James Allen
Here is an extract of James Allen’s book ‘As a Man Thinketh’ which has inspired thousands of people over hundred years. Mahatma Gandhi was so impressed by this that he translated the essay into Gujarati and published in the form of a booklet.}
Circumstances do not make the man; they reveal him to himself. Men are anxious to improve their circumstances but are unwilling to improve themselves.
Let a man radically alter his thoughts and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life.Man imagines that thought can be kept secret but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit and habit solidifies into circumstance.
Man is made or unmade by himself, he fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly masons of joy, strength and peace. Man is always the master even in his weakest and most abandoned state but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his household.
A man’s mind may be linked to a garden which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild but whether cultivated or neglected, it must and will bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein and will continue to produce their kind.
Thought and character are one; as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstances, the outer conditions of a person’s life will always be harmoniously related to his inner state. This does not mean that a man’s circumstances at any given time are indications of his entire character but those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought element within himself that, for the time being, they are indispensable to his development.
Every man is where he is by law of his being; the thoughts which has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance but all is the result of law which cannot err.
Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions but when he realizes that he is a creative power and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master to himself.
Every thought seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind and to take root there produces its own blossoming sooner or later into act. The outer world of circumstances shapes itself to the inner world of thought and both pleasant and unpleasant conditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of the individual.
Circumstances however, are so complicated, thought is so deeply rooted and the conditions of happiness vary so vastly with individuals that a man’s entire soul-condition cannot be judged by another from the external aspects of his life alone.
A man may be honest in certain directions, yet suffer privations; a man may be dishonest is certain directions, yet acquire wealth but the conclusion usually formed that the man fails because of his particular honesty and the other prospers because of his certain dishonesty is the result of a superficial judgment which assumes that the dishonest man is almost totally corrupt, and the honest man almost entirely virtuous. In the right of a deeper knowledge and wider experience, such judgment is found to be erroneous.
Bestial thoughts crystallize into the habits of drunkenness and sensuality which solidify into circumstances of destitution and disease. Thoughts of fear, doubt, indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly and irresolute habits which solidify into circumstances of failure and indigence.
Thoughts of courage self-reliance and decisions crystallize into many habits which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty and freedom. Energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness; protective and preservative circumstances.
A man cannot directly choose his circumstances but he can choose his thoughts and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.
The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into decay; at command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty, strong pure and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace. The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed. There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills of the body. To live continually in the thoughts of ill-will, cynicism, suspicion and every is to be confined in a self made prison-hole.
As you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you admit the air and sunshine freely into your rooms, so a strong body and a bright, happy or serene countenance can only result from free admittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and goodwill.
Be not impatient in delay.
But wait as one who understands
When spirit rises and commands
The Gods are ready to obey.
************
Sunday, June 22, 2008
A Case for Children
Sivaram
“Your daughter wants to go to the washroom at least three to four times whenever I take Hindi class for them almost everyday” reported one of the teachers to the parents during a Parent Teacher meeting. The little girl was in class II. This was happening for almost a month and parents did not know about it. The first reaction of these urban parents was shock.
The parents straightaway concluded that this was a serious medical problem and decided to go to the doctor. The child however, said she would not go to the doctor. Child’s resistance and the teacher’s message both added to the stress of these parents. Believe me, for many parents attending PTMs itself is a stress factor. Perhaps better sense prevailed and the parents approached a counselor.
It took almost two hours of interaction for the counselor to develop a rapport with the child followed by the fact finding session. The outcome turned out to be amazing. The problem was that the child actually did not like to write Hindi and the teacher used to give a lot of writing work in the class. The child chose to find a way out to try and stay away! Perhaps these are the children who would decide to take sick leave or bunk classes as they grow up.
While the fact is that the child thought of such an excuse is - the smartness of today’s children, one needs to analyze this further. We might well be amused until we really empathize with those parents. Had they not met the counselor, they could have landed at the doctors clinic. Of course there are abundant medicines in the market waiting to be prescribed.
A lot of questions come up when we have a close look at this situation.
Was it because the child at that age was not yet prepared to take on that kind of writing pressures?
Was the teacher struggling to achieve targets because of other responsibilities on her?
Do we have any norms in place limiting the writing work for a child per day?
Ultimately these issues filter down to the PTMs where messages are conveyed to the parents that their child is a slow learner and they should do something about it.
It is a different matter that during the time and attention of the counselor, the child not only started writing but also developed a good handwriting, often getting smilies on the note book from the teacher
Kids who are unable to get attention to understand their side of the story; develop into restless, angry children with low self esteem. Perhaps few situations such as these are the beginning of low self esteem setting in. Constant suppression of feelings gets bottled up over a period of time. These feelings then show up by means of emotional outbursts. When they grow up physically stronger, they may protest vehemently and may become violent.
Such children could be identified and corrective measures taken, instead of straight away branding children as slow learners and dyslexic or children with attention deficit disorders.
There are certainly several excellent teachers, whose popularity among the children makes them visible in a group. But they have their own pressures both from their work place and family. The number of children in each class is well beyond the manageable norms. The demand and supply gap for schools does not allow us to reduce the number of children per class.
Every effort should be made to address such issues in totality by giving focused time and attention. While increasing the number of schools may not be in our hands, the quality issues could substantially be addressed by appropriate interventions.
Counseling is indeed a solution and a lot of attention needs to be given in this area. Some Possible steps:
Get a list of poor performers in terms of grades or marks e.g., on a scale of A B, C & D.
Each of these children could be studied separately by a Counselor to assess the reasons for poor performance
Give special time and attention over two to three months (just about 4 hours a week) and try to get these children on right track.
It would indeed be a great challenge but there has to be a beginning. Even an iota of success in bringing about such changes would mean a quantum leap in terms of quality. Debates, and discussion forums can go on – time of action is now .
The author is a renowned counselor.
Email: Siva61@indiatimes.com
“Your daughter wants to go to the washroom at least three to four times whenever I take Hindi class for them almost everyday” reported one of the teachers to the parents during a Parent Teacher meeting. The little girl was in class II. This was happening for almost a month and parents did not know about it. The first reaction of these urban parents was shock.
The parents straightaway concluded that this was a serious medical problem and decided to go to the doctor. The child however, said she would not go to the doctor. Child’s resistance and the teacher’s message both added to the stress of these parents. Believe me, for many parents attending PTMs itself is a stress factor. Perhaps better sense prevailed and the parents approached a counselor.
It took almost two hours of interaction for the counselor to develop a rapport with the child followed by the fact finding session. The outcome turned out to be amazing. The problem was that the child actually did not like to write Hindi and the teacher used to give a lot of writing work in the class. The child chose to find a way out to try and stay away! Perhaps these are the children who would decide to take sick leave or bunk classes as they grow up.
While the fact is that the child thought of such an excuse is - the smartness of today’s children, one needs to analyze this further. We might well be amused until we really empathize with those parents. Had they not met the counselor, they could have landed at the doctors clinic. Of course there are abundant medicines in the market waiting to be prescribed.
A lot of questions come up when we have a close look at this situation.
Was it because the child at that age was not yet prepared to take on that kind of writing pressures?
Was the teacher struggling to achieve targets because of other responsibilities on her?
Do we have any norms in place limiting the writing work for a child per day?
Ultimately these issues filter down to the PTMs where messages are conveyed to the parents that their child is a slow learner and they should do something about it.
It is a different matter that during the time and attention of the counselor, the child not only started writing but also developed a good handwriting, often getting smilies on the note book from the teacher
Kids who are unable to get attention to understand their side of the story; develop into restless, angry children with low self esteem. Perhaps few situations such as these are the beginning of low self esteem setting in. Constant suppression of feelings gets bottled up over a period of time. These feelings then show up by means of emotional outbursts. When they grow up physically stronger, they may protest vehemently and may become violent.
Such children could be identified and corrective measures taken, instead of straight away branding children as slow learners and dyslexic or children with attention deficit disorders.
There are certainly several excellent teachers, whose popularity among the children makes them visible in a group. But they have their own pressures both from their work place and family. The number of children in each class is well beyond the manageable norms. The demand and supply gap for schools does not allow us to reduce the number of children per class.
Every effort should be made to address such issues in totality by giving focused time and attention. While increasing the number of schools may not be in our hands, the quality issues could substantially be addressed by appropriate interventions.
Counseling is indeed a solution and a lot of attention needs to be given in this area. Some Possible steps:
Get a list of poor performers in terms of grades or marks e.g., on a scale of A B, C & D.
Each of these children could be studied separately by a Counselor to assess the reasons for poor performance
Give special time and attention over two to three months (just about 4 hours a week) and try to get these children on right track.
It would indeed be a great challenge but there has to be a beginning. Even an iota of success in bringing about such changes would mean a quantum leap in terms of quality. Debates, and discussion forums can go on – time of action is now .
The author is a renowned counselor.
Email: Siva61@indiatimes.com
Early Childhood Education
Ashok K Pandey
Early childhood is recognized as a distinct stage of learning which lays the foundation for future shaping up of the child. This is the age that determines the quality of life the child is going to lead. This is also the age that determines the experiences that the child will have as a citizen and role she will play in the society.
The vision of pre primary education, therefore, should clearly be based on the principles of developing those skills, competencies, values, and creativity that will give the child its identity, its unique personality and self esteem. It should ensure a rightful place for the child in the ever changing society with all its variations, demands, and challenges. Such lofty ideals of childhood education will also call for our ability as educators to arouse in them a craving for acquisition and exploration of new knowledge. The teachers, therefore, will have to create such an environment around the child as is conducive to achieving these goals.
The Philosophical Moorings
The early philosophers who developed childhood educational goals and contributed to insight into their world have advocated that we should allow children to be active authors of their own development. Swami Vivekanand reminded us that as teachers we have to help children manifest their innate talents lying within. Jean Piaget insisted that we should create surroundings for exploration and experimentation which make children little scientists of their own world. Rudolf Steiner, another thinker believed in the unity of spirit, soul, and body. The job of good education according to him is to restore a balance between thinking, willing, and feeling. Nursery and kindergarten children learn through imitation and doing. Fantasizing and playing is considered to be the most important work of young children. The educational focus therefore should be on bodily exploration, construction and creativity, through oral language, story, and song.
Theory and Curriculum
The principles of curriculum designing for early childhood education are based on the needs, interests, and modes of learning of young children. Early experimentations in the aftermath of world wars in this area were focused on creating a just and peaceful society. In today’s context, justice, peace, fair play, sharing, tolerance and overall development of the human being still hold to be the paramount universal values. It will be necessary for us to tune our curriculum and programs in such a way that these values are imbued in them from the early stages. As teachers, we should be prepared to devote time with them generously and develop love , compassion and respect for them and their individual differences. Our proficiency should allow us an in-depth presentation and review of our teaching-learning material and assessment programs for them.
The child’s natural intelligence (Maria Montessory), their relationship (Loris Malaguzzi) with others and the kind of environment that we construct around them plays an important role in learning. A teacher has to respond to these constructs by playing multiple roles in the classrooms and outside. In one scheme of things she has to be a performer (The Waldorf) of various roles seeking harmony. In another she has to play the role of an unobtrusive director (Maria Montessory) in the classroom ensuring a calm and productive atmosphere. In yet another role she has to be an artful balancing factor(Reggio) between engaging them and drawing the attention of the children.
School Community and Parents
We must not forget the role of a golden triangle supported by the child, the teacher and the parent at its three vertices. No early childhood education program can succeed without a successful partnership with the parents. The experiences of the children in the school ought to receive a ratification at home. If our goal is to achieve harmony and integration with the natural environment, the school community as a whole including parents have to work together to help our children work around their experiences for their intellectual, emotional and social development.
The Way Forward
My understanding is that any system of child education has to derive its strength from the latest researches in this important area. Every school of thought and particularly the pioneering researches of Piaget have emphasized the role of play in the life of a child. It is for this reason that one should strive to exploit the natural and innate interest in learning of a child by creating varied and stimulating environments. A long but enjoyable journey of self discovery begins with the role play in early years. The creative impulses, resolves to surmount the odds and maiden encounters with grit and adventure are experienced in the environs that we create for them in our play schools.
Our social and economic structures are changing rapidly. The need for a quality universalisation of early childhood education is felt more intensely than ever before. We are a diverse and multilingual society. Our family bonds and values are cherished. We have lacked inclusivity and gender sensitivity in our education for long. Fortunately both the national and the individual aspirations are on the rise. It is good news for our children and for all those engaged in this noble mission.
Email: ashokpdy@gmail.com The writer is Principal, Ahlcon International School, New Delhi
Early childhood is recognized as a distinct stage of learning which lays the foundation for future shaping up of the child. This is the age that determines the quality of life the child is going to lead. This is also the age that determines the experiences that the child will have as a citizen and role she will play in the society.
The vision of pre primary education, therefore, should clearly be based on the principles of developing those skills, competencies, values, and creativity that will give the child its identity, its unique personality and self esteem. It should ensure a rightful place for the child in the ever changing society with all its variations, demands, and challenges. Such lofty ideals of childhood education will also call for our ability as educators to arouse in them a craving for acquisition and exploration of new knowledge. The teachers, therefore, will have to create such an environment around the child as is conducive to achieving these goals.
The Philosophical Moorings
The early philosophers who developed childhood educational goals and contributed to insight into their world have advocated that we should allow children to be active authors of their own development. Swami Vivekanand reminded us that as teachers we have to help children manifest their innate talents lying within. Jean Piaget insisted that we should create surroundings for exploration and experimentation which make children little scientists of their own world. Rudolf Steiner, another thinker believed in the unity of spirit, soul, and body. The job of good education according to him is to restore a balance between thinking, willing, and feeling. Nursery and kindergarten children learn through imitation and doing. Fantasizing and playing is considered to be the most important work of young children. The educational focus therefore should be on bodily exploration, construction and creativity, through oral language, story, and song.
Theory and Curriculum
The principles of curriculum designing for early childhood education are based on the needs, interests, and modes of learning of young children. Early experimentations in the aftermath of world wars in this area were focused on creating a just and peaceful society. In today’s context, justice, peace, fair play, sharing, tolerance and overall development of the human being still hold to be the paramount universal values. It will be necessary for us to tune our curriculum and programs in such a way that these values are imbued in them from the early stages. As teachers, we should be prepared to devote time with them generously and develop love , compassion and respect for them and their individual differences. Our proficiency should allow us an in-depth presentation and review of our teaching-learning material and assessment programs for them.
The child’s natural intelligence (Maria Montessory), their relationship (Loris Malaguzzi) with others and the kind of environment that we construct around them plays an important role in learning. A teacher has to respond to these constructs by playing multiple roles in the classrooms and outside. In one scheme of things she has to be a performer (The Waldorf) of various roles seeking harmony. In another she has to play the role of an unobtrusive director (Maria Montessory) in the classroom ensuring a calm and productive atmosphere. In yet another role she has to be an artful balancing factor(Reggio) between engaging them and drawing the attention of the children.
School Community and Parents
We must not forget the role of a golden triangle supported by the child, the teacher and the parent at its three vertices. No early childhood education program can succeed without a successful partnership with the parents. The experiences of the children in the school ought to receive a ratification at home. If our goal is to achieve harmony and integration with the natural environment, the school community as a whole including parents have to work together to help our children work around their experiences for their intellectual, emotional and social development.
The Way Forward
My understanding is that any system of child education has to derive its strength from the latest researches in this important area. Every school of thought and particularly the pioneering researches of Piaget have emphasized the role of play in the life of a child. It is for this reason that one should strive to exploit the natural and innate interest in learning of a child by creating varied and stimulating environments. A long but enjoyable journey of self discovery begins with the role play in early years. The creative impulses, resolves to surmount the odds and maiden encounters with grit and adventure are experienced in the environs that we create for them in our play schools.
Our social and economic structures are changing rapidly. The need for a quality universalisation of early childhood education is felt more intensely than ever before. We are a diverse and multilingual society. Our family bonds and values are cherished. We have lacked inclusivity and gender sensitivity in our education for long. Fortunately both the national and the individual aspirations are on the rise. It is good news for our children and for all those engaged in this noble mission.
Email: ashokpdy@gmail.com The writer is Principal, Ahlcon International School, New Delhi
Leaps of Logic
Amritanshu
The author shares his first hand experience of having studied in IB as well as CBSE system and their implications in his higher studies, spotlighting certain points which may help educational policy makers.
I have had the special and somewhat unique pleasure of experiencing both Indian as well as Canadian systems of education. I passed out of 10th grade through the C.B.S.E. system but my 11th and 12th grades were completed under the International Baccalaureate (I.B.) . Under the I.B., I was not asked to choose a stream like science, commerce or arts. It was often an annoying experience having to explain to people my subjects (English, Hindi, Physics, Economics, Maths, Computer Science) when all they expected to hear was something like the usual combination of “PCM.”
This came as a relief to me as personally I wanted to study history while most of my family and friends were advising me to pick science. The I.B. gives students six core groups of subjects, out of which they must choose one each. The first two groups are language groups. Out of the two languages English at a certain level is compulsory and the second language is of the student’s choice. One group is the Humanities group- History, Economics, Geography, Psychology, etc. while another group is the Science group- Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Mathematics is compulsory as the fifth group while the student is free to pick any subject (out of those offered) for the sixth group.
Apart from these six groups, the I.B. also required that I complete, in the course of two years, an intensive research essay on a topic of my choice of about four thousand words. I was also given weekly courses in ‘Theory of Knowledge’ which dealt with how humans acquired knowledge and perceived facts or phenomena. Where I.B. outweighed C.B.S.E., to me was its steadfast refusal to ask students to make a choice of streams right after their tenth grade. Not having to make that choice and the freedom to study a wide variety of courses was the best thing for all of us who came to I.B. from C.B.S.E. and I.C.S.E. backgrounds.
Another feature of I.B. has now been so often quoted that it has almost become an overused cliché but the fact remains that I.B. was never rote-based. People are surprised to hear this but in the calculation based papers of I.B., like math or physics, we were given formulae sheets carrying all the important formulae during our examinations. Many wonder that if we were given the formulae sheet then how did we not score a hundred percent every time. This to me is an illustration of C.B.S.E. conditioning where questions never tested one’s application of understanding, simply the talent of memorization. We were even allowed to use calculators, and not the simple ones but complex graphing calculators. Enter seven values of ‘x’ into these calculators and they would spit out the mean, median, mode, standard deviation, variance, etc. in a matter of seconds.
But the calculator point brings me the first of the cons of the I.B. as I saw it. The foreign students in my class, especially those from U.S.A. or Canada were highly dependent on their calculators. We on the other hand were used to calculations both mental and written. For even simple calculations like 15 + 21 they would use the calculators while we could do them mentally. Our C.B.S.E. (or I.C.S.E.) education had developed a reasonable calculation skill within us which gave us an upper hand in terms of speed of problem solving as well as the confidence with which we approached the problems.
Another con was the fact the freedom of I.B. spoiled many of us. By the time we passed out of 12th standard, my friends who had done 12th under C.B.S.E. or I.C.S.E. were more or less certain of what they were to do in life and what courses lay ahead of them. I, on the other hand, had no clue. I knew what my interests were and could wax eloquently about the freedom I had experienced by not having to choose a stream. But I was woefully ignorant when it came to career opportunities and Bachelors’ options. I went off to Canada with the intention of doing a B.B.A., shifted halfway to a B.Sc. in astrophysics and returned soon after to India to pursue a B.A. Honors in economics. A friend of mine from my I.B. days went off to Germany intending to learn Biotechnology but around the time I shifted to Astrophysics he shifted to Geophysics. He is now completing his degree in environmental Economics !
This brings me to the second phase of my experience with Indian and Western education. After completing 12th grade I succeeded in gaining admission into one of the well known universities in Canada. This experience was a different one altogether. For one, attendance in classes was not compulsory. There was no daily ritual of calling out names followed by “present sir!” The theory was that since you were paying the university fees by not attending classes you were wasting your own money. However, the university had a complex and well maintained academic network. Each professor put up his or her class notes onto the network after every class. The weekly or monthly tests were often held online, albeit with a time limit and we could take them from our own bedrooms. The university’s library facilities were equally ‘21st century.’ All students were given ‘One-card’ that were the university’s own debit cards. We could charge the one-cards with the amount of money of our choice and this was stored in the magnetic strip of the one-card. The libraries possessed a number of all-in-one printer-scanner-photocopiers that were connected to the computer network. Sit on a computer, find something you want to print, send the command, swipe your one-card, and get it printed; the printing charge would be deducted from your one-card. I must admit it was not as much fun actually studying the notes as it was going to the library and getting them printed out.
In my current university, here in Delhi, on the other hand, there are four photocopy booths spread across the campus. All of them are subject to the availability of electricity. From 12:30 to 2:30 they are all closed because the men manning them are off to lunch and they close by 5:30. If you want something photocopied, you must be ready to stand there with other students (there is never a queue) and nag them till it is done, for if you leave it to them and trust that in four or five hours it will be done, you are quite mistaken. The computer network is often down for some reason or the other, and there are only two computers on which you can search whether the library possesses the book you want or not. Assuming that it does hold that particular book, if you do find it, it will very likely be coated with a layer of dust that gets into your nose and soils your hands and bag. In the University of Alberta, the professors were available almost 24X7 through email, and they had fixed office hours during which we could approach them. Here there are no office hours; it depends on pure chance and timing. The scholarly and intellectual vibes that you would unmistakably feel in the University of Alberta are conspicuous here only by their absence.
I could talk about other things as well, like the fact that how well I score in my exams depends on how many sheets I can fill within three hours or that how there is no board or union where the students can address their problems or the sorry and smelly state of the washrooms; or the hygiene, or lack of it, in the canteens but these are minor issues and I do not mean to disrepute the entire Indian university system on the basis of my experience with two universities, one Canadian and one Indian. What I do notice here is the absence of that ‘x-factor’. The x-factor contains that atmosphere and spirit that enables students to get down and concentrate on their academics rather than being caught up in various grievances and complaints about “the system.” The x-factor contains the enabling of those services and facilities that aid the student in furthering his understanding of the subject of study. It contains the easy availability of the knowledge-imparters to follow up the doubts of the students. In most Indian universities, unfortunately, the x-factor is absent.
So then is it safe to say that the Western system is better than the Indian system? Does the later have nothing to take home? This I cannot say yes to. The answer lies, as it often does in a steady balance of both. The Indian system prepares the student for the essential requirements of hard-work, concentration and dedicated approach. The Western system contains perhaps equally essential requirements of atmosphere enabling and intellectual freedom that are so required in the holistic development of an individual. In my school where I studied under the I.B. curriculum, I knew more about heat and energy than my foreign classmates but they knew more about the working of cars or the dispute between Israel and Palestine, etc. Somewhere between these two extremes is a balance that must be struck. It is as Anurag Mathur, the novelist, writes in his novel- The Inscrutable Americans. The novel explores the experiences of Gopal, a student from a small town in India who goes to an American university:
“For the first time he began to learn the joy of analysis rather than retention. Based upon the core of fundamentals that had been hammered into him- quite often literally- he experimented with leaps of logic. Often he paused uncertainly as though in mid-air, waiting for someone to admonish him and demand that he return to thinking by the book. For the first time in his life he gloried in studying.”
**********
The author shares his first hand experience of having studied in IB as well as CBSE system and their implications in his higher studies, spotlighting certain points which may help educational policy makers.
I have had the special and somewhat unique pleasure of experiencing both Indian as well as Canadian systems of education. I passed out of 10th grade through the C.B.S.E. system but my 11th and 12th grades were completed under the International Baccalaureate (I.B.) . Under the I.B., I was not asked to choose a stream like science, commerce or arts. It was often an annoying experience having to explain to people my subjects (English, Hindi, Physics, Economics, Maths, Computer Science) when all they expected to hear was something like the usual combination of “PCM.”
This came as a relief to me as personally I wanted to study history while most of my family and friends were advising me to pick science. The I.B. gives students six core groups of subjects, out of which they must choose one each. The first two groups are language groups. Out of the two languages English at a certain level is compulsory and the second language is of the student’s choice. One group is the Humanities group- History, Economics, Geography, Psychology, etc. while another group is the Science group- Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Mathematics is compulsory as the fifth group while the student is free to pick any subject (out of those offered) for the sixth group.
Apart from these six groups, the I.B. also required that I complete, in the course of two years, an intensive research essay on a topic of my choice of about four thousand words. I was also given weekly courses in ‘Theory of Knowledge’ which dealt with how humans acquired knowledge and perceived facts or phenomena. Where I.B. outweighed C.B.S.E., to me was its steadfast refusal to ask students to make a choice of streams right after their tenth grade. Not having to make that choice and the freedom to study a wide variety of courses was the best thing for all of us who came to I.B. from C.B.S.E. and I.C.S.E. backgrounds.
Another feature of I.B. has now been so often quoted that it has almost become an overused cliché but the fact remains that I.B. was never rote-based. People are surprised to hear this but in the calculation based papers of I.B., like math or physics, we were given formulae sheets carrying all the important formulae during our examinations. Many wonder that if we were given the formulae sheet then how did we not score a hundred percent every time. This to me is an illustration of C.B.S.E. conditioning where questions never tested one’s application of understanding, simply the talent of memorization. We were even allowed to use calculators, and not the simple ones but complex graphing calculators. Enter seven values of ‘x’ into these calculators and they would spit out the mean, median, mode, standard deviation, variance, etc. in a matter of seconds.
But the calculator point brings me the first of the cons of the I.B. as I saw it. The foreign students in my class, especially those from U.S.A. or Canada were highly dependent on their calculators. We on the other hand were used to calculations both mental and written. For even simple calculations like 15 + 21 they would use the calculators while we could do them mentally. Our C.B.S.E. (or I.C.S.E.) education had developed a reasonable calculation skill within us which gave us an upper hand in terms of speed of problem solving as well as the confidence with which we approached the problems.
Another con was the fact the freedom of I.B. spoiled many of us. By the time we passed out of 12th standard, my friends who had done 12th under C.B.S.E. or I.C.S.E. were more or less certain of what they were to do in life and what courses lay ahead of them. I, on the other hand, had no clue. I knew what my interests were and could wax eloquently about the freedom I had experienced by not having to choose a stream. But I was woefully ignorant when it came to career opportunities and Bachelors’ options. I went off to Canada with the intention of doing a B.B.A., shifted halfway to a B.Sc. in astrophysics and returned soon after to India to pursue a B.A. Honors in economics. A friend of mine from my I.B. days went off to Germany intending to learn Biotechnology but around the time I shifted to Astrophysics he shifted to Geophysics. He is now completing his degree in environmental Economics !
This brings me to the second phase of my experience with Indian and Western education. After completing 12th grade I succeeded in gaining admission into one of the well known universities in Canada. This experience was a different one altogether. For one, attendance in classes was not compulsory. There was no daily ritual of calling out names followed by “present sir!” The theory was that since you were paying the university fees by not attending classes you were wasting your own money. However, the university had a complex and well maintained academic network. Each professor put up his or her class notes onto the network after every class. The weekly or monthly tests were often held online, albeit with a time limit and we could take them from our own bedrooms. The university’s library facilities were equally ‘21st century.’ All students were given ‘One-card’ that were the university’s own debit cards. We could charge the one-cards with the amount of money of our choice and this was stored in the magnetic strip of the one-card. The libraries possessed a number of all-in-one printer-scanner-photocopiers that were connected to the computer network. Sit on a computer, find something you want to print, send the command, swipe your one-card, and get it printed; the printing charge would be deducted from your one-card. I must admit it was not as much fun actually studying the notes as it was going to the library and getting them printed out.
In my current university, here in Delhi, on the other hand, there are four photocopy booths spread across the campus. All of them are subject to the availability of electricity. From 12:30 to 2:30 they are all closed because the men manning them are off to lunch and they close by 5:30. If you want something photocopied, you must be ready to stand there with other students (there is never a queue) and nag them till it is done, for if you leave it to them and trust that in four or five hours it will be done, you are quite mistaken. The computer network is often down for some reason or the other, and there are only two computers on which you can search whether the library possesses the book you want or not. Assuming that it does hold that particular book, if you do find it, it will very likely be coated with a layer of dust that gets into your nose and soils your hands and bag. In the University of Alberta, the professors were available almost 24X7 through email, and they had fixed office hours during which we could approach them. Here there are no office hours; it depends on pure chance and timing. The scholarly and intellectual vibes that you would unmistakably feel in the University of Alberta are conspicuous here only by their absence.
I could talk about other things as well, like the fact that how well I score in my exams depends on how many sheets I can fill within three hours or that how there is no board or union where the students can address their problems or the sorry and smelly state of the washrooms; or the hygiene, or lack of it, in the canteens but these are minor issues and I do not mean to disrepute the entire Indian university system on the basis of my experience with two universities, one Canadian and one Indian. What I do notice here is the absence of that ‘x-factor’. The x-factor contains that atmosphere and spirit that enables students to get down and concentrate on their academics rather than being caught up in various grievances and complaints about “the system.” The x-factor contains the enabling of those services and facilities that aid the student in furthering his understanding of the subject of study. It contains the easy availability of the knowledge-imparters to follow up the doubts of the students. In most Indian universities, unfortunately, the x-factor is absent.
So then is it safe to say that the Western system is better than the Indian system? Does the later have nothing to take home? This I cannot say yes to. The answer lies, as it often does in a steady balance of both. The Indian system prepares the student for the essential requirements of hard-work, concentration and dedicated approach. The Western system contains perhaps equally essential requirements of atmosphere enabling and intellectual freedom that are so required in the holistic development of an individual. In my school where I studied under the I.B. curriculum, I knew more about heat and energy than my foreign classmates but they knew more about the working of cars or the dispute between Israel and Palestine, etc. Somewhere between these two extremes is a balance that must be struck. It is as Anurag Mathur, the novelist, writes in his novel- The Inscrutable Americans. The novel explores the experiences of Gopal, a student from a small town in India who goes to an American university:
“For the first time he began to learn the joy of analysis rather than retention. Based upon the core of fundamentals that had been hammered into him- quite often literally- he experimented with leaps of logic. Often he paused uncertainly as though in mid-air, waiting for someone to admonish him and demand that he return to thinking by the book. For the first time in his life he gloried in studying.”
**********
Monday, May 26, 2008
The Business of Education
Shantha Sinha
Poor parents see education as an indispensable asset and are willing to make enormous sacrifices to educate their children. But the government has let down the poor in spite of the constitutional guarantee of right to education.
It must be considered that sending their children to private schools is not the first option for poor parents as they have to make immense sacrifices to pay the school fees and other charges.
A large variety of private schools have emerged to respond to the parental demand for education. Thus, on the one hand there are the inefficient and wasteful government schools struggling for resources, and on the other are the fee-charging one-room English medium private schools with untrained schoolteachers. And at the other end of the spectrum are the air-conditioned corporate schools. Private schools, guided by the logic of the market, have begun to sell their wares "to each according to one’s ability."
This mushrooming of private schools has a profound impact on society as it produces class inequality, fractured society, freezes upward mobility thus causing divisiveness and disharmony.
Most private schools in the country today have emerged as commercial ventures, small or big, successful or limping. This scenario is vastly different from the private schools which had earlier emerged to serve the educational needs of children and were non-profit organisations and charitable trusts that depended on state aid.
Now, in a market framework, services are offered to those children who can buy education. Like any other product, it is now packaged, and comes with children in proper school uniform, English medium education, competition and home-work, discipline of learning, and if better endowed, with picnics, computers and state of the art technology. In their urge to acquire the "brand," clients begin to spend more than what they can afford, just as consumers of any other commodity.
Parallels are drawn from the telecom and airlines industries to show how efficiency was infused in these public sector institutions once they were threatened by the opening up of the sector to more competent players. It has been argued that government schools too have to face the jolt from private players, to make them accountable.
Encouraging private schools as commercial enterprises compromises the principle of universality, for it offers services only to those who can pay. Thus the deprived and the marginalised are automatically out of its net. If left unregulated, the higher end suppliers would foster further exclusion and reinforce class differentiation
Education being a public good must nurture and enhance the principles of inclusion, non-discrimination, equity and justice. It cannot be a commodity for sale to those who can afford it. It must be an entitlement and a right that is guaranteed by the state.
Prof. Shantha Sinha is the chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights
Courtesy: The Asian Age
Poor parents see education as an indispensable asset and are willing to make enormous sacrifices to educate their children. But the government has let down the poor in spite of the constitutional guarantee of right to education.
It must be considered that sending their children to private schools is not the first option for poor parents as they have to make immense sacrifices to pay the school fees and other charges.
A large variety of private schools have emerged to respond to the parental demand for education. Thus, on the one hand there are the inefficient and wasteful government schools struggling for resources, and on the other are the fee-charging one-room English medium private schools with untrained schoolteachers. And at the other end of the spectrum are the air-conditioned corporate schools. Private schools, guided by the logic of the market, have begun to sell their wares "to each according to one’s ability."
This mushrooming of private schools has a profound impact on society as it produces class inequality, fractured society, freezes upward mobility thus causing divisiveness and disharmony.
Most private schools in the country today have emerged as commercial ventures, small or big, successful or limping. This scenario is vastly different from the private schools which had earlier emerged to serve the educational needs of children and were non-profit organisations and charitable trusts that depended on state aid.
Now, in a market framework, services are offered to those children who can buy education. Like any other product, it is now packaged, and comes with children in proper school uniform, English medium education, competition and home-work, discipline of learning, and if better endowed, with picnics, computers and state of the art technology. In their urge to acquire the "brand," clients begin to spend more than what they can afford, just as consumers of any other commodity.
Parallels are drawn from the telecom and airlines industries to show how efficiency was infused in these public sector institutions once they were threatened by the opening up of the sector to more competent players. It has been argued that government schools too have to face the jolt from private players, to make them accountable.
Encouraging private schools as commercial enterprises compromises the principle of universality, for it offers services only to those who can pay. Thus the deprived and the marginalised are automatically out of its net. If left unregulated, the higher end suppliers would foster further exclusion and reinforce class differentiation
Education being a public good must nurture and enhance the principles of inclusion, non-discrimination, equity and justice. It cannot be a commodity for sale to those who can afford it. It must be an entitlement and a right that is guaranteed by the state.
Prof. Shantha Sinha is the chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights
Courtesy: The Asian Age
Friday, April 4, 2008
Letter to Parents: Beigining of the Session
[ For prospective principals.Here is a sample letter written to parents who have got their wards new admission to school. It can be modified to meet individual school requirements. I would like to know your response on the idea so that more sample letters may be published for your convenience.]
April 10, 2008
Parents of Students
Class VI
Maxwell Park Secondary School
Dear Parents
As the new school session gets underway it is timely to send you the guidelines and procedures that will be followed this year at Maxwell Park School with respect to homework and unplanned absences.
Uncompleted Class Work
If your child does not complete his/her school work in class, I may require that it be completed at home. In such cases I will send you a special "Classwork at Home" note that will explain what work was not completed in class, and why. I ask you to please sign the bottom portion of that form where indicated, and have your child return it to me when they hand-in the completed work. This will help distinguish incomplete seatwork from regular homework.
Uncompleted Homework
Repeated failure to complete homework may result in the issuance of an Academic Notice. In accordance with school policy, Academic Notices always require a meeting with the parent and administration. If I send such a notice to you, it will request that you telephone me as soon as possible so that we can set up a meeting involving you the parents, me, and the vice-principal.
Missed Homework Due to Absence
Excused absences: Students who are absent due to illness have three days for each full day missed to make up school work that was missed (after he/she returns to school). Students are responsible for completion of all missed schoolwork or they will receive a grade of zero ("0") on assignments missed. If your child is absent more than two days and you would like to pick up any missed homework assignments, please telephone the school office to make arrangements.
Unexcused Absences: Classwork and homework missed due to planned or voluntary absence must be completed and handed-in on the day of return to school. Parents and students must secure assignments in advance of such absences and should inform me in writing at least one week in advance of the planned absence.
Illness At School
Students who appear to become ill during the school day will be sent to the office and a determination will be made by the school nurse whether or not a child should be sent home. If deemed necessary to send the child home, parents will be telephoned at home or at work to make arrangements for pick-up.
I would ask you to please review and take note of the above guidelines and procedures so that we may work together in providing the best possible educational experience for your child this year.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to call the office at 2457645 and leave a message for me and I will contact you as soon as possible to discuss your concerns.
Yours truly,
Gursharan Singh
Headmaster
April 10, 2008
Parents of Students
Class VI
Maxwell Park Secondary School
Dear Parents
As the new school session gets underway it is timely to send you the guidelines and procedures that will be followed this year at Maxwell Park School with respect to homework and unplanned absences.
Uncompleted Class Work
If your child does not complete his/her school work in class, I may require that it be completed at home. In such cases I will send you a special "Classwork at Home" note that will explain what work was not completed in class, and why. I ask you to please sign the bottom portion of that form where indicated, and have your child return it to me when they hand-in the completed work. This will help distinguish incomplete seatwork from regular homework.
Uncompleted Homework
Repeated failure to complete homework may result in the issuance of an Academic Notice. In accordance with school policy, Academic Notices always require a meeting with the parent and administration. If I send such a notice to you, it will request that you telephone me as soon as possible so that we can set up a meeting involving you the parents, me, and the vice-principal.
Missed Homework Due to Absence
Excused absences: Students who are absent due to illness have three days for each full day missed to make up school work that was missed (after he/she returns to school). Students are responsible for completion of all missed schoolwork or they will receive a grade of zero ("0") on assignments missed. If your child is absent more than two days and you would like to pick up any missed homework assignments, please telephone the school office to make arrangements.
Unexcused Absences: Classwork and homework missed due to planned or voluntary absence must be completed and handed-in on the day of return to school. Parents and students must secure assignments in advance of such absences and should inform me in writing at least one week in advance of the planned absence.
Illness At School
Students who appear to become ill during the school day will be sent to the office and a determination will be made by the school nurse whether or not a child should be sent home. If deemed necessary to send the child home, parents will be telephoned at home or at work to make arrangements for pick-up.
I would ask you to please review and take note of the above guidelines and procedures so that we may work together in providing the best possible educational experience for your child this year.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to call the office at 2457645 and leave a message for me and I will contact you as soon as possible to discuss your concerns.
Yours truly,
Gursharan Singh
Headmaster
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Teacher Resources
Here is a list of important teacher resource sites where useful information is available.
Education World http://www.education-world.com/ A comprehensive resource which includes a search engine for thousands of educational resources
Education Index http://www.educationindex.com/ An annotated guide to the best education-related sites on the Web. They're sorted by subject and life stage.
Learner Online - http://www.learner.org/ Explore educational resources and activities for teaching and learning on the Annenberg/CPB Project's Learner Online.
TeachNet.com - http://www.teachnet.com/ Daily tips and creative ideas for busy teachers. Website includes lesson plans, teacher-to-teacher resources and education mailing lists.
Education Planet - http://www.educationplanet.com/ Helps teachers, students and parents find a wide variety of the educational resources available on the web.
The Virtual Schoolhouse - www.ibiblio.org/cisco/schoolhouseResources for teachers and administrators.
Education India http://www.education-india.net/
Teacher Pathfinder http://www.teacherpathfinder.org/This is an excellent site for a variety of subject matter. There is a list of the typical subjects and links to different sites on the subjects. This site is a good reference site for teachers to find information on subjects.
Enchanted Learning www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html
Lesson Planz http://www.lessonplanz.com/
http://arvindguptatoys.balasainet.com/website with entire books on “How to make science teaching interesting” and other education related books uploaded. A must visit for any teacher who wants to know more about progressive work done in the field of education.
http://magazine.crimsonfeet.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=17A collection of rare and thought provoking articles on education.
http://www.coreknowledge.org/As you explore this site, you will find lesson plans, articles, and many other resources to help you use them in your classroom and school.
Education World http://www.education-world.com/ A comprehensive resource which includes a search engine for thousands of educational resources
Education Index http://www.educationindex.com/ An annotated guide to the best education-related sites on the Web. They're sorted by subject and life stage.
Learner Online - http://www.learner.org/ Explore educational resources and activities for teaching and learning on the Annenberg/CPB Project's Learner Online.
TeachNet.com - http://www.teachnet.com/ Daily tips and creative ideas for busy teachers. Website includes lesson plans, teacher-to-teacher resources and education mailing lists.
Education Planet - http://www.educationplanet.com/ Helps teachers, students and parents find a wide variety of the educational resources available on the web.
The Virtual Schoolhouse - www.ibiblio.org/cisco/schoolhouseResources for teachers and administrators.
Education India http://www.education-india.net/
Teacher Pathfinder http://www.teacherpathfinder.org/This is an excellent site for a variety of subject matter. There is a list of the typical subjects and links to different sites on the subjects. This site is a good reference site for teachers to find information on subjects.
Enchanted Learning www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html
Lesson Planz http://www.lessonplanz.com/
http://arvindguptatoys.balasainet.com/website with entire books on “How to make science teaching interesting” and other education related books uploaded. A must visit for any teacher who wants to know more about progressive work done in the field of education.
http://magazine.crimsonfeet.org/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=17A collection of rare and thought provoking articles on education.
http://www.coreknowledge.org/As you explore this site, you will find lesson plans, articles, and many other resources to help you use them in your classroom and school.
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