Kids And Classical Dance - Part 1

Today I am reminded of my childhood days , when I used to take a short nap after coming back from school and my mother used to wake me up in the evenings for me to go to my Kathak dance classes.I used to feel very lazy and made all kind of excuses.Somehow my mother always managed to coax me, and eventually I used to go with a long face.But once I would start my dance steps, I would feel rejuvenated and would shed all my laziness.

I started my classical dance training at the tender age of five and then onwards it became an obsession and also a stress-buster.I continued till my Guruji died(when I was 15 years old).

This is something I want to share with my readers that classical dancing , be it Indian or Western is an education in itself.The training in classical dance not only teaches the art of dancing, but also the art of living.It endows you with the following qualities:

* Discipline
* Regard for Teacher
* Scientific Nature
* Significance of Practice(Riyaz)
* Graceful Expression
* Exercise
* Stress Buster
* Modesty and Simplicity
I will elaborate on each of these aspects in my next post.

Meeting with Aakar

Finally, I got a chance to meet up with some extraordinarily good and responsible talent in India. After talking to so many entrepreneurs/professionals who have their minds fixated on bottom lines, it was very refreshing to talk to someone who thought about social responsibility as well.

Yes! I got a chance to meet one of the founders of Aakar solutions (Saurabh Saxena). He was also in favor of doing something socially responsibly with a keen eye towards maintaining a healthy bottom line to ensure longevity of the organization. We got a chance to talk about the ailing aspects of contemporary education system. The whole discussion was very enriching and encouraging.


Additionally, I got some really good suggestions from him about not waiting till eternity to get out with something that is a good foundation and can be improved upon. Further, we seemed to agree on the problem of pervasive mediocrity in every aspect of our society – essentially the need to differentiate buildingBlocks.The issue that it is not just another hobby class, rather a place that offers holistic approach towards education. On the whole, it was great to catch up with entrepreneurs who are as passionate (and in all likelihoods more) about providing enriching education to today’s kids. The only hope is that collectively, we will take today’s education system to the next level.

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.

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.

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