Editor,
Patricia Mukhim’s article, “Education : Gap between what’s taught and what students need to learn” (ST, May 10, 2019) has aptly zeroed in on some of the problems of our education system like its failure to impart social and even basic skills at the primary school and vocational skills at the higher level, its reluctance to understand the dangers of corporal punishment and its giving all priority on marks rather than on values.
We have largely been using “stand and deliver” teaching model which has become obsolete. The learning process of this model follows the mechanical one-way street from an, “I – know – all teacher” to “they – know – nothing students.” Here, a teacher enters a classroom and delivers the lecture and departs. There is no effort to involve students in the dialogue. It is, so to speak, a monotonous monologue.
The hollowness of this kind of education has been reflected in Pink Floyd’s famous song ~ “Another Brick in the wall”. It was written by Roger Waters. It has sent a loud and clear message against this model of education. It says, ~ “We don’t need no education/ We don’t need no thought control/ No dark sarcasm in the classroom/ Teacher leave them kids alone/ Hey, teachers, leave them kids alone.”
There is every possibility of the existence of dark sarcasm in the classroom in the traditional model of teaching which is based on vertical relationship between a teacher and the students. The classroom in a society which has all kinds of inequalities – caste, class, language and gender can turn out to be a warehouse of sarcasm.
There is an example of such a sarcasm in Bengali saying ~ gadha pitiye ghoda kara jayena (You cannot make a horse by beating a donkey). Such an acidic comment can be a death knell to the self-confidence of a student.
In this model of teaching, the onus is on the students to understand what the teacher is saying. But the onus must be on the teacher to clear the doubts of the students through dialogue. The teacher needs to engage with the students and share practical experiences with them rather than leaving them after bombarding them with a top-down lecture.
Thus, we need to have a paradigm shift from the traditional “stand and deliver” teaching model to the “guide on the side” teaching model. Teachers must orient themselves as co-learners. Learning needs to be treated as creative workshops.
Most importantly, teaching is all about encouraging and guiding the students so that they can do it on their own. The Mother (spiritual collaborator of Sri Aurobindo) said, “When a child is full of enthusiasm, never throw cold water on him, never tell him, ‘You know, life is not like that!’ You should always encourage him.” If the teacher discourages a student from thinking outside the box, then the student is bound to become in the words of the Pink Floyd’s song ~ “just another brick in the wall.”
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Via email
Excessive rhetoric
Editor,
Apropos Salil Gewali’s letter, “Self correction a pre requisite for leaders”(ST May 11, 2019), I, for the first time ever tend to agree with his views. “Chowkidar Chor hai” with slogans for four long month with a resonating voice of the crowd had reached a decibel that PM Modi, an honest and upright man could, as an ordinary human no longer bear. It is good according to medical science that any built up anger in one’s heart should rupture, and when it does, there follows a sense of great relief. Unless Rahul Gandhi could prove that Rs 30,000 crore has gone to Anil Ambani he is better cautioned not to repeat the slogan again, failing which defamation case could be made by Mr Modi. I am delighted with Salil Gewali’s mother son analogy. The only mistake was Modi did slap the wrong face. Now election is almost complete let us do some poems writing to calm down the heat as in Delhi the mercury is at 45 degree Celsius.
For the U.P.A. in INC era :The woods are lovely dark and deep/But I have promise to keep/ And miles to go before I sleep.For the ruling dispensation with exemplary performance in five years compared to U.P.A’s 60 yrs.
Thus the little minutes (2014-2019)/Humble though they be/ Make the mighty ages/ Of much talked democracy.Acronyms like SP for SO, RLD for RO, BSP for BO, SARAB are not acceptable acronyms. It is also not good to play with AD and BC. They are time divisions of millennium. When Oliver Hardy overheard the flamboyant officer say, “Hey you divine, bring me the wine”, Oliver not to be downplayed repeated to the caterer, “Hey you beggar bring me my butter”. Rhymes are fine but what does butter have to do with wine and who allowed Hardy to call someone a beggar. Luckily the fight was avoided when Laurel smartly said, “Beggar is bay kar Baker”. Thus everything was solved amicably to the delight of all.
Yours etc.,
- Khyriem,
Via email