Dear Schools, Abolish Your Assumption of the Average Child
I have been observing seven children in my extended family closely for past 4.5 years (since I got married). Eldest one is my wife’s nephew who is seven years old now. I have two children. Elder one is 3y6m old, while younger one is 1y4m old. There are 4 other children in my extended family (our nieces) who are in similar age group. We are a close knit family and keep talking over phone or meeting frequently.
Due to my interest in children’s play and learning, I have observed all these children and their activities fairly closely. Right from birth, they have had different personalities, temperaments, interests, and learning curves. While my elder one loves drill machines and can already use hammer to hit a nail on head, the younger one barely shows an interest in these things. Elder one got excited by watching a drill in operation even when he was only one year old. One niece (now 1y 6m) is so flexible that we call her ‘made of rubber’. She started walking late but spoke ‘ice cream’ when she was barely 9–10 months old. Two can dance so well, while others’ dance skills are cute like any child but do not show natural talent in any way (at least till now). One is a swimmer and a sportsperson but do not like reading/writing very much, while some others love reading or writing. Of course, nothing they speak or pen down makes any sense, but they engage in pretend play and read aloud to themselves, or write (draw) on walls and notebooks. One love painting while other loves helping her father in wood work. Two can speak to any stranger easily, while two will hide behind parents in interactions with strangers. There are some commonalities also. All of them love being outdoors, and all love playing in mud and water.
Having consciously observed these seven children passing through same stage (age) and seeing their physiological growth, I can say one thing: THEY ALL ARE SO DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER.
All have achieved (or are achieving) physiological growth milestones like crawling, sitting, walking, getting teeth, copying sounds, speaking easy or complex words (including grammatically correct sentences) etc. but at different pace and with differing trajectories. Their interests (at present, and at similar ages) differ widely. The differences in their personalities were visible even during first six months of their birth. While some of these differences continue till date (even for siblings), others have evaporated (the classic nature versus nurture argument).
Now imagine this: What will happen if these seven children were enrolled in the same school?
Will these seven children who are so different from each other be treated differently, or the school (and the teachers) will treat them all the same?
Despite my arguments above, when they enter school (including play school), they will be treated in a homogeneous manner (whatever year they may enter school).
Educational institutions in India are designed to “TEACH TO THE MIDDLE”.
The schools make an assumption that an average child will have certain traits, interests, abilities (at a certain age), family environment, etc. It is this assumption that defines the content and pace of the class (and even outside class activities). Much of the focus is on logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligence, and the remaining six intelligence (suggested by Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory) get largely neglected. I have shown clear differences in the seven children in my family along some of these dimensions and these are sometimes very prominent aspects of their personalities. Yet, each one of them will be required to read or learn the same things at the same pace at the same age and in the same sequence.
In India, schools are governed by operational efficiency logic (see my post on such logic here; though I do not believe that things are very different in most other countries barring a few exceptions). They want to keep things in order, in control. They prefer discipline over learning. It does not matter that one has an interest in a specific subject or not at that age (or even at a specific time of the day).
I remember a blog post shared in an unschooling community that a parent (not from India) had shared. His 5th grader son got a barrage of warnings from school for not submitting his assignments on time. Instead of doing his assignments, the school complained, he was spending time reading Kipling, Dahl, and Dickens. The father wrote that his son had finished several of books from these authors during the year. The teachers (and School administrators) were worried about assignments and grades, while the child was learning from the very best English language has ever produced. (Thankfully, the parents pulled the child out of school and let him pursue his interest in reading).
A similar affliction governs schools in India (with some alternative learning spaces being an exception).
THE SLOW LEARNERS SUFFER, AND SO DO GIFTED CHILDREN, AND THERE IS BARELY ANY RECOGNITION OF INTERESTS OUTSIDE ACADEMICS.
Our institutions do not have any special arrangements for children who show talent or interest in an academic subject or any other (non-academic) area (dance, sports, an understanding of and love for nature, arts, woodworking, pottery, coding, etc.). Except remedial classes, they do not have any provisions for slow learners. A child who dislikes Mathematics will be forced to endure it for 10 years and be reminded every day of her poor performance in that subject, though she may be an amateur geologist or chef. She will be reprimanded for poor handwriting, but rarely appreciated for her culinary skills or knowledge of rock structures.
Such a structure is efficient in improving enrolment and graduation rates but is highly ineffective mechanism to nurture a love for learning in most children.
The schools need to change drastically: the pedagogy, curriculum, assessments, the mindsets of teachers (administrators and policymakers), the classroom operations, the sequence or mandatory nature of activities, and the activities that can or cannot be pursued by children for their academic value. Above all, what needs to be made irrelevant is the mark sheet: that piece of paper which judges every single student on their performance in a culminating examination in 5 subjects and which is valued (legally and socially) for a long time (for university admissions, and even initial job offers).
Schools need to start considering the needs of each child, rather than force fitting each child into a predefined mould.
An overhaul of schooling system is required, and it is required urgently. Probably, we need to demolish school structures as they are and start from scratch. Probably we need to re-imagine the kind and nature of institutions (and spaces) that our children have access to. The schools will lose control. We may have chaos for a few years, but we may be able to help children truly flourish and create a more prosperous, happy, and (physically and emotionally) healthy society. I think that is a worthy goal, and worth the pain that the transformation will afflict.