By Patricia Mukhim
The state of education in Meghalaya is the common topic of discussion today. The falling standards, poor learning outcomes especially in schools beyond Shillong and the continued rise in drop-out rates; poor teaching quality are common topics of discussion. However, as with all other issues, it ends with discussions only. Parents as major stakeholders dare not build solidarities to initiate discussions on this critical topic to at the very least draw the attention of the drivers of education in the state and urge them to find solutions since the future of their children rests on a sound education system.
How much children learn is tested only in the marks they get. But what other aspects of their lives? Is education only about earning marks through rote learning? Clearly the gap between what’s taught and what’s learnt and registers in the cognitive domain is huge. But how is that gap measured more accurately so that the problem can be addressed? Examinations are not the only way to measure a student’s mental and emotional progress. Perhaps there are other areas that students excel in that are not measured.
Technology has disrupted our lives and children, particularly adolescents, are most affected by social media and the bombardment by YouTube channels with their 24×7 news and entertainment contents. They distract not just children but adults too. To be a teacher in such a disruptive world means one has to be extra sensitive and innovative to be able to see things from the students’ perspective and to humbly engage with students to help them navigate a very complex scenario. Teaching has never been a cake-walk; now it includes a deep-dive into a dark, dangerous hole where one can only grope in that darkness, for every student has a different perspective on life, depending on the family circumstances he/she comes from. Each child comes with the baggage of what he/she experiences at home. Trying to deconstruct those early learned impulses is a lot of grunt work. No wonder teachers are fatigued by the end of the day and really need to go back to a family that can be motivating; not where they also have to deal with domestic crises and above all think of making ends meet with their paltry salaries.
The words teaching-learning are now standard educational vocabulary. So too the word ‘experiential’ learning is ubiquitous in school/college and university prospectuses. But what does experiential really mean and does it happen in the classroom or the campus? Experiential learning is to learn from experience; it is to comprehend what we are learning instead of committing stuff to memory or didactic learning which is top-down and patronising – which is how most of us were taught. Teaching- learning in short means that teachers themselves learn while teaching. Besides the educational content, teachers also learn from the responses of students or the lack of it and what they feel about a particular topic. They learn why some students readily grasp a lesson and why others cannot. Teachers also learn that not all kids learn at the same pace. Each one has a different mental make-up and understanding what makes each student tick is what teachers should learn during teaching. I am sure teachers will scoff at this and call it an outsider’s view with no experience of classroom teaching but trust me I have walked the thorny path and know where the shoe pinches.
Learning and teaching are interconnected processes and both are integral to the education system. Learning means acquiring knowledge, skills, or understanding through study, experience, or by being taught. It is a personal and active process and involves the individual’s effort to comprehend what is written in the text and to internalize new information along with that learning because that is how teachers add to the learning content. On the other hand, teaching is the act of imparting knowledge, skills and helping others understand a topic of discussion. It means teachers facilitate learning by using what they know from being subject matter experts; provide guidance, instruction, and support to learners. While the teacher learns from the dynamics in the classroom she is also imparting what she knows beyond the text book and her own experiences in a way that students can connect to real life experiences. That’s why teaching needs to be nuanced. Learning and teaching are complementary as they work together to enable students to gather knowledge even while it adds to their personal growth
What then is hampering learning in our schools? Since learning requires the active engagement of the learner we also notice that many students are passive, quiet and not mentally present. They don’t exhibit curiosity; much less the willingness to question and seek answers. Our students even at the university level are averse to asking questions. That’s partly due to social conditioning. Asking questions from teachers/elders is construed as impudence when that is the bases for teaching-learning. Who knows if students could come up with interesting questions that could trigger more discovery and involve digging deeper into a chapter! Would that not be more interesting than a staid classroom where a teacher lectures even while the student’s mind is wandering elsewhere and is not in the classroom. Mere physical presence does not necessarily mean the student is learning anything.
Our education system does not teach critical thinking. We do not have classrooms where problems are posed and students are asked to engage and to try and find solutions to the problem. We have little or no opportunity for classroom discussions on issues that impinge on our lives even if they happen some distance away. How many classrooms discussed the Wayanad landslide that killed over 300 people? What were the reasons for the landslide and what lessons can we draw from that environmental catastrophe which could happen closer home with all the illegal quarrying happening at a frenetic pace in Meghalaya? This is one way of making students feel responsible for environment conservation and calling out destructive development models that could endanger their futures.
How many schools are discussing the Kolkata rape and murder case? Should co-educational schools and colleges in particular not initiate discussions on rape so that students can verbalise their emotions on these critical issues that are occurring with such frequency in this country? Why do teachers avoid hot-button topics? Is it because the issues are complex and they are not prepared to handle strong feelings and opinions that the discussion could trigger? Actually a discussion of hot-button topics in the classroom can be guided instead of them happening outside among peers. Of course, the space for safe and respectful dialogues is much needed in our educational institutions. In a place like Meghalaya where othering is common and there is a history of ethnic conflicts, of communal overtones, of hate, the classroom should be the place where issues are deliberated. Is it not because students are not taught to dialogue that they become belligerent street fighters in their adult lives?
Adolescents are creatures of emotions. Can the classroom not have space to discuss in a particular period – what issues trouble them the most today? Many will not speak out so teachers can ask them to write out their points anonymously and those can be discussed in the classroom. Such discussions can delve deeper into the problem using questions such as ‘who, why, where, when, what and how?’ Group discussions are so important to get students to open up to one another and where different perspectives are respected. At the end of the discussions there can be space for action components – what can be done in each circumstance to bring about a resolution to the problem.
Most of us are illiterate about conflict management and resolution because we were never taught this important life skill in school or college. So when we look around us today we find different groups with different grouses all using the same pressure tactics which is to be aggressive and defiant – where shouting is used as a power equation. So, he who shouts the loudest feels he is the most powerful. But it doesn’t work like that.
It is a tragedy that in Meghalaya the Government appears to be more focussed on building infrastructure; not building minds. The affluent are educating their children outside the state and country. Someone should do a survey to find out how many children of politicians and bureaucrats actually study in Meghalaya. And if they are not studying here, is it because the educational institutions, barring those in Shillong, are below par? How can we have a government that is not paying attention to educational outcomes? Survey after survey by the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) has shown the poor learning outcomes in our rural areas but there have been no interventions worth the name.
In all countries people put education as a priority while voting. In Meghalaya education is the last priority. Perhaps this is diabolical because politicians don’t want questioning citizens who can hold them accountable. They prefer school drop-outs to become their camp followers who with a small fee will shout for them during elections. What a tragedy indeed that the educated and well-placed in Meghalaya will not even lift a finger to question why education is in a deep mess in the State!