CARP is very interested in the views and perspectives of parents. Do post a comment below of your experiences with the various existing schooling systems. Would you take a minute to answer the following questions?
1. Do you feel children, these days, are under undue pressure to succeed?
2. Do you feel we need to lighten the academic pressure faced by children?
3. Do you feel children benefit from exposure to the arts? Any personal experiences to share?
1. Yes.
ReplyDelete2. Absolutely
3. Totally (http://www.decs.sa.gov.au/mediacentre/files/links/link_66801.pdf). Mum's word "I think his theater training is developing him on many other levels as well" - Sangita Kamath (http://www.timeoutbengaluru.net/client_coverstory/client_coverstory_details.asp?code=363)
Hi Kirtana..
ReplyDeleteI consult with owners of companies primarily on business planning and their future path etc...and I chose use art as a medium when I found how hard it was to get them to express themselves freely. Its been most fascinating...observing how reluctant senior corporate people are to break away from the shackles of formats, and jargon..not they dont want to..theyve just forgotten how to....and once done, the childlike enthusiasm and creativity that gets unleashed is most productive, satisfying and liberating.
Makes me wonder, how we push our kids to have "careers" only too often at the cost of creative thinking and end up getting them to live in a box and compartmentalise creativity and everyday life.
As parents, if we can integrate both and applaud creative thinking with the same seriousness that we take academic performance and professional performances, weve done our little bit to encouraging our kids to lead a more wholesome and satisfying life. ..mala
1. Do you feel children, these days, are under undue pressure to succeed?
ReplyDeleteAttitude, of parents, teachers, School and finally the kids themselves, decides what ‘pressure to succeed’ actually is. There is a need for a certain amount of pressure and thereafter a threshold for it to comply with the objective. When that pressure results in all round visible (audible!) stress in the kids, some measure of control should kick in. The days of sparing the rod and spoiling the child are long gone – so far gone that it boggles the mind to think of the time when it was the norm. At home or in school a quick ruler session on the knuckles or a simple twist of the ear, freely administered to earring students was the pretty much the norm. Today it makes headlines. So where’s the pressure I say? There’s peer pressure – for the latest fad, gadgets, gaming, online and off line social networking, phones, music and what have you. Reality shows like American Idol and talent hunts are certainly putting pressure on the kids – at least the ones who are not so naturally endowed with Dance and Music or Athletic capability. So define ‘pressure to succeed’ and ask the question if you want a specific answer. And then we’ll deal with what is ‘due and undue’ pressure.
2. Do you feel we need to lighten the academic pressure faced by children?
Academic pressure! Now there’s a more specific term I can relate to. I certainly went through it for the first few misguided years of my academics. CBSE was the board my school subscribed to, so without a choice, save the top five brains or so that were wired for the system, the rest of the class in spite of some good teachers, certainly felt the pressure.
For most part in India, with out the benefit of factual research data, I can guess that the situation hasn’t changed from board to board – what have you? ICSE, IGCSE, Cambridge, IB…The privileged few (no longer the well-wired few) now have the benefit of special needs departments and labels like ADHD, ADD to front for what used to be termed generally “stupid”. So yes, there is a need to lighten the academic pressure where it’s needed – on the kids that are not wired for the system. A fellow parent told me of the education system in Germany, which categorized the kids based on their ability to learn (their internal wiring) rather than the income of the parents. Which seems fair on the face of it. We were discussing the can of worms that the recent ruling that hopes to bring cheer all round by enforcing a special quota for under privileged children into the ‘privileged’ schools. Lets not go there for now.
3. Do you feel children benefit from exposure to the arts? Any personal experiences to share?
I think exposure to the arts is what saved my sorry ass through school. We had the most fantastic Arts and Music Teachers – and both being my natural domains I was able to make the most of it. I can’t imagine a school life with out exposure to these two crucial aspects of education and my life in particular. The most memorable days of our school time were those spent preparing for the annual day – which was usually a grand display of stage performances, music, dance and drama at all levels. Ironically today, my old school’s Arts department limps on without the aid of the creative genius we had in Mr. SC Das. The Music department languishes for the lack of a music teacher as inspiring as Mrs. Lobo. For a generation without TV reality shows and the like we did pretty ok. Today the competition is HOT out there. You tube and the local TV network is full of great talent. It’s so much easier to get out there and be seen. So is it over-exposure to the arts we should be worried about?