Adventures in International Education

Coincidently, two schools are across the avenue from my Guest House. So, on a “busman’s holiday,” I decided to visit at least one of them.

I lacked the pull the Rajesh, Poonam, Sophia, and Mumta had in getting us into schools, so I had to talk my way past several guards and aides. But I finally met the principal. I had tea. Waited. Then I attended a large student meeting about child protection.

This school collaborates with an agency to show high-quality training presentations as part of a child protection program that warns students to avoid certain people and how to protect themselves. All students see the videos and parents are invited on another day. A teacher concluded the presentation with some explanation of “good” touching that parents do as opposed to some of the “bad” touching expressed in the video. There was nothing graphic in this Hindi-language video and the images were strong enough to give the impression what to do and not to do. I told the principal how impressed I was with this presentation. The students received a low-key warning and suggestions about safety: “Act openly and loudly to show you don’t tolerate bad behavior from a peer or an adult. You are safe at school. Your safety is our priority.”

The teachers told the students after the movie to be careful at home and not open doors to strangers, call a neighbor if anything happens, and to be careful of mobile phone usage.

The teachers explained that because teenagers are going through emotional, physical, and mental changes, their mindset changes. There are correct and incorrect ways of behaving.

I applauded the principal for taking the lead on the issue of child protection, and I wished that American schools would introduce such proactive instruction. Some members of the 2019 Fulbright cohort addressed issues similar to this one but the instruction this school offered seemed particularly vital to the welfare of the children. My capstone project on gender equity also relates to this issue, as do the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially:

• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 5: Gender Equality
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequality
• Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

In the Classroom Again

Once again, the students who attended my class proved bright, energetic, and fluent in English. I observed a talented chemistry teacher move through several formulae. She allowed the students to respond as she worked through the equations. Most knew the process of executing logarithmic functions. It was satisfying to watch and, although admittedly I know little of chemistry, I could recognize good teaching when I saw it.

I was more in my element in an English class, teaching the poem “Legend of the Northland” by Phoebe Cary. We had some discussion of fiction vs. nonfiction, and what a “legend” means. Then we were off, talking about reindeer and children dressed like bear cubs in the frozen north. The students understood many of the images, and it was gratifying to see them sort through their prior knowledge and reach some new understandings. I used “chapati” to replace the “cake,” in the poem. They understood both words but “chapati” helped them understand the reference to a “hearth” as a place to cook breads. They also understood homophones when I brought out the word “kneaded” in the poem and compared it to “needed.” They understood the moral of the poem, how a miser suffers for hoarding anything. In this origin poem, the miser is transformed into a woodpecker.

Smiles blossomed all around the room when the bell rang and I finished the lesson. Once again, the quality performance of Indian students impressed me. They possess strong skills in reading, listening, and speaking. Their notebooks and textbooks display extensive notes. In this school, far away from the structure of New Delhi, the students remained interested in education and committed to learning. They displayed the same drive I had witnessed in New Delhi, Mahe, and Wyanad. I see great hope for Indian education because of teachers’ and students’ commitment to quality, skill-based instruction. In our hallway conversation, the teacher said how pleased she was with the lesson and how hard the students work to master English. I agreed and confirmed that they had done superior work in the class.

Note: At the principal’s request, I offer only a general summary of my morning and avoid identifying the school or the children. This post therefore looks different than others I have written. At the same time, I feel this post demonstrates the similarities of education in India outside of large cities and the universal high-quality instruction teachers offer and students receive.