Endorsing Children’s Opinions

Our education system includes all the following persons in the decision making in schools – school owners, schools leaders, teachers, parents, representatives from politics and bureaucracy. 

It does not however include an important stakeholder - the student. While we have built the entire edifice of education around students, we make them passively accept and imbibe all processes and policies that we adults consider pertinent. When we incessantly talk of moving away from teacher-centric classrooms to child centric ones, should we not also consider schools adopting a more child-centric approach to decision making?

Many adults may respond to this saying - “Ah! But children do not really know what is good for them. If given a choice they will only like to spend their time on fun activities. In any case they cannot think about serious issues such as learning and education.” 

So we spoke to some children to understand what they had to say in this matter. We asked them to mention one thing they liked in their school and another that they wanted to change. The responses we got from them were startling. Here is a sample of what the children shared.

•  Mridula is 13 years old; fond of dance and painting. She has this to say about the public school in a Tier 2 city she goes to.

• Eleven year old Akshat is quite a musician. He plays the keyboard and the tabla. A voracious reader, he loves to read the ‘Wimpy Kid’ series. He writes:

•  Thirteen year old Meena studies in a government school. She aspires to use her education to succeed in life. She said that she likes her teachers in school because most of them teach very well!

These three responses from three very different children emphasise that they notice and appreciate the intangibles in their school environment. They’re not just thinking about having fun, having things easy, or focusing on the obvious such as infrastructure and comfort.
When we asked some children about one thing they would like to change about their schools, the suggestions were equally insightful as their opinions about their schools.  

• Mridula wrote:

• Sanah has just stepped into her teen years and has an equally relevant comment. She says:

• When asked to cite an example of a pointless rule she shared that they are allowed to borrow only one book from the library every week. She often is able to read through a library book in three or four days but has to wait for the next library period to get her hands onto another book.
• Meena would like her school to teach more English and Math since she considers them important for her future education and career. She also suggests they should offer extra-curricular activities like dance and music.
• Jay would like his teachers to be more willing to answer questions rather than telling him not to be cheeky. He says he asks questions because he is really intrigued by a topic and not because he is trying to be as his teachers call him - ‘oversmart’.

Notice how none of the respondents spoke about having air-conditioned classrooms, comfortable bean bags instead of chairs, soft drinks instead of water in the hot summer months. Each child has tried to focus on a real and essential issue.
This small survey reiterated that children are thinking individuals; they can distinguish between their wants and needs and express them clearly. Children's expectations from their schools are not frivolous or immature. We must begin to accomodate their thoughts and aspirations for their centres of knowledge. Not only will this make schools more democratic, it will instill in children a greater sense of responsibility towards their own learning.
  

Testing Times

In our last article, we discussed how children should be exposed to a balance of good and bad in order to make informed decisions in their future lives. By ‘protecting’ children, adults just manage to delay their point of contact with bad. Since there is no way to remove it altogether, it leaves children unprepared for the bad or ugly things in life.

On the same lines, today we look at the role of examinations in children’s lives. Several policy changes have been demanded for our examination system – some of these managed to see the light of day and others remained buried under bureaucratic files. One such was the shift from a ‘marks’ system to a more egalitarian ‘grades’ system. Strong voices had been raised for some time about how the percentage/marks system was causing obscene levels of competition among children and leading them to great stress. The superficial change to the grades system meant to control this. Effectively it was like saying to a child, “You must get an A+,” instead of, “You must get above 90 percent.” How these two statements were any different to the child was anybody’s guess. 

Let us for a moment play the devil’s advocate and plead the marking system be. Before you think of us as callous and insensitive, just step back and reflect on life and work. Can you single out a job that is completely devoid of stress? Can you name an area of expertise where people don’t face competition? Then again, can you forget the joy and sense of self actualisation that we experience when we achieve something that is difficult? If their future lives are going to be about managing a certain amount of stress, pressure and competition, then how correct are we to shield our children completely from it in their present lives? 

Examinations can be stressful for children who are unprepared and have not learnt time management skills. They have also been made ‘monstrous’ by the gamut of adult influencers – parents, schools, society - who are more pressurised than the children themselves! 

Let us share here about Akshat - a 6th grader who is appearing for a formal examination for the first time. When asked if he is scared, he replies “No, my teacher says exams are just like worksheets that we do in class all the time. They are only a bit longer.”

*Photo Disclaimer - Inspire does not claim copyright on this picture. Any resemblance to any person alive or dead is purely coincidental. 

For a child, annual examinations, continuous assessment and the grading system are all the same. Each experience can be equally stressful or completely blissful. A child is not anxious about an examination till adults make it seem that his/her entire worth is dependent on the received marks or grades. So, no matter what the mode of assessment is, as long as we adults continue to pressurise the child, there is no solution to this examination conundrum. 

The only way we can prepare children for the future is by creating an atmosphere where they want to do the best for themselves. They are guided by their natural instincts to excel and achieve in any area of their interest, and not just math or language or science. Let us not make them wilt under our expectations and pressure. We need to reflect on the role we play as facilitators to bring up children who are informed and prepared for their future without having undergone unnecessary strain to learn all of this. 

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

In today’s world, where children have multiple sources of information, parents feel the need to be the primary communication source for their children. Parents are seen often adopting a rather protective stance, not wishing to tell children about the bad that balances the good in the world. It is useful to think if children should be shielded from everything bad or ugly or made aware of them, perhaps in moderate measures - so that they gradually develop the skill of dealing with such things on their own. 

We recount an event which exemplifies this - from Dussehra, a well-known festival in India celebrating the triumph of good over evil. 

During a particular Dussehra, one preschool designed the following play to help children realise how it is important to identify one’s mistakes, be apologetic for them, and learn from them. 


Scene 1 
Children having fun - drawing, playing, talking in a classroom. Suddenly, Raavan enters the scene. He has only one head.

Child 1: “Hello! Who are you?”

Raavan (sadly): “I am Raavan, and I am very sad.”

Child 2: “Why are you sad? And if you are Raavan, where are your other heads?”

Raavan: “That is why I am sad! I have lost the rest of my heads! Dussehra is just around the corner. If I don’t find my heads, what will people do for Dussehra?!”

Child 3: “You want to find your heads, so that people can punish you? Why don't you hide or run away?”

Raavan: “I made a mistake by taking Sita away. So I have to make up for my mistake and say sorry for what I did.”

Child 4: “Oh it is okay if you’re sorry! Our teacher said the most important thing is to be sorry if you have made a mistake! You’re sorry Raavan. So we will help you!”

Raavan: “Thank you children! I will be so happy if you find my heads!”

All Children: “Don’t worry Raavan, we will find them!”

Scene 2 
Raavan leaves.

Child 1: “We promised Raavan that we will find his heads. How do we do that? We don’t even know where to start looking!”

Child 2: “It is okay! I know what we can do! Do you remember our last Art and Craft class?”

Child 3: “Where we learnt to make things with papier-mâché?”

Child 4: “Yes! We will make Raavan’s heads with papier-mâché!”

All Children: “Wow! That is a great idea!”


Scene 3 
Children at work making heads from papier-mâché. 
Raavan enters in a while. 

Raavan: “Did you find my heads, children?”

Child 1: “No, but we did something better. We made you new heads from papier-mâché! Look at them..so colourful!”

Raavan: “They are such lovely heads! Now Dussehra should be fun! You saved Dussehra, my dear children. For that reason, I will tell you something important. I was a rich, just and intelligent king. But I became proud and made a mistake. So I was punished. Always remember to say sorry if you make a mistake. I did that - and you all helped me today.”

All Children: “We will always remember this lesson Raavan!”

Raavan: “Bye children! See you on Dussehra!”

Through this simple play, the children were exposed to an example of bad in the world. They also learnt an important lesson – about saying sorry. 
If children are not acquainted with the negative influencers and unpleasant aspects of life, they may remain incapable of dealing with them and making informed decisions in their future lives. 

The Day that Comes Once in a Year

Annual Days are quite the big deal for all schools. Weeks and months of toil and hard work are put into the preparations for the event. On this day the school comes out and tells the world, “Look at how good we are! All our students participate in extra-curricular activities.” In our adult wisdom we consider annual days a platform for children to exhibit their creativity and develop confidence. 

Today we share a story about one such Annual Day. 

A harried teacher was instructing her pre-scholars to remain quiet and line up for their performance. She kept running around, from one end of the waiting area to the other, getting her students ready. Just as the Chief Guest was to walk in, one of her students, Priya, started calling out to her loudly. The teacher ran to Priya, first urging her to keep quiet and then asking her what the matter was. Priya, with a face full of wonder and amazement that only a four-year-old can have, looked up at the skies, pointed with her small, chubby finger, “Look! Pigeon!” 
The teacher was stumped. Should she shout at little Priya for being amazed by a pigeon, even as the Chief Guest was walking in? Or should she build on this wonder and fascination to talk about pigeons? 

As people who are engaged with educating children we often encounter such ‘opportunities’. Yet we often ignore them for our pre-determined agendas. While we talk about experiential education and harp on the Play Way method, we often tailor these approaches to incorporate what we think is appropriate for the children. We try to determine the experiences and takeaway for children from these experiences. What we tend to forget is that each child is capable of thinking. We tend to ignore their authentic responses because we presume that they do not know enough. 

Children can partner with adults in their own learning process, if their perspectives are accommodated in. We need to reflect on how we impose our ‘agenda’ on children. Take for example the choice of colour for their dresses - do all girls have to love pink? Or the kind of story books we select, as well as the learning experiences we create for these little individuals. 

Let us go back to our story. 

The teacher reflected on her experience. She realised that the children were not engaged in the show because it was not something they had wanted to do. They were merely abiding by her instructions. No one had asked them for their ideas or suggestions. So the next year the teacher started a theme on ‘Water’ a month before the Annual Day. Children experimented with water, shared experiences. Among other activities, the class heard stories on water and rivers. The children identified a story they wanted to act out. The teacher then asked the children to pretend that they were 'water' and to decide how they wanted to move. The young children with the teacher’s guidance actually choreographed their routine - deciding movements that were simple, suitable and spontaneous!
Every day the children looked forward to practicing their story. For Annual Day they put up their best performance because they were showcasing ‘their’ story for their parents! 

Children have an infinite capacity to learn and express. We as teachers and parents just need to tap the potential and watch how they blossom.