Historical Context 1987 Abacus School in Chennai 1995 CWC & PRIs: Working children &...

Historical Context• 1987 Abacus School in Chennai• 1995 CWC & PRIs: Working children

& School-going; in Udipi, Bellary & Sirisi Dist, Karnataka: 60 panchayats

• 2001 PD for Teacher Educators, DIET Faculty, BRCs, Teachers:TN

• 2003 -06 ABL Pilot in CoC • 2007-08 ABL Scaled to state

Discovering

the Child's Potential…………………..

ABL in the Early Years

Amukta Mahapatra SchoolScape

A childhood, good or bad, lasts a lifetime…

PPP: Sriramcharan Trust CMTC &Corporation of Chennai

KG sections in Corporation of Chennai: Teachers

• 2007-08: Pilot with CMTC with 6 teachers trained (UNICEF); 6 classrooms in 2 schools

• 2008-09: 61 Teachers trained (Rotary Club, Madras East); Materials for 5 classrooms (Kalvi Trust)

• 2010-11: Rest of 29 trained www.cmtcindia.org

Training & Mentoring

Sriramcharan Trust• 27 schools and balwadis,

from 2005, now 950+ children

• Not only academic skills, but develop personality and citizenship

• Chose Montessori pedagogy and partnered with CMTC

• Social Audit 2011 – 2013 www. sriramacharan.org

Corporation of Chennai

• 30 schools, 96 teachers trained, material for all

• With 10 more announced, all schools with KGs are covered

• Sustainability in spite of changes in state govt & Corporation

Common Approach

• Not for ‘show and tell’• Systematic, quiet• Towards long term benefits for

children and community• Education as ‘Assisstance to

Life’

Feedback from Parents: Quoted

• Children are regular in their day-to-day work

• No stress in handling the children at home

• They are very particular in taking care of their physical cleanliness • Children share their things and have harmony• with their peer group  

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Contd - Feedback from Parents

• Their spoken skills have evolved with natural respect for others

• Usage of English words has increased • They narrate all stories and sing songs at

home and make us happy

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Pedagogical Framework

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Child’s Development: three circles of influence

universal laws ofhuman nature

social context

child’s uniqueinnate potential

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The first factor of influence: child’s unique potential

Heredity

Genetic coding

Innate nature

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The second factor of influence: the social environment

The child’s potential

The social context:

The family

The community

The School

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The third factor of influence:the universal human tendencies

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Human Tendencies

• What it is it that makes us human beings?

• What is common to all human beings?

• What is special about our species?

• What is the nature of human beings?

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Universal tendencies of the human being relevant for learning The need to:

• Explore• Orient • Adapt to one’s environment• Establish order• Use and extend one’s intelligence• Translate thought to practice• Strive for perfection• Communicate and relate

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Stages of Development

Children

do not grow

like a tree

Needs at each stage?

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Children Develop Like a Butterfly

In stages with

different needs

at

different times

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Stages of a Butterfly

Needs

At

Every Stage?

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Child’s unique potential

Physical

Cognitive

Affective

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Child’s unique potential: 0 - 6 yrs Physical

Manual dexterity to be achieved

Co-ordination of movement, intelligence, and will

Repetition of activities

Movements purposeful

Regular, nutritious food

Hygiene of face and hands and body functions

Activities around the house to use materials carefully

Variety of experiences for right and left hemispheres of brain

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Child’s unique potential:0 – 6 yrs Cognitive

Intellect reached indirectly through the senses, preparation of the mind via the senses

Enjoy slapstick, comedy, clowning

Centre of the universe

Matching, pairing, sorting, comparing, grading, sequencing

Where, What, and How are the recurring question in the child

Each situation experienced separately, e.g. home and school

Initiative

Sense of order: each has a place and a place for each

Coming to grips with the world, so real stories, incidents, events to be shared. A sense of wonder

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Child’s unique potential:0 – 6 yrs Affective

Builds trust / mistrust in oneself and in the environment

Autonomy

Does not need acclaim, only encouragement

Recognizes and accepts differences without judgments

Spontaneous expression of feelings

Individualistic

Around 3 years, needs social interaction beyond family

Happy with worlds of home and school

Learning graces of being of a group

Empathize with smaller children, animals etc.

Personality is established

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• Legs become important tools for exploration

• Hungers to establish interrelatedness, to generalize and abstract • From self moves to interest in `others’• Industrious• No tolerance for vagueness and

uncertainties• Critical period for imagination• Knowledge, culture base is established

Child’s Unique Potential: 6 – 12 yrs

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Adolescence: 12 – 18 yrs

• A search for identity• A struggle to make pro-active choices

rather than negative choices• The capacity to commit oneself to an

ideology, a philosophy• Searching for the ideal and the

perfect, a life without blemishes• Difficulty in locating one's strengths,

a feeling of inadequacy• Being neither `fish nor fowl’

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Classroom

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Classroom

Child’s potential

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Classroom

Child’s potential

Child’s Environment

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Classroom

Child’s potential

Child’s Environment

Human tendencies

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Classroom

Child’s potential

Child’s Environment

Human tendencies

Pedagogy

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Classroom

Child’s potential

Child’s Environment

Human tendencies

Pedagogy

Constitution of India

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Classroom

Child’s potential

Child’s Environment

Human tendencies

Pedagogy

Constitution of India

All these frames have to be aligned SchoolScape

Classroom

Child’s potentialChild’s Environment

Human tendencies

Pedagogy Constitution of India

… not scattered ideas

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To be aligned to impact the child, the school

Classroom

Child’s potential

Child’s Environment

Human tendencies

Constitution of India

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If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much.

--Marian Wright Edelman

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For Discussion:

©Amukta Mahapatra

SchoolScape, Centre for Educators

E-mail: schoolscape@yahoo.com

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