What are the most memorable memories of the school that you have? It can be anything, academic ,co-curricular or not so academic , inside or outside classroom , inside or outside the school itself.
I ask this question for a very specific reason which occurred to me while reading Dewey's School and Society , Child and Curriculum the other day.
I ask this question for a very specific reason which occurred to me while reading Dewey's School and Society , Child and Curriculum the other day.
The most excited moment was the period when any teacher would tell us story. That is the only time the class would be pin-drop silent. All eyes fixed on the teachers. we love most those stories which has nothing to do with our curriculum or exam. The best part is when the story begin with 'once upon a time' and when it ends with 'and ever after they live happily'. My imagination goes wild because of those opening and closing remark.I would create by own version of what could be before or during that once upon a time or what all could have happen in the ever after life.
ReplyDeleteMine was not much different from yours.
DeleteMetro city. Convent school.Best there could be for me and all
those theatres and musicals with sports field and much more blah is
what I remember of school. Those near me have stayed near me scarcely
because of what I 'knew' and 'had learnt'.
I asked this question to many other friends here in office and home as well and most of the answers confirmed what Oscar Wilde once said. "Nothing
worth learning can ever be taught". Lol.
Let me not over simply the matters and not assume that the respective
schools did not make an effort in building these co-scholastic
attributes (let me call them that) that were mentioned in best
memories of school. Dewey mentioned in School and Society that all
that remains of education after passing out from school is not a
matter of concern for teachers and school. The answers just
strengthened my belief in that.
Respondents to my question vary from private to public and from rural to urban to semi urban. Not one of them mentioned anything of any 'lesson' learnt inside the classroom per se'. No one talked about the curriculum and least of all any subjects.
The respondents range from 25 years to 40 years in age. However small
this sample may be, it surely gives me a point to ponder on what Dewey
said. It continues to be true even today.
Not many people will argue on the fact that they retain little of
academic 'gyaan' that they so painstakingly accumulated till 12th
standard.They did it for obvious reasons.Meritocracy rules in India ,
however sad that may be but it's a fact and marks /grades are roadway
to 'lal batti' or 'sea facing apartment'. What ,however, goes into
making us what we are today and will be tomorrow , is not something
which shows up in the scholastic concerns of curriculum(hereby
reverting from co-scholastic to scholastic for the philosophical
similarities between the two terms).
It's becoming clearer to me as to why would the teacher not delve into
the foundational questions of education and also why parents and society at large won't raise the red flag if the value system is shelved for grades in gauging student learning outcomes.