Coming back to what I had written in my earlier posts:
http://devacharyamenon.blogspot.com/2010/06/teachers-pet-is-that-you.html
http://devacharyamenon.blogspot.com/2010/06/view-of-educationist-regarding-india.html
Teacher's pet - is that you ?
I understand that there are various methodology of educating children and it varies from teacher to teacher as well student to student. Not all students respond to instructions in similar way. It does not necessarily mean that do not follow them or they are not obedient, but given a child of 3-4 yrs. their area of interest and "mood" varies from time-to-time
As, far my child is concerned, I know he does not like to be ordered or commanded to do anything. He gets more stubborn if he is not spoken poliently and if we show anger or raise our voice. Thats what concerned me in the earlier posts, he was getting more stubborn to prove he is a "bad boy".
It was a phase and has gone past now. As per his teacher, sometimes students react very positively when you praise others infront of him and hence try to improve. Ignoring a child and giving "stickers/gifts" as a token of appreciation to them, helps him to do the activities he otherwise is not willing to do. This also increases the competitive spirit. Hence, all these extra efforts were to make Dev sit down to writting activity. Thats the thing he does not like to do sitting at a place.
Regarding the colour of skin:
This kind of discussion in there amongst the students in all the class. A parent of Grade 2 once told me, "Teachers do not speak about this. It's the student who discuss. The Indian girl wants to be reborn as a girl with blond hair and white skin. One of her other friend wants a dusky skin with black hair. These are just their fantasy."
After hearing this I left the dicussion there. And thought it needs some more time for me to conclude anything. Moreover, he will be going to a new class from August. A new teacher and new class with new things to learn might just erase a few thoughts from his mind.
View of an educationist regarding Indian Education System:
I agree to most of the things told here. It's good or bad cannot be really judged if you do not consider India as a whole. The system which we follow in India is best suited for the given time, and considering the rising population.
Every statistic has told us that by 2012 India will be the youngest nation. Hence, the students fighting for a seat in a prestigious college for any professional degree will be enormous compared to our generation.
Given this situation, the child has to know to fight from a very young age if he has to succeed in his profession or career. Memorising and Pushing nature is a product of this, which in my opinion is nothing to be ashamed about.
Inspite of so many regional languages, many of us choose to visit a sschool with English as a first language to stay at apar with the world. Hence any Indian kid would be speaking atleast two languages from a very early age, say 2-3 yrs. When I learnt my "German" language at college, primarily I used to "think" in English and translate in "German". This time-span decreased as we practiced speaking more often. So, the "thinking-time" cannot be contributed to being a "confused" person.
It's by nature that we tend to think in our mother tongue. Right now, when Im typing these words Im not thinking in Bengali but in English. Same goes for the students. considering how fast a child picks up new things they don't take much time speaking any new language either. Moreover like in my family, we speak mainly "Hindi" and "English". Both mine and my husband's mother tongue is different (Bengali and Malayalam & Tamil). My child is more comfortable speaking in English right now because of his environment and the time he spends at school. That does not mean he is/will grow up to be a confussed "individual". Yes, while speaking in Bengali he uses many English words now, which even I do while speaking Hindi/Bengali, inspite of knowing the equivalent words.
Because, of the grinding we go through in the initial years, a student is able to cope up with the challenges doing further studies anywhere across the globe. We are also doing excellent at professional fields where ever we are. The methodology which we follow in India can't be followed in other countries. And the International Schools in India though claim that they are using different methods, parents still feel the need to educated their child with the board in Indian system. Well, there are exceptions, where one has the luxury to shift base to other countries for child education.
With respect to a boy's and a girl's inclination to study, well its a known fact that "girls mature at a younger age than a boy". At school or home and amongst friends or siblings its natural to see such differences in liking of activities. Yet in a classroom of boys and girls all of them are of equal agegroup +/- 6 months and coping up well.
So, I shall like to see my child go to the next class. He might not be perfect with respect to the writting and organising skills compared to a girl/student of his class. But I shall give him a fair chance to be able to take responsibilities for his own development. If this means I'm a "pushy" parent like a typical Indian, then I'm so.
