Shafaq, B.Sc. B.Ed. PGDTL, PGDPBM

Environment and people:

​

We still live in the society where education is authoritarian. I have grown up in traditional system of education where, the students had no opportunities to explore their knowledge. Asking questions were most of the time forbidden or the questions were tagged as ‘don’t ask silly questions’. The students who answered correctly were appreciated and the students who didn't answer correctly were reprimanded. There was always fear of being judged, so the doubts were never cleared. The misconceptions in a student like me continued class after class. Education was all about mugging up the information and answering in the test and everything was forgotten after the test.The students who were best at rote memorization scored good points and were termed as excellent students.

I feel that this type of authoritarian system destroys the growing impressionable mind of children thereby making the child introvert and passive. Children are compared with each other which demotivates the child.

 Environment plays a vital role in growth and development of a child. The teacher should create an approachable  environment where student do not have an inhibition of speaking or sharing ideas and thoughts. The environment around child should be unbiased, free from judgement and fear. The child should feel welcoming and approachable. The child will feel free and take initiative in exploring the new knowledge and skills gained. Self awareness is important for a child, unless he get various opportunities to explore self the child will not generate self awareness.The child will start exploring his interest in an environment where he feels safe and accepted.

The people around the child also plays an important role, there should be positive people around, who do not pressurize the child by testing their capabilities, but allow the children to be themselves and explore their interest. The teacher should build a positive classroom community where students understand each other and  know that it is ok to make mistakes. When the child is comfortable in this kind of atmosphere he/ she will readily open up and explore the space and material provided to him. The child will express himself freely without any fear of being reprimanded. The teacher should encourage the questions and the questions should be acknowledged. With time the teacher should train the students that, there will be times when the people around may have difference in the opinion and may criticize the work they do. They need to respect the differences and do not get dismayed and lose hope.  The students should always be appreciated for the hard work that he does which will, build students self confidence. He will also  always try to explore more learning and apply in his daily life. There should be opportunities which allows the students to explore the space around, however the freedom given should not be taken advantage off. The norms or rules should be set. These norms should come from the students (principal of Summer Hill ), so when they make a rule they will abide by it.

​

Role of a teacher:

 

The teacher should trust the child that every child has some hidden talent that needs a spark. All children do not learn at the same pace or have the same field of interest. The same strategies will not work with all the students.

The teacher should create an engaging lesson and make the  learning purposeful. The teacher should focus on the individual learning needs of the students. There should be real life situations which will promote deep learning rather than just superficial. Every minute could not be made engaging but, few minutes in a session should make the child interested to which the child looks forward and is curious to come to school with some hopes to learn something new everyday. The teacher should be enthusiastic and create some enthusiasm even if the students are not. The learning environment should not be always serious or restricted to academics. The teacher should spice it up with some bit of humour, or just give students some free self-time, where student are free to do what they want. The teacher should model the behaviour of what is expected of the students. The students follow the teacher as a role model.

 

The teacher should reflect on her teaching everyday. What went well? Were the students responsive? At which point students were more responsive? At which point were they not engaged? Which student were more active and which ones were passive? This reflection will help the teacher to plan the next lesson and accordingly can modify the teaching strategies. The teacher should occasionally take feedback in the form of exit ticket. The teacher can ask in the exit ticket about the things they liked most in today's session, the key learning, what things they didn’t appreciate? What could they have done differently other than the instructions provided? Were there any challenges faced by them? Is there something they need more practice on? This will serve as a guiding principle for the teacher to understand the learning needs of the students. The teacher should also discuss the lesson with the team member and can also take their ideas and thoughts. The teacher should work in collaboration with the team whose prime focus should be creating a mindful human being learner who is aware of his interest and who has potential to create something which will bring about the positive change in the society.

​

Student- teacher relationship:

 

The teacher should build a healthy relationship with the student based on respect and trust. The teacher should be like a friend with whom the child shares his in and out at the same time maintaining a fine line between a teacher and student. The teacher should not only have conversation about the academics but also about the likes and dislikes in a child's daily life, which will develop a healthy bond. The teacher’s mind should be free from all the preconceived notions. The teacher should be a patient listener and do not make any conclusions regarding a child and have trust in the child as a learner. I also agree with Aurobindo's principal that knowledge cannot be imparted. The teacher should act as a guide and facilitator redirecting the questions so that student can discover the knowledge and apply it to bring about the positive change within self.

 

Concluding thought:

​

The process of education should make the child happy and intrinsically motivated. It should not be a competitive spirit to become a scholar of all subject area.Education should be preparation of life (by Summer Hill). It should prepare an individual who has a healthy state of mind. It should be preparing a better human being with integrity who beautifies the environment by the positive mindset and spreads happiness, which is the need of the society.