Teaching at the Vidyalaya
Tuesday found Gerald and I in the classroom, teaching English and math lessons and explaining our theories of education to faculty members.
My first task was to honor the young women who had chaired the previous evening’s celebration: Aiswarya T and Gayatri Vinodkumar. In the morning, they looked totally different, their exquisite cultural costumes replaced with school uniforms. I complimented them on their performance the previous evening and said I would be honored to have them in my classroom in the United States. Truly, they are superstars. In front of hundreds of students and many adults, they calmly announced each activity and paid special honor to Gerald and myself. Their humility and self-esteem came across in major ways, which I believe is the product of the high-quality education they receive in this vidyalaya.
I taught an English class in the morning, and took a risk to ask the students what they would like me to teach.
“Idioms,” said one girl. I paused briefly and somehow came up with an idiom that Marc McQuinn had used in class several years ago and which I had to explain to the students.
“If it worked then, maybe it will work today,” I thought.
So, I introduced “Hit one out of the park,” and we discussed how an idiom means more than the individual words. We had a great discussion and I brought up several other idioms before switching gears to “Nobody” by Emily Dickinson. The theme of images came across strongly in this lesson, which was a bit of serendipity on my part: I’d never connected idioms and Emily Dickinson before!
Working With Teachers
Gerald and I answered questions from Mahe and Kerala teachers in the library for an hour. They were interested in American education and how it compared to the Indian system. Like our students, the teachers were shy, so our “talking piece” of a small Fulbright globe gave them an incentive respond—although most jumped away when the ball came in their direction!
One of my goals when I planned this trip was to bring materials that I used in my classes, including lesson plans for Socratic Seminars and This I Believe stories. The English teachers in the second session seemed genuinely pleased with the maps, books, and lessons I provided them. We’re making tentative plans to co-teach some lessons next year, which would involve my students and theirs. The 9.5-hour time difference might present difficulties but because the vidyalaya students live on campus, they could attend a session at 10:30 p.m. India time and see Winooski students at 11:00 a.m. Vermont time.
I spent some time teaching students how to throw a frisbee, which is a new toy for them. By the end of our session, the students seemed to understand the placement of the forefinger on the rim, keeping the frisbee flat, and flicking it with their wrist. I brought in one girl who was on her way to yoga, and she quickly became a superstar. I told her she had to train the rest of the girls (because the boys seem to dominate the game). She shyly asked me: “Can I go to yoga now?” Oops! In my enthusiasm for teaching new things, I had kept her from class! I apologized and later saw her spreading her yoga mat under the second-floor portico.
The Assembly
The day began at 7:10 a.m. with an all-school assembly in the courtyard. This student-centered and student-led activity occurs every day. Drums and horns announce it and individual students make announcements, give readings, and recite. Of course, students acknowledged the presence of the “honored guests”—Mr. Gerald and Mr. Clark.
A young woman summarized , a book about an Indian scientist who had worked for the American space program. As she spoke, a boy held up a copy of the book. Another student recited her essay about the history of India. Students sang and prayed together. (One of the highlights of the Indian school system is the total integration of secular and religious ideas. As the birthplace of four major world religions —Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism—India practices great acceptance of diversity and the concept is embedded in the Indian Constitution. Schools include prayers as part of their daily activities.