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A rhythmical workshop
Creativity in clay.
FOR MEDICINE, Engineering and all sought-after and not sought-after professions, where lies the beginning point? The embryonic stage starts with Kindergarten teaching. So how important is the role of the KG teachers in shaping the future of the students? Tremendous is their responsibility.
If said, the realisation has dawned upon a few of the schools in down south about the play way pattern of teaching, then it can, as well, be taken with a pinch of sugar for it's something that brings cheers to the children.
The teachers themselves are buoyed by such original methods. Their enthusiasm in the heart of hearts got reflected in their cherub faces even as they had to keep away from their families for the three-day residential workshop in the Centre for Experiencing Socio Cultural Interaction (CESCI) at Kadavur.
The serene surroundings was, in fact, a boost to the kindergarten teachers from various schools who were found excited during the introductory workshops organised jointly by CESCI and the Valliammal Institution. The creativity of the teachers teemed as the lush green atmosphere in a typical rural setting at CESCI gave them the real inspiration.
The KG teachers with a limited strength, who experienced a thrilling teaching venture, were drawn from elite schools in Madurai, Gandhigram Primary School, Dindigul, Sakthi Vinayagar School, Tuticorin, V.S.K.D.Nadar School, Sivakasi, National Academy, Ramanathapuram and even from the Sarva Seva schools in ten villages of Marungapuri unit.
The teachers almost took up the role of the innocent children themselves to get into the frame. Anita Halder, the resource person from Switzerland steered them through. As a KG teacher, Anita, who has a work experience of over 20 years, when we dropped in, was toying with mud and clay along with her Indian colleagues.
Readied for a tell-tale.
The teacher candidates were let free to make clay dolls of their choice. When the job was done, Anita's part became predominant. Arranging the clay items to create a telltale, her whims and fancies took new forms and she fancied and formulated a fairy tale that made everyone around drop their jaws in amazement.
Not a tall story but pretty acceptable that would fascinate tiny tots. With her mastery in storytelling, she evolved the end with a happy and moral note, just like any other fairy tale.
A bird makes some sense into a lazy man by awakening him from sleep for which it brings a shell after much effort. By blowing the shell, it makes the man get up from his slumber. He sees his withered flowers and trees and gets back to work. That makes the gist of her own tale.
All the clay toys made by the teachers had a role to play in the plot of the story. When she spun a fable for the clay crocodile that had its leg broken accidentally, it was really amazing. The Secretary of CESCI, P.V.Rajagopal came out with the Tamil version as natural as the Swiss teacher. As he struck the chord of comparison with Andal songs, the teachers started humming `Margazhi Thingal'.
Anita Halder
Ask Anita Halder about her spontaneous overflow of creativity and her rhythmical teaching, she, who fights for the value of free play, says, "Imagination is in you. And what you have to do is to wake it up. Reading a plethora of fairy tales will help create and tell a web of stories impromptu with the craft fabricated by the children.''
Having taken up various courses in Waldorf-education (based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner), she believes in the holistic teaching of "hand, heart and mind''. She says, "She prefers Steiner to Montessori for the former's way is more creative than the latter.''
Guiding her Indian colleagues on the child's development of senso-motoric functions, training of grapho-motoric skills, rhythmical games and dances and celebrating seasonal festivities, what makes Anita perplexed about the system here is the teaching of English language even in pre-schools.
By AR. Meyyammai
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Life
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Madurai
Thiruvananthapuram
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