Mirror of democracy

There are elements of a functioning democracy which can be implemented in an educational institution or organisation, preferably after observing a Montessori class. Being made aware of one's potential, acknowledging that everyone is equal, the experience of being an individual and a member of a collective, and respecting differences are some of these tenets. By recognising this, the attainment of the country's goals can be accelerated, says educationist AMUKTA MAHAPATRA, making out a case for change.

THE education system, even though many may wish it to be so, is not an isolated process, suspended in mid-air. It is an intrinsic part of the larger social construct and a primary element of the whole. The links between education and society become apparent when one goes through the evolving practice of child-rearing and socialising of the young over the various stages of civilisation. The existing school system, which is supposed to enable today's children to become full members of the society they are born into, is the most recent phenomenon in the continuum of child- minding methods.

If one looks at tribal or early agrarian communities, and the manner in which the younger generation is educated, it can be concluded that the geography and the social patterns of the region strongly influence their education. In the last 200 years or so, with more people living in urban centres and not being in direct contact with the natural environment but connected more to supra-nature, the rearing of children has also undergone many changes.

A primary change has been that children, instead of living in the family or community, have been moved into institutions for the large part of the day, hence cut off from the cycle of life. This change has occurred not out of a concern for the child's needs but mainly to suit the requirements of the adult, living in a new and demanding society.

There would be more clarity if one looks at the history of the modern school with its origins in the Sunday Schools and the Industrial Revolution of England (which is also closely linked to the history of child labour issues.) When factories and workshops needed cheap labour, women and children were absorbed as workers and they formed quite a large percentage of the workforce. Gradually with the success of factories and the growth of industrial culture, the increase in wages motivated adults, specially men, to demand more jobs for themselves.

Children had to be kept out of these newly discovered "bad" conditions in the factories. It was also observed that, at work, children did not follow accurately the instructions given. It was felt that they needed to be trained to be able to work in these places. If they knew a bit of reading (not necessarily writing), along with learning how to listen and do what was told, they would be able to serve industry better. Classes were started for children where moral instruction (to obey and to listen) and some basic language were taught for a short while every day.

In a general way, this was the beginning and the philosophy of the present day school. The mainstream school system, by and large, continues with the same basic philosophy merely adding more content making the school day longer and the school bag heavier. With the school taking on many of the functions of parents, its responsibility too has become wider. The environment (physical, social, political and cultural) no longer has much of a role to play in today's main child-rearing system - school. The school functions almost like an island unto itself. Once the children are enrolled, often even the parents are perceived to be intruders.

The fundamental change which the school system seems to require is to either bring the environment into the child's school life or open the school out for the child to participate in his or her society. The ideal would be to attempt both simultaneously. Unless this is done, schools will continue to be artificial, contrived institutions, divorced from the whole that they are a part of, divorced from the life they are supposed to enable their wards to comprehend. In this kind of an atmosphere, children are treated only as students, which makes them unidimensional, emotionally uncomfortable and culturally not very viable human beings.

Is there a possibility of making the closed circle of the school a mobius strip of true education? Will a flick of the wrist holding the strip do the magic? It could be almost as simple if one can turn around some conventionally held perceptions and bring fresh thinking into the school room. If one has to reconnect education and child-rearing to life, one critical aspect which has to be brought in is the social and political structure which is prevalent or is aspired for. If this is done for a start, to lay the framework, so to say, other aspects of the environment - the superstructure - can also be included as and when required.

India, with a mixed economy and a vastly heterogeneous population, likes to call itself the largest democratic nation, but the earlier feudal modes of behaviour are increasingly visible in almost every sphere of life. The democracy is formal rather than real. The citizenship too has not been exposed to a democratic way of living and behaving. A person's behaviour is said to be a function of his or her experience. Hence, if people do not experience democracy, they cannot behave in a democratic fashion overnight. One cannot have a truly democratic society, without a democratic education in place.

It is often said that democracy is an idea imported into this country. This may not be absolutely true. There seems to be, in India, a kind of a democracy organic in its own unique way. Otherwise so many different cultures and ways of living could not have existed in such richness and variety. This needs to be recognised and understood more fully.

Schools, instead of clinging to anachronistic modes of behaviour, can be the forerunners in bringing in a real functioning democracy, especially with such a large captive child population in their hands - under their care and responsibility. The school system can accelerate the attainment of the country's goals and aspirations by bringing in democratic principles of functioning.

Some of these ideas have already been worked out in practice and are available within the Montessori approach to education, which encompasses the child from birth to adulthood (though it is often viewed as only for the pre-primary age group since that has what has been mostly practised in India). These inherent democratic ideas and practices have to be recognised through this angle of a prism, first by Montessori educators themselves. These ideas need to be discovered by educators at various levels and positions.

People generally associate the word democracy (much bandied about of late, with the United States, and closer home the Congress(I)'s elections) with voting and have a fuzzy idea that everyone is equal. At this juncture, let us look a little deeper. Some of the tenets of democracy are delineated below. How this idea is practised in the Montessori methodology, and can be adapted by any school or programme or teacher or educators, is clarified.

* One of the important principles of democracy is that people should not feel powerless or feel that they cannot do much to change their situation. Instead they should feel that they can influence events and processes around them. They should feel and also be in charge of themselves and their environment.

In a Montessori classroom, even at the pre-primary level, children are not made to feel helpless. They do not feel that they have to ask permission to stand, sit or speak. Instead they are made aware of all that they can do and are enabled to do things by themselves. In the class, they can move around, talk and choose what they want to do, keeping in mind some ground rules which are necessary when so many people are working together.

As part of this principle, the teacher too does not behave as a dictator (not even as a benevolent one) or a policeman. S/he is in charge of the class and is responsible for it. Her role is that of one who facilitates learning and guides the class through the day. S/he is also not the only resource from whom children learn. Children learn from materials, and from one another. In this way, the teacher is not the sole centre of power in the class. She is the authority but it is not necessary for her/him to behave in an authoritarian manner. All this enables children (and teachers) to feel in charge of themselves, their learning and their class environment.

* Leading from the above, another tenet of democracy is that all control and power is not centralised. Every sub-system of the country needs to be autonomous - the various pillars and branches of the state; the institutions and the organisations; the communities and the individuals.

A school, which has adapted the Montessori approach, accepts, first and foremost, that the child, an individual, is an autonomous being. The children are given the experience of being an individual; being a member of a group (different from a herd which is usually the case in schools at present); and being a part of the collective. Each has its own rules of membership and participation and the child, first unconsciously, and, later, consciously, experiences, feels and understands this idea.

* Another element of democratic functioning, which is crucial to India, is to understand that society is diverse; that it is not an amalgam or a melting pot but a mosaic of different kinds of people living in a wide range of situations.

Without giving lectures on society and culture, children are helped in Montessori schools to understand and respect (not just tolerate) differences. Children are a part of activities across an age range, across mixed abilities which are intrinsic to the methodology.

* "Everyone is equal" is one of the strong messages of democracy. From this, people usually conclude that everybody must be the same then. To give an example from the gender debate - often people argue: "but men and women are different, how can they be equal? They cannot be equal". Equality does not imply uniformity; that one can be different and still be equal needs to be understood by more people.

In a Montessori class this message - each one is different but everyone is equal - is practised in many casual but significant ways.

* Conflicts will occur wherever people live and work together. That these have to be settled fairly and justly is one aspect of a real democracy.

Fairness is part of the class ambience. Also, no unreasonable behaviour (for example bullying or grabbing) is accepted if done by a member of the group. Some action is taken. The ground rules are the same for everybody.

* While resolving conflicts or issues or while making decisions, rational thinking should be the main consideration. Self-interest or vested interests are to be thrown out of the window.

In a Montessori class, reasoning with children and helping them talk things out are an aspect of any normal day. This helps them see reason even when they are angry or when conflicts occur.

* A major aspect of democracy often ignored is that each sub- system of the larger whole has to be given opportunities to excel in its own unique way. If each one is successful in its own field, then people, instead of being envious of other's successes, will appreciate and help one another.

Rigour is a part of the learning process in this method of education. This is not thrust upon the children by the teacher but is similar to the rigour imposed on the potter by the clay he tries to mould. Children feel they have learnt something (not taught something) and feel successful almost everyday. A milieu is carefully created where children appreciate one another, value the qualities of others and are generous to each other.

* A democratic country should be varied and flexible enough to give local, regional or minority culture space to grow and flourish. The state includes it but does not overpower it in the process.

With the teachers and the school absorbing ideas of education and peace, built into the Montessori approach, the culture and practices of the child's home are brought into the school; this process is actively encouraged in the Montessori system.

At the outset, children from varied social and educational backgrounds are taken into the school. Children, handicapped in different ways, are also enrolled. The idea is that whatever is in the child's environment and his interactions with it ought to be reflected in the class. School cannot be a sanitised and a detoxified zone.

The next important facet of this principle is the introduction of "Practical Life" activities, many of which are displayed in the classroom, as a part of learning materials. These are a popular series of activities which may include drawing kolams on the floor, different ways of greeting one another, making wicks, basket weaving, clay work, cutting vegetables, sweeping and mopping, dressing up, decorating and much more - all activities which exist in the child's region.

This concept of bringing in the different cultures is manifested in other ways too - encouraging children to express themselves in whichever language they feel comfortable in; introducing songs in many languages; not just visiting but studying local places, events and people; inviting parents and local people to participate meaningfully in the school and so forth.

All these also help form a continuity between home and school. There is no necessity for a divide. School and life; school, home and work; the cognitive and the emotional can all converge. With this kind of an experience, children are not just trained human beings, but intelligent, feeling persons.

These are some of the different elements of a functioning democracy, which can be implemented by any teacher in a class after some discussion and preferably after observing a Montessori class. The same principles can be applied to the overall administration of any institution or organisation.

Frequently one hears educators say that they can only do what is given and what is prescribed. But what is stated by the examination boards is only the content. No educational authority, either private or government, seriously attempts to tell the teacher how to enable the children to learn the syllabus. It is the responsibility of the school or the professional teacher to choose the methodology.

Hence, schooling does not exist in a vacuum. It usually reflects the dominant political values, the social relationships and the class structure of its parent society.

At times when individuals or organisations or political processes have offered alternatives, schools have gone ahead and brought about changes. After all, the kind of schools one sees today are only about 200 years old, if we go back to the Sunday Schools. Much less if we begin from the state controlled schools for mass education.

It is time for a change, for a transformation. If the circumstances of a human being change, education too changes and the educator needs to realign himself or herself. There can be no better time than now.

Pudu kalam varughudu, pudu kaalam varughudu. Although this sounds a trifle menacing, it could be optimistic if we make it so. Remember, circumstances are changed by people.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : History as fiction
Next     : The best impression