Teachers emerging for one thing - joy!

This Saturday, a teacher had a baby in a milk bottle on her lap while she talked about her pedagogy to the group. Are we aware of the different contexts our teachers come from? A lot of teachers in the country are most likely waking up hours before school to cook for the family, wake their children up for school, have a tiffin ready for their spouse, deal with 2-3 tantrums, and then make their way to school. She might get to school late, arrive a bit tired, and not be motivated enough to be herself in class. There has to be more space for teachers in our education system, for their well-being and for them to express themselves. 

This week's happenings included Learning Forward Saturday, which explored how we can encourage teachers to talk more and share classroom moments and reflections. One beautiful instance that a teacher shared was when she was sitting in a garden with her young students. Basking in the warm sun. A butterfly came and sat on her. She asked her students everything they knew about a butterfly – shapes, form, habitat, colours, and lifespan. We discussed how cold books cannot bring to our learning what an experience of sitting together, observation and reflection can. Driving home this point may or may not be easy. Not because the teacher, as an individual, does not realise the importance of real experience; she is often a mother or has had children growing up around her, but it is a systemic failure. Do books hold everything that a student wishes to learn? More importantly, how do they want to know? 

Schools should take the teacher's word more seriously and invite her to the discussions about curriculum and teaching. The system can value her word and empower her. When we have teachers reading with us or them reading by themselves, we are creating a moment of revolution, reflection and unlearning. 

On a different note, I love classroom libraries. There are always moments when you see young minds engage with thoughts, climax and emotions- a way to enter into a deep relationship with them and their learning.  

Neelashi Mangal

What are we teaching in the classroom

There were endless moments where the question 'What are we teaching in the classroom?' hung above my head. Travelling from Delhi to Bandarjhund was a change in environment, food, and the general pace of life. Are our classrooms teaching only the spelling of 'responsibility' rather than its essence? A visit to Arthur Foot Academy (GSA Special Project) is set in a beautiful village under a blue sky. It might have fewer computers, but clean air to breathe. This visit to AFA was to set up the library, attend their Founder's Day, and meet the teachers we see online for the teacher training sessions. 

The training sessions (Learning Forward Saturday) have become an interesting space. Teachers are warming up to us, adapting to this form of communication, and sharing their classroom stories. We dwelled on the theme: How does the teacher take care of oneself in the classroom? We brainstormed lesson plan ideas that are collaborative, creative, and artistic, so the teacher can have a moment of silence without interrupting the learning. This is essential for the classroom space: we are humans in front of our students who need rest on days, and we are modelling that to them. 

This brings me to another conundrum that Brewing Knowledge Friday brought to our group. We have been reading about moral development. It brought to our attention the hypocrisy we adults exhibit toward our children about humility, yet we punish them if they help their classmates. An eighth-grade student shared a real-life example from her class about how her teacher discouraged her from sharing stationery with her friends in the classroom. This is important and pertinent to our group and readers since it sheds light on the hypocrisy of being an active part of our school environment. Are we walking the talk for our young minds? Are we just teaching them the word, not the ways of the world, which require more compassion, consciousness, and responsibility at the moment? Ending the week on a note that we can reflect on in these spaces together, share gently what can be done at an individual level, what we can do as educators, and what is essential right now. 

Neelashi Mangal

Editor and Host Brewing Knowledge Friday