Saturday, May 16, 2015

Empathy, Teachers and Schools

Lot of things keep coming to my mind which can help improve the condition of social engineers in or country...! Yes the teachers, Being in the field and meeting several teachers from all strata, it helps me formulate the facts. Most of the seminars you go to which are being taken for improvement in education etc, you will find teachers being bashed...

      I don't know if not for them where our country would have been and our kids... I will cover what I want to say over coming posts...

     One of the things that struck me in recent seminar I attended is, the fact being displayed, In PISA ratings 2009 India stood second last in some 140+ countries. I wonder to myself... Is it so... Is our education system so bad...?

     Let us understand, these systems are made by western countries with low population, where the class strengths vary from 15-25. Its just so easy with these little numbers in the class.. You cant imagine it till you are a teacher... Ask a teacher and you will know it... BDW How come a country whos citizens form 62 percent (Thats what we have been hearing since 90's - current is 36 percent. Even 36 percent is not less, its quite a lot for a country with apparently such a bad education system) of NASA scientist has a bad education? B-) )

            To one of the recent world wide phenomena in education... one that is changing the education system world wide... I asked the person who started it. "How would you apply this in the class of 50+ students?" I did not recieve the answer for long time... and when I got it... it was, not answered clearly but tried to put it hanging in the air... As we say in hindi, A 'golmatol' answer.


          Amway lot of things go on... I am going to start with suggestions for improvement in our education system.
1. Most of our schools ask female teachers to resign when the are pregnant and need maternity leave.
   Thats just wrong. In other countries where even the father is given compulsory paternity leave. females not given the leaves and asked to leave is not just. Very rarely they are absorbed back. Well then you can imagine about the new fathers, how much holidays they get... :-p

 We make our society only such that men dont care about kids, family... by doing all these things and make them feel that it is responsibility entirely of the female to look after kids and home. Tehn we complain men dont pay attention to kids, home, wife and so on... rent we making them feel that way?

           For men to really (not that they don't - but t be able to express it and not only express it but do something helpful, empathetic) care about kids, wife, home and hence of other women, society etc, They need to be empathetic... How does one become empathetic... If only we give them that opportunity...

       If we take away one of the most important feeling that a human can have, one of the most soft, tender bonds that humans can have... the bond of new born child and parents... Then how do we plan to make our society empathetic?

        This exist in our society everywhere I know but in  Education field it is far more important as teachers deal with future and if we want our future to have empathetic children then the teachers them selves should feel that way...

    It would be very easy for school and educational agency's to put the onus on teachers, that they have to be empathetic... but the point is... It doesn't work that way, teachers need jobs, teachers need to ear  living and hence will abide by whatever schools says...

  but that doesn't make the things right... If we want our world t be a better place, which is  the most important aim of education that gets lost... Schools and educational institutions cant just dodge their responsibilities...

           Just think about a school, where female and male teachers as well are given maternity and paternity leave, Will teachers want to leave that school? Wont they want to do their best for such a school? and in turn for the kids and hence for human future?

     now schools will produce the problem of less staff... I rather say, if instead of these 3 months maternity leave for females etc. If they are given full 1 year leave.. Another teacher can work in her place and also move on to next school with that experience... (New teachers would love such opportunities)


     doesn't it become a win win situation?
       

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Inequality... Global economy needs a change...

The ugly TruthThe ugly Truth.....! Must watch..!
Posted by Shankar Naidu on Saturday, July 6, 2013