Cooperative Concept of preschooling

Another method of preschooling popular in United States (am not sure if a mainstream form of this even exists in India) is cooperative preschools.

What is the cooperative concept of preschooling?
Many folks in US who cannot afford a traditional preschool, or can't find one with a philosophy that meshes with their own, consider looking for or even founding a cooperative school. These parent-run programs are usually less expensive than other schools (because of the sweat equity that parents contribute) and allow participating families to help decide what kids will learn and how.

In a cooperative preschool, parents take turns doing everything from managing the finances to washing the windows to assisting in the classroom. Usually, a professional teacher oversees the classroom, but parent volunteers recruit and hire her, serve as her aides, and help develop the curriculum.

Of course, this takes a good deal of time and energy. It's not a commitment to be entered into lightly. But many families believe it's worth it. Aside from the financial benefit and the direct influence over your child's education, you get the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded parents, to observe your child and his peers as they learn and socialize, and even to learn skills that could be valuable in your current or future career.

This is a great concept, however, is very difficult to scale up. Apart from getting parents excited about this concept, it may be extremely taxing on their time. With the unpreceedented growth seen in the job sectors, I have my doubts and concerns if parents would be able to invest this much time into their kids (irrespective of its worthiness).

buildingblocks may try to marry this concept with some of the traditional concepts of pedagogy. Of my experience talking to various educators and experts in the field of education, the more participation that we can have of the parents the more successful the program would become on all dimensions.

Montessori Association of India

On some further investigation of Montessori philosophy of pre-schooling and its presence in India, I was able to find some useful information about the Montessori centers in India.

The center offers both online and offline diplomas in Montessori training. It was very fascinating to find that Maria Montessori spent some part of her adulthood in India (precisely in 1939). Dr. Montessori was ousted from Italy because of her liberal views in general and opposition to Fascism in particular.

The Indian Montessori Association has predominantly taken inspiration from the works of Dr. Montessori in India, Mr. Joosten and Mr. Swamy. The center is currently headed by Mrs. Meenakshi Sivaramakrishnan.

The center plans to expand its base all over India. has it's headquarters in the IT city of Bangalore, Karnataka. They mostly promote themselves as a policy making body with an intention to have satellite centers in the different parts of the country (they have successfully achieved that in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

Various Preschooling philosophies

With proliferation of preschools in the Indian society, I thought this entry may help parents and preschool providers to understand the various philosophies that different pre schools are following. Since, there are several philosophies on preschooling, I will be using multiple blog entries to explain each of those philosophies. I have used extensive information from this source.

Preschools subscribe to many different theories and philosophies of education. You may hear some of the following terms used to describe schools you're considering. Familiarize yourself with the various styles to help determine which one is the best fit for your child.

The different categories of philosophies are as:
1. Montessori
2. Waldorf
3. Projects
4. Community/Religious
5. Cooperative
6. Reggio Emilia


Montessori:
Montessori is centered on establishing independence, self-esteem, and confidence while fostering learning at a child's own pace.

This self-paced education is accomplished by changing the role of adults in the classroom from teachers of a whole class into that of "guides," as they are often called, for the students as individuals. According to the American Montessori Society, guides have four principle goals, which encompass what the Montessori method hopes to achieve. The guide strives to

* awaken your child's spirit and imagination
* to encourage his normal desire for independence and high sense of self-esteem
* help him develop the kindness, courtesy, and self-discipline that will allow him to become a full member of society
* help him learn how to observe, question, and explore ideas independently

The guide may introduce a lesson to the class as a whole, but will then focus on working with students in small groups as they investigate topics on their own in a carefully prepared classroom environment. This individualized attention means children with special needs — whether they are gifted or delayed — often do well in a Montessori environment.

This environment is another trademark of a Montessori program. With so much emphasis on individual and small-group exploration, the room itself is kept bright, warm, and inviting. It will often contain many learning centers that allow a child to focus on what they are most interested in, while being shown through gentle encouragement that they should not be afraid of trying new things either. These centers are filled with objects that cater to what preschoolers are most responsive to — highly tactile, very hands-on learning materials that teach through manipulation.

The sense that they are in charge of this environment also fosters feelings of responsibility and accountability in the children, another focus of the Montessori approach. Studies have shown that a feeling of ownership contributes to better care of belongings. Visitors to Montessori classrooms are often amazed to see children working together to clean up centers after they are done experimenting and learning in them, feeding the animals they are helping raise, even watering plants and tending to small gardens in some instances.

This in turn helps create a mentality of cooperation, instead of competition, among the children. To further this cooperative spirit, Montessori classrooms are divided into three-year sections, which allow children to get to know their teachers and one another better. Older children are encouraged to help the younger children in their explorations, teaching compassion and instilling the lesson that there is no shame in needing help in life all at once.

Finally, to end this entry a quote by Maria Montessori (the thought behind Montessori programs).

"Our goal is not so much the imparting of knowledge as the unveiling and developing of spiritual energy."
- The Child in the Family :: The Clio Montessori Series, 1996 :: p. 63

Reggio Emilia Approach of preschooling

My continued exploration of children's development in India led me to find this interesting offering by ibambini. Ibambini is trying to promote an Italin approach to child care and education called Reggio Emilia approach. I took excerpts of this concept from here.

What is Reggio Emilia?
There is much about Reggio Emilia's approach to child care and education that distinguishes it from other efforts both inside and outside of Italy, and attracts worldwide attention. Of special interest is the emphasis on children's symbolic languages in the context of a project-oriented curriculum. The Reggio Emilia approach is made possible through a carefully articulated and collaborative approach to the care and education of young children.

In the USA particularly, the experiences of the city of Reggio Emilia have been reified into the "Reggio Emilia Approach", a new curriculum model of excellence, which heavily reinforces existing instrumental developmentalist discourses of education. This 'branding' of Reggio Emilia, obscures the postmodern accent in the dialogues that the pedagogues of Reggio Emilia have attempted to establish. Critiques of the US 'Reggio Approach' which have targeted attempts to establish normative Reggio 'curricula' have largely been ignored. The work in Sweden by Gunilla Dahlberg, and her UK colleague, Peter Moss, provide unsettling counterpoints to the monolithic arguments of the proponents of the 'Reggio Approach'.

Cornerstones of Reggio Emilia approach are:

Community participation:
Reggio Emilia's tradition of community support for families with young children expands on Italy's cultural view of children as the collective responsibility of the state. In Reggio Emilia, the infant/toddler and pre-primary program is a vital part of the community, as reflected in the high level of financial support.

The parents' role mirrors the community's, at both the schoolwide and the classroom level. Parents are expected to take part in discussions about school policy, child development concerns, and curriculum planning and evaluation. Because a majority of parents--including mothers--are employed, meetings are held in the evenings so that all who wish to participate can do so.

Administrative Policies and Organizational Structure:
There is no hierarchy among the teachers (consequently no teacher). This staffing plan, coupled with the policy of keeping the same group of children and teachers together for a period of three years, facilitates the sense of community that characterizes relationships among adults and children.

Teachers as learners:
This one core aspect of Reggio Emilia approach that really distinguishes it from others. Teachers' long-term commitment to enhancing their understanding of children is at the crux of the Reggio Emilia approach. Their resistance to the American use of the term model to describe their program reflects the continuing evolution of their ideas and practices. They compensate for the meager preservice training of Italian early childhood teachers by providing extensive staff development opportunities, with goals determined by the teachers themselves. Teacher autonomy is evident in the absence of teacher manuals, curriculum guides, or achievement tests. The lack of externally imposed mandates is joined by the imperative that teachers become skilled observers of children in order to inform their curriculum planning and implementation.

Teachers routinely divide responsibilities in the class so that one can systematically observe, take notes, and record conversations between children. These observations are shared with other teachers and the atelierista and parents in curriculum planning and evaluation. Teachers of several schools often work and learn together under the leadership of the pedagogista as they explore ways of expanding on children's spontaneous activities.

The role of enviornment:

The organization of the physical environment is crucial to Reggio Emilia's early childhood program, and is often referred to as the child's "third teacher". Major aims in the planning of new spaces and the remodeling of old ones include the integration of each classroom with the rest of the school, and the school with the surrounding community. The preschools are generally filled with indoor plants and vines, and awash with natural light.

Other supportive elements of the environment include ample space for supplies, frequently rearranged to draw attention to their aesthetic features. In each classroom there are studio spaces in the form of a large, centrally located atelier and a smaller mini-atelier, and clearly designated spaces for large- and small-group activities. Throughout the school, there is an effort to create opportunities for children to interact. Thus, the single dress-up area is in the center piazza; classrooms are connected with phones, passageways or windows; and lunchrooms and bathrooms are designed to encourage playful encounters.

The hundred languages:
As children proceed in an investigation, generating and testing their hypotheses, they are encouraged to depict their understanding through one of many symbolic languages, including drawing, sculpture, dramatic play, and writing. They work together towards the resolution of problems that arise. Teachers facilitate and then observe debates regarding the extent to which a child's drawing or other form of representation lives up to the expressed intent. Revision of drawings (and ideas) is encouraged, and teachers allow children to repeat activities and modify each other's work in the collective aim of better understanding the topic. Teachers foster children's involvement in the processes of exploration and evaluation, acknowledging the importance of their evolving products as vehicles for exchange.

Very interesting concept and idea. buildingBlocks plans to develop a similar concept, however, contextual to the Indian ethos and culture.

Vedic Mathematics: What is it?

My exploration of alternative but effective methods of overall development of children is driving me to understand all these Eastern modes of thinking. As, we have tried many of the Western ways of thinking and I believe they have both pros and cons.

I had heard a lot about Vedic Mathematics and was always enticed to it. Really got a chance to understand it over last few months. Was talking to an IIT professor who takes classes in Vedic Mathematics couple of weeks back and was bowled by the observation that he had. According to him, there are no calculators to do equational computations (for example no calculator to divide 5x square - 3x + 1 from x + 3). According to him that Vedic mathematics can be used to do a computation like that -- some of the sutras that he demonstrated earlier made me believe that it's possible.

BTW, below is a overview about Vedic mathematics that I picked from this site:

What is Vedic Mathematics?
Vedic Mathematics is the name given to the ancient system of Mathematics which was rediscovered from the Vedas between 1911 and 1918 by Sri Bharati Krsna Tirthaji (1884-1960).

According to his research all of mathematics is based on sixteen Sutras or word-formulae. For example, 'Vertically and Crosswise` is one of these Sutras. These formulae describe the way the mind naturally works and are therefore a great help in directing the student to the appropriate method of solution.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the Vedic system is its coherence. Instead of a hotch-potch of unrelated techniques the whole system is beautifully interrelated and unified: the general multiplication method, for example, is easily reversed to allow one-line divisions and the simple squaring method can be reversed to give one-line square roots. And these are all easily understood.

This unifying quality is very satisfying, it makes mathematics easy and enjoyable and encourages innovation. In the Vedic system 'difficult' problems or huge sums can often be solved immediately by the Vedic method. These striking and beautiful methods are just a part of a complete system of mathematics which is far more systematic than the modern 'system'.

Vedic Mathematics manifests the coherent and unified structure of mathematics and the methods are complementary, direct and easy. The simplicity of Vedic Mathematics means that calculations can be carried out mentally (though the methods can also be written down). There are many advantages in using a flexible, mental system.

Pupils can invent their own methods, they are not limited to the one 'correct' method. This leads to more creative, interested and intelligent pupils. Interest in the Vedic system is growing in education where mathematics teachers are looking for something better and finding the Vedic system is the answer. Research is being carried out in many areas including the effects of learning Vedic Maths on children; developing new, powerful but easy applications of the Vedic Sutras in geometry, calculus, computing etc. But the real beauty and effectiveness of Vedic Mathematics cannot be fully appreciated without actually practising the system. One can then see that it is perhaps the most refined and efficient mathematical system possible.

Use of Abacus for faster calculation

In several parts of India, Abacus, as a mathematics learning technique, has become a rage. Some of the major service providers in this field are:
1. Aloha India
2. UC Mas India
3. Smart Brain India

I just took a stab on how this technique works and after few minutes of exploration found out following literature on this ancient mathematics technique:

Anatomy & Construction

The standard abacus can be used to perform addition, subtraction, division and multiplication; the abacus can also be used to extract square-roots and cubic roots.

The abacus is typically constructed of various types of hardwoods and comes in varying sizes. The frame of the abacus has a series of vertical rods on which a number of wooden beads are allowed to slide freely. A horizontal beam separates the frame into two sections, known as the upper deck and the lower deck.

Basics

The abacus is prepared for use by placing it flat on a table or one's lap and pushing all the beads on both the upper and lower decks away from the beam. The beads are manipulated with either the index finger or the thumb of one hand.

Bead Values

Each bead in the upper deck has a value of 5; each bead in the lower deck has a value of 1. Beads are considered counted, when moved towards the beam that separates the two decks.

Counting
After 5 beads are counted in the lower deck, the result is "carried" to the upper deck; after both beads in the upper deck are counted, the result (10) is then carried to the left-most adjacent column.

The right-most column is the ones column; the next adjacent to the left is the tens column; the next adjacent to the left is the hundreds column, and so on. Floating point calculations are performed by designating a space between 2 columns as the decimal-point and all the rows to the right of that space represent fractional portions while all the rows to the left represent whole number digits.

Technique
Proper finger technique is paramount in achieving proficiency on the abacus. With a Chinese abacus, the thumb and the index finger together with the middle finger are used to manipulate the beads. Beads in lower deck are moved up with the thumb and down with the index finger. In certain calculations, the middle finger is used to move beads in the upper deck.

Finger Technique: A Japanese textbook published in 1954 shows the proper technique for moving the beads. It shows the thumb being used to count beads in the lower deck and the index finger being used in all other cases.

With the Japanese version, only the index finger and thumb are used. The beads are moved updown with the index finger. However, certain complex operations require that the index finger move beads up; e.g. adding 3 to 8 (the adding of the three is called Jian Chi Jia Shi which literally means, "subtract 7 add 10"). with the thumb and

The Abacus Today
The abacus is still in use today by shopkeepers in Asia and "Chinatowns" in North America. The use of the abacus is still taught in Asian schools, and some few schools in the West. Blind children are taught to use the abacus where their sighted counterparts would be taught to use paper and pencil to perform calculations.

One particular use for the abacus is teaching children simple mathematics and especially multiplication; the abacus is an excellent substitute for rote memorization of multiplication tables, a particularily detestable task for young children. The abacus is also an excellent tool for teaching other base numbering systems since it easily adapts itself to any base.

We do plan to have ABACUS and Vedic Mathematics as part of course curriculums at buildingBlocksTM

Eklavya Foundation

The more research that I have been doing on the primary education system in India, the better my experience is becoming. There are several issues with the primary education system in India, however, like any other thing in India, there are several good initiatives that are taking place in the field of education.

Eklavya institute is one such initiative. This institutions goals are very similar to the goals of buildingBlocksTM probably with only difference in the speed of implementation.

Eklavya's philosophy:
Eklavya believes that education is an infrastructure, atleast, as important as nation's roads, electricity and telecom. It plays a fundamental role in determining the prosperity and well-being of its citizens. Progressive nations have strategically invested heavily in education on a long term basis.

I guess the Non profit status of this organization may have resulted in the gradual implementation of the programs.

Preschools

Well, it's not been reported in the business media, however, one of the fastest growing segment in the education sector is that of preschools i.e. teaching pre nursery school kids. Personally, I think this concept of pre schooling is ridiculous. One may come up with several arguments that these kids can learn a lot because they are really young. However, I firmly believe with some resounding evidence from other independent sources that these preschools are bringing a lot of stress on these kids.

The parents end up spending less time playing with their kids, and more time training/coaching them how to respond to certain type of questions. The situation has worsened to such depths that parents end up yelling at the 3 year olds because they were not able to clear the preschool entrance examination. The actions of the High Courts have definitely brought relief to some of parents, who ended up sending their kids to these pre schools because of the interview pressure.

However, the jury is still out on that segment that is extremely ambitious for their kids and wants kids to win races when they can hardly walk.

Experiential Learning

Experiential learning, a fairly recently educational concept doing rounds in the elitist echelons of the Indian education system. I have been attracted to the concept of experiential learning from the moment that I heard about it.

On wikipi'ing the word, I realized that there has been a lot of academic study and research that has been done on this particular methodology to teach tiny tots. Having experienced both the kinds of educational systems, instructional and participatory, I have been amazed by how the method of instruction can catalyze the agility and capacity of the learner.

Wiki says following about the historical context:
John Doewy, an American educational philosopher, was an early twentieth century promoter of the idea of learning through direct experience (action and reflection). Experiential education differs from much traditional education in that teachers first immerse students in action and then ask them to reflect on the experience.

In traditional education, teachers set the knowledge to be learnt (including analysis and synthesis) before students. They hope students will subsequently find ways to apply the knowledge.

Despite the efforts of many efforts at progressive educational reform, this movment has not really taken off.

A lot of what buildingBlocks is trying to achieve is pretty much on these lines.

Hope to write more on this topic.

Learning: Cognitive or Experiential

C Rogers classifies learning of two different types:
1. Cognitive
2. Experiential

Cognitive learning primarily deals with academic learning for example learning vocalubary, multiplication tables, solving trigonometric equations etc. Whereas, experiential learning refers to applied knowledge for example learning about aerodynamics if you want to build a mini-plane for your science project. From my experience, Indian education system is dominated by cognitive learning with extreme focus on ranks, percentages obtained etc.

Since, there are two broad categories of learning, a logical question that would come out would be which learning methodology is superior? Many folks would believe that experiental learning is superior and advantageous and true it is. However, in my humble opinion there is a place and space for cognitive learning as well. Absurd it may sound, however, cognitive learning is much more easier to scale and in developing countries is a good model for education delivery.

Rogers also talks about the role of teacher in the experiential methodology, which is related to my earlier post. Roger says "experiential learning is equivalent to personal change and growth. Rogers feels that all human beings have a natural propensity to learn; the role of the teacher is to facilitate such learning. This includes: (1) setting a positive climate for learning, (2) clarifying the purposes of the learner(s), (3) organizing and making available learning resources, (4) balancing intellectual and emotional components of learning, and (5) sharing feelings and thoughts with learners but not dominating."

Well, the jury is still out to decide on the efficacy of both these forms of learning as mass education delivery modules. However, I have my pick and that being a right balance of both in every kid's life and that's where buildingBlocks comes in.

What is teaching?

Sri Aurobindo once said that the first principle of teaching is "that nothing can be taught". J.S.Rajput comments on this profound statement:

This statement of Sri Aurobindo condenses a whole lot of theories of education and a new form of pedagogy closer to integral approach to education. It puts learning above teaching. It makes learning a self starting, self propelling process. It redefines the role of teacher as a possessor of information to a facilitator and guide for the learner.

This statement definitely has profound meaning and extreme relevance in today's times.

What is this blog about?

This blog is intended to discuss various aspects about a child's development. I am going through this exercise as my current professional venture is trying to address this problem, I thought it would be good discuss about this in the public domain. I intend to explore the past, present and future of various methodologies involved in child's development in this public forum.

This way my ideas, opinions and assumptions would get verified and may have universal application. In case if you have interest in learning about my company (Building Blocks), please feel to send me a note on tarun dot bhalla at gmail dot com.

Thanks,
Tarun