Once a teacher always a learner
Seetha Anand
In my years as a teacher and teacher trainer, I have come to realize that a teacher is by default a learner at the same time. Here are a few instances from my experiences which show that teaching is a two-way process.
“A bud is a flower-to-be. A flower in waiting. Waiting for just the right warmth and care to open up. It’s a little fist of love waiting to unfold and be seen by the world. And that’s you.” – Christopher Paul Curtis
A was a three-year-old in my kindergarten. During free play all that she would do was suck her thumb and rest her head on my lap as I was doing my work while the other children played. (In Waldorf, kindergarten teachers are always involved in purposeful hand activity while the children are at play.) She was never interested in the exciting games and imaginary play that the other children indulged in. Once I even tried to gently nudge her to play with blocks or dolls. But she would only snuggle closer to me. I consulted my mentors and seniors in school. They advised me to let her be and give her time. The year ended thus. The next year began and to my greatest surprise and delight, A now began to not only play but to lead pretence play and came up with interesting situations. She was such a natural leader. In one year there was such a huge change. It has made me realize how important it is to give time and more importantly how harmful it is to pressurize and push or stress children before they are ready.
“From the ashes, a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king” – Tolkien
H was a child in middle school where I went as a teacher trainer. I was asked to attend a meeting where teachers were discussing about her. She was a “problem child”! Indiscipline, adolescent-related rebelliousness, telling lies, not showing progress in academics… in short a nightmare for teachers. The school finally decided that they could not retain her and she had to leave. It was a very painful decision for all. But it had been made. Since I went to the school only once a year I was unaware of the situation. The parents were told and they moved to another city to a simple school which is as stress free as possible. Ten years later, I was involved in an environmental project and lo behold! one of the young volunteers was none other than H. I did not recognize her until her mother came with her one day to volunteer!!! I still have goose bumps when I see what a transformation the child had gone through. She was a mature person with a high level of integrity. Very quick to respond to the situation and savvy in dealing with adults around, she has blossomed into a fine reliable person.
“Assumptions are quick exits for lazy minds that like to graze out in the fields without bother.” – Suzy Kassem
V was a child with autism. He came at a time when not just I but hardly anyone in the city, including paediatricians, was aware of the term autism. He was non-verbal, hyperactive and could not focus on anything whatsoever. He could not tolerate sounds. In my class, music was a predominant part. We would sing before and at the end of every activity, even before meal times, before and after play, story, etc. V would close his ears and come close to me and stamp his feet whenever we sang. I assumed that he didn’t like music. I used to wonder how to get him to sing and participate when he did not enjoy music and what alternative I could give him. I consulted others in school and no one was able to understand what to do with him. One day, during sand play there was a child from a higher class who was practicing the flute nearby. I found V shutting his ears but going closer to the child playing the flute. He did this repeatedly. It was a eureka moment for me!!! How did I not notice this before? I realized that V was in fact drawn by music. He loved it so much but was shutting out other sounds which were too magnified for him and was trying to concentrate on the song/music. From that day on I began to make sure he could hear the songs one on one for at least sometime in a calm room that was free from other noises. In the course of time I could teach him numbers through rhythm and touch and communication through songs and tunes. It was a fascinating journey. He left our kindergarten eventually. Many years later I attended a concert that he was performing in and was so touched by the innocent, focused and sincere musician that he is becoming.
“If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of ten years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people.” – Confucius
GS school was in a small village – town in Andhra Pradesh. Someone in the school had read my article in this same magazine (thank you Teacher Plus) and sent me an invite over email to come and do a workshop. Braving the weather in peak summer I went. In all my enthusiasm, I worked with the kindergarten and primary school teachers. I taught them to make locally relevant lesson plans, create their own songs related to subjects that children would find around them, spoke to them about stress-free learning, about the importance of play, sandpit, motor skill development, discussed about education vis a vis mere academics. At the end of three days, the principal of the school told me that this would not work in their school. She mentioned how parents wanted performance and ranks. It catered to a society that aimed at children getting into premier professional institutions. There is no time to waste in play and in sandpit I was told. Dejected I came back. I felt that maybe I had given too much in one go. Should I modify my approach since this is how most schools viewed schooling? Eleven years later I got a call from the same school. The coordinator of the kindergarten asked me to come again and conduct workshops for the kindergarten and class 1 teachers. I was hesitant and made some enquiries before agreeing. I made it clear that I have not changed my approach in terms of focusing on foundational skills and not content in the early years. She was enthusiastic and told me to conduct the sessions as I deemed fit. Again it was peak summer and I travelled to this village. This time it was more developed with better accommodation facilities and when I entered the kindergarten … I was in for the biggest surprise of my life! There was a spacious sandpit with almost all the equipment which I had spoken about 11 years ago. The children were singing songs on banana plantation, leaf plate making and such locally relevant topics. And … when I met the teachers, one of them came forward and showed me the notes that she had taken 11 years ago. I was teary eyed. This was in a school where predominantly everyone spoke Telugu and English was not easily understood though it was an English medium school.
The author is an Early Childhood Curriculum Developer, Trainer, and Remedial Therapist. She works through Ananda, a Foundation for holistic and healthy learning and living. She can be reached at anandseetha@gmail.com.