LearningInq Study Centres

May 2011 - Session 1

2011-05-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

Session 1:
Discussion on Case Profiles
1. Rukshana - She is 14 years old and extremely overweight. Her mother is also obese and is a heart patient. She dropped out of school in Class 3. This week work will start with her and her family on getting her the medical attention she needs. We expect a rapport building process will begin and then next week a linkage with the local Government dispensary will be established.

Selection of students to be mainstreamed. The Education Offices in the Kardampuri area is showing reassuring progress where all Government officials have said clearly, that they will not stop admissions until all children are in school.The final date for filing forms changed from 30th April to the 15th of May, 2011. There is a centralised system wherein a Rs.2 form to be filled for admission to Class 1-8. They are asking for affidavits which you can get made at Rs. 50/- at a closeby stall.

Which child qualifies as a drop out? Only children who have migrated from the community will be signed off as drop out.

Discussion on finding a partner NGO for NIOS - Will Salaam Balak Trust help us?

Reviewing the community map

Nurturing the Team

2011-05-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

Exploring case studies with the teaching team is always an interesting experience. It provides insight into the depth of the teacher's thinking about change, education and the process of both. The role of the mentor is largely just to listen and ask questions that will provide the opportunity and space for the teacher to develop and further their thinking on various angles of the discussion/ case at hand.

This May and June, LearningInq is using the lull in the student attendance - due to the scorching summer, to spend time with the teachers on reflecting on their experience with the students and the community associated with them. Other organisations who have small schools in the community for vulnerable children are welcome to join at minimal fees. We intend to meet o various dates across the two months, such that we can consolidate our learning for the previous year and prepare for the academic year to come.

2011-01-22T03:38:00.000-08:00

The winter has decreased and the children are clad well enough. We encourage people to utilise their resources optimally and never engage charity in the traditional sense. Recently, one such case of a child came up where we proposed for a student's scholarship such that she is able to continue with her education. Muskan's mother has asked relatives to house her so that she can go to school in the local Government school. Her mother lives in Loni - a resettlement colony which like all the others does not have adequate educational facilities. The relatives made Muskan work continuously - hard physical labour, but let her go to school. The girl needed support to stay in school - as the quality of school education as you know is extremely poor. She is therefore given free education at our learning centre. She hardly ever makes it and when she does, the teacher usually feeds her and encourages her to sleep because she is so exhausted. We deceided to give the girl a Rs.100/- scholarship which her mother can use as leverage for the relatives to release her for the day, such that she stays at the centre the whole day (day boarding). We also wanted to give our teacher Rs. 200/- a month, such that she can bring additional food from her home for this child and feed her more comfortably and everyday.

In response to this appeal one of our volunteers Ms. Krishna Sarbadhikary sent us Rs. 5000 towards sponsoring the child as well as any other necessary items in our progrmme.

Experiments with Teaching English

2011-01-22T03:02:00.000-08:00

January 15, 2011

2011-01-22T01:57:00.000-08:00

In the subsequent visit to the centre the ongoing activity of imparting instructions to the teacher regard lesson plans continued. Shama, the teacher from Seemapuri centre was also asked to join us so that all the three batches at both the centres can proceed together. Moving forward they were explained lessons 3-7 under basics of language and Mehjabeen was asked to do class demonstration in the afternoon batch such that support could be provided right away wherever there were gaps while teaching in class.

Simultaneously, feedback of the previous session was taken and Mehjabeen was asked if she faced any troubles while doing the lessons with the other batches. She was also asked if she had finished reading the four books that were suggested to her. Over and above that, she was asked to start reading the NCERT English books for Class 1, side by side, which she will then begin once the 24 day lesson plan for basics of language is completed.

January 11, 2011

2011-01-22T00:57:00.000-08:00

One of the ways in which we have attempted to reinforce the curriculum is through designing lesson plans for each subject and implementing them in the LI classrooms such that a literate and creative environment is nurtured in the classroom and the relevant kind of knowledge and experience is transferred.

Lesson Plans for basics of language, to be covered over a period of 24 days, were discussed with Mehjabeen, the teacher at the Kardampuri Centre. She was asked to go through the material and explain what she could understand. Based on her comfort level she was asked to first do a small demo before she could begin the lessons in the classroom. Given her ability and pace it was decided that instead of half an hour per batch, as proposed in the time table earlier, she would take her time and focus on doing one lesson plan for one and half hours per batch every day. In the remaining half an hour while the children do their homework, she would utilize that time reading library books thus getting an opportunity to improve upon her language skills. As per this she was asked to start reading any four English books.

Other activities conducted during the day were as following:

1. Inventory List created by students. All the books and toys given in donation were put in separate boxes by children and a list of which box contained what items was prepared simultaneously. They were explained what inventory meant and why is it important. The objective behind getting children to participate in this exercise was to firstly, make them understand the concept of team work. It was interesting to see that children who were not very comfortable with writing were putting the said items in the box systematically while those who were more at ease with their writing skills were, at the same time, preparing a list to be either put inside or pasted outside the box. Secondly, the activity was also directed at improving the basics of language. While conducting the activity children repeated words they were familiar with and asked questions about the new ones for instance, what is the Hindi word for inventory.

2. Once the inventory list was prepared simultaneously, a library corner was also set up for children. Both English and Hindi books were placed. The intent as, clearly stated by the NCF 2005, is to create enough reading opportunities for children and help shape a learning environment thus providing a variety of learning experience and access to a wider world of information.

2. Next a toy corner was set up adjacent to the bathroom wall. Toys donated by individuals and friends were also decorated on the wall. Children had deceided that they would put nails in the wall and and hang a few toys.

4. Children’s Mapping of the Community- in this exercise children were asked to put their respective family information on the wall. Subsequently photographs of each family will be clicked and put next to the information.

Winter Warmth!

2011-01-06T22:55:00.000-08:00

6th January 2011
With the city facing an intense spell of cold wave and temperatures dropping to unprecedented levels, concerned individuals have come together to provide warm clothes to children studying at the LI centres. One of our volunteers Smita Roy, Marketing Executive, Microsoft Singapore, recently sent a carton full of warm clothes to be distributed amongst children at the two centres. Before the warm jackets/coats were handed over to families, a process of how to go about choosing these families was put in place.

The teachers at the centres were asked to prepare a list each of children they considered as candidates for receiving warm clothes. Based on that family unit profiles were studied and discussed with the team such that those cases needing these clothes the most were given priority. Subsequently, home visits were made to observe what exactly the situation was on the ground. During these visits we also noticed that none of the children on our list were wearing socks and as a result had swollen toes. At the end around seven girls were chosen (in Seemapuri) and they and their mothers were invited to come to the centre. In the meantime the team had gone to the nearby market and bought socks to give away along with the coats.

Another reason behind choosing the seven girls was to give that extra support and provide them with an incentive to attend the LI centres regularly and ultimately the formal schools. Some of these children are not able to come to the centres because they are also working to supplement family income. The larger motivation behind the purpose being to be able to make education sustainable in a family.

Fatima trying on her new socks.

Happy Faces!
Back Row: Ruksana, her sister Afsana.
Front Row: Anjum, her sister Tabassum, Shahana, Fatima, Rubina.
Fatima's mother buttoning up her coat
Tabassum's mother helping her to button up.
Anupama buttoning up Tabassum while her mother looks on proudly.

Ruksana helping her sister Afsana

Reflection on a trip to Tolma

2010-12-16T22:36:00.001-08:00

Learning happens when the learner reflects on the experience that they have undergone. Watch how these children are constructing their knowledge about social relationships from what they observed and experienced on their trip to Tolma.

Even though the trip was put together by the teaching team to expose the children to a biome as a part of their Geography course, the learning outcomes were far reaching for the Mussalman girls, some of whom were still in 'purdah' (female seclusion), as they traveled out of their community (in most cases for the first time).

Consultative Construction of Curriculum

2010-12-16T04:15:00.001-08:00

Relevant curriculum is that which is learner led. The student, whatever their age can tell the teacher what they want to study, when and how. To be heard, the teacher needs to listen and the learner needs to express himself.

To listen, the teacher must be able to seperate her Self from that of the learner.
Learning is possible only when the enviroment/curriculum allows the learners to 'be'. 'Being' refers to the sense of freedom that allows every aspect of a person to breathe. It is only when the learner gives himself the permission to be himself that he can ask for or accept learning. It is only then that he can express himself completely. The job of the teacher is to listen to learner as they express themselves and to provide an environment wherein this is possible without interfrenec, without leading, without direction. The learner will ask for learning and let the teacher know how, when, what and where he wants to learn.

The teacher can provide this environment by unconditional acceptance of every aspect of the student. This is possible only when the teacher does the same for herself. If the dialogue between the teacher and her Self is not ongoing and therapeutic, it is likely that it will feature as 'static' that interferes with the teacher's conversations with her students.

Core Curriculum

2010-12-16T02:43:00.001-08:00

The core curriculum is based on the principle of Critical Pedagogy - it is the pedagogy that Paolo Freire developed while teaching illiterate adults in Brazil. Important elements were used by Septima Clark, the teacher who founded the first freedom schools in the South of the current United States during the Civil Rights era to train teachers.

When we deny the central place of students actual life experiences, we miss the opportunity for an authentic context for learning, and set ourselves up for a lot of resistance.

Critical Pedagogy affirms the mutual and coequal roles of teachers and learners. Instead of one teacher and twenty-five students in a class, there are twenty-five student-teachers and one teacher-student. Rather than alienation from and resistance to teachers, there is the opportunity for intergenerational trust. Students can take part in a constructive collective effort, where their peers rely on them, and where the actual experiences of their lives are at the center of the curriculum.

Critical pedagogy challenges the notion that the world is what it is and can't be any different. It enables learners to reflect on their own experience historically, giving their immediate reality a beginning, a present, and, most importantly, a future. It awakens in learners the expectation of change, and the energy and cooperation to make change happen. The exact form that the action towards change takes depends on what issues the students feel most powerless about, and how they can make the greatest impact, both in terms of personal growth and effecting change that reaches beyond themselves.

In all the work that is done at the school, this core of the curriculum must be reflected. The teacher mentor must work constantly with the teachers using Critical Pedagagy, so that they have experience of personal transformation. The mentoring cannot be done in order to have an effect on children/students. It must be done to affect change in partnership with teachers in their own lives. If the former stance is taken, it will result in rsentment, greater resistance to change and the quite justified feeling of being used like guniea pigs in a larger experiment.

Critical Pedagaogy was designed to create self awareness amongst the oppressed, so they could find a way forward for themselves through the exercise of defining themselves. The power of Critical Pedagogy is dangerous because it can be used to do the exact opposite. A facilitator can manipulate a learner into believing almost anything, by creating an atmosphere of trust and belongingness in the classroom.

As in any other situation where there are differences in the amount of authority and resources available to the participants, the learner is vulnerable to manipulation by the teacher. From subtle gestures that indicate approval to more obvious rules that are non-negotiable, the learner can forced to conform in terms of behaviour as well as in thought.

Creating an environment where the learner is at par with the teacher is difficult because conventional admission procedures in any centre for learning is based on the premise that learners don't know much about what they come to learn while teachers know enough that they will always keep ahead of what the learners know even by the time they graduate.

There are four issues here:
Quite obviously, this notion doesn't hold water in this age of information, where the Internet is free and available so easily to everyone atleast in the English-speaking world. Today, it is also quite common to think that this notion never made sense. Learners come with a native perspective about the world that can be build upon to create new connections and learning (constructivism). Also, the teacher does not have exclusive rights to the information and so cannot stay ahead of her students because she hopes to have more information than her students. Thus, the concept of the often abused role of the facilitator. The teacher is but one resource in a classroom and rarely the one responsible for bringing in the new information. Instead she takes on the role of the person who helps integrate the new information with the existing knowledge and talents of the learners so that they can navigate their own individual paths to knowledge that is relevant for their lives. The concept of the collaborative classroom is born. Here the teacher, like every other learner plays a specific role. There may be a repetition of skills but everyone brings atleast one unique skill to the table without which the task that the group has set for itself will remain incomplete. The interdependence that is created then forces co-operation. The resources thus distributed short-circuits a great deal of the chances for oppression.

Exposure Trips

2010-12-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

Exposure Appeal

Exposure Trip to the National Science Museum

2010-12-12T06:53:00.000-08:00

Bilal, Afreen, Anan

2010-12-12T06:52:00.000-08:00

Bilal was enrolled on the 9th of December, 2009, when he was in Class I. He was then 9 years old.

An example of how an incorrect implementation of Government provisions cripple children and extend the cycle of poverty. Bilal is now 10 years old and only in Class II. If he chooses to stay in school, he will be 18 years old and his 12th standard when he is 20 years old!!

He has a sister, 9 years old, Anan who is also in Class II in the same school - Yamunia Vihar C-6. His other sister is Afreen, who studies in Class VI. She was admitted to Government school by LearningInq in May 2010. She is 11 years old and her admission has nbeen facilitated in an age-appropriate class.

His father is a rickshaw puller and his mother takes on piecemeal embroidery work, in which she is assisted by Afreen. Both parents are very keen on their children' s education.

Bilal studies the Quran from 7.30-9.30Am, then attends Hamara School from 9.30-11.30AM, attends Government school from 12.30-5.30PM. Then, supervised with Afreen, Anan and Bilal work on their schoolwork thereafter. Bilal is a very quiet child, does not mix much with the other children.

All three children have attended a puppet show in April.

Bilal is in Class III, his age is 11, Anam is also in Class III but her age is 9 years. The Delhi Govt. is accepting requests for change of class according to age after the 10th of April. They will need to get affidavits made. Arijit and Smita Roy will sponsor the Rs. 50/- for this process.

Zoya, Anas, Samad

2010-12-12T06:51:00.000-08:00

Zoya joined Hamara Schools on the 2nd of November 2009. She was attending Class UKg in Gold Line Public School. It is a very poor quality school which caters to the children in the locality. Zoya's parents are one the main target groups of the Hamara Schools which provide a clear option of quality for the neighborhood. Zoya's parents are being asked to save the money they spend on school books, uniform and fee for the private school and send her to Hamara School full time. When she is in Class V she can be admitted in a better private school. She would even survive a Government school, if she has receives the supplementary support on comprehension before and during a Govt. school admission.

She has two brothers, Anas and Samad, who studied in UKg and Nursery respectively when they were first admitted, both in Gold Line.

She enjoys dancing, singing and riding the bicycle.