilets – but the girls said, “We can manage without the toilets, but what
we can’t accept is that we are forced to choose Home Science and are not
offered Mathematics.” This is surely something the authorities are not working on.
Simply listening to stakeholders might be a good idea. It would be revealing and educative for 'experts', helping reduce their arrogance and bringing their relationship with the stakeholders on a somewhat more equal footing.
What would you say if an expert approached you? And if you are an expert, how would you approach the stakeholder?
Tomorrow, Myth # 7 of 7
3 comments:
Excellent Article,Now a Days Education is the Important Role In Student Life,very Informative article,keep sharing us.
Great post. Thank you for sharing
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This article is intriguing! It sheds light on an important misconception in education. Looking forward to uncovering the remaining myths and gaining insights into effective education systems.
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