Early Childhood education: Do teachers need to be' MBA'?

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         One Sunday morning ,  when we were sipping tea , our door bell rang , Mr. Sandeep , our neighbour was standing outside, dressed in his tracks , he seemed to be on his way for a morning jog.  We invited him in, he looked quite perplexed. He was in the state of utter confusion with respect to choice of school for his son. He was most apprehensive about the selection of Board (CBSE or ICSE). Not only him , all of us are on the same boat. All of us face the same situation when it comes to choose a particular school for our kid. This state of dilemma exists , in the mind of every parent whose child crosses 4 years of milestone and going to enter the formal world of schooling.

     Everyday , I come across many parents,  exploring the options of potential schools for their kids.  While selecting a school  quality of education is taken for granted. Factually speaking we are ignorant about what our children deserve and what they are getting  in the name of education.

          We seldom raise eyebrows , on the ongoing  pedagogy in our preschool classrooms.  These schools often give us the perception  that getting admission  is itself  a matter of privilege. The hoopla of ‘insecurity’ regarding school admission has been meticulously created in the market. For example some of the renowned private schools  conduct  lottery system or set the age limit for admission or test the child on few parameters or just add terms as international or modern as suffices in their school names. 

When I enquired from some of the parents about the criteria for the  selection of school for their kid? 

Their answers were:

         Parent A: ICSE is better than CBSE..    

    Parent B:  Basics should be clear from the beginning.

.      Parent C:   Infrastructure of the school is good.

.    Parent D:  It’s a branded and best school of the city.  

      Parent E: Children coming to a particular school are from me economic background. 

     Parent F:  School is near to our home.

    Parent E: School also takes care of extracurricular activities.

        Since, parents and kids undergo the rigorous battle of admission, they feel triumphant when they see their names in the admission list.  As a matter of this course , there is no scope left for them to enquire about philosophy or pedagogy followed by that particular school. Selection in a particular school is taken as blessing in disguise,  for that parents pay hefty amounts. Most of these funds  get directed to maintain the brand name or infrastructure of the school rather than appointing efficient teachers.

 Let’s turn the spotlight towards the state of primary education existing around us. As a matter of fact, the outside world is changing at a very fast pace as compared to what is being taught within the four walls of a preschool classroom. There is a huge gap between what a child sees and experiences outside the school and what he or she studies in the books. For eg.  there is a chapter in grade1 EVS book about living and non living things .  A 5 year old child already knows this concept, he or she has the ability to learn more complex concepts, provided these concepts are simplified and improvised for them efficiently . This can only be possible if we have a system of efficient educators focusing on the intricacies of ‘Early Childhood Development’.

        We can’t bury our head in sand,  for the fact that there is   enormous online inflow of information be it in the form of animation, short fun videos , online games, channels etc.  Evidently , there are many more diversions for the upcoming generation than ours.  They must be nurtured with care and equanimity .  The goal of early Childhood education should be building the nexus between the classroom and the outside world . This creates the purview of education which goes beyond  ‘chalk and talk’.

        If not the institutions, we as parents have to upgrade our awareness . The needs of a preschooler are to be catered with respect to the changing panorama of the world with each passing day. For that parents , teachers and system have to collaborate to create a new lense with more resolving power. The revival of  the fading  mileau of wonder, excitement and most importantly passion of learning in the initial years of education an be nurtured. 

       Some of the queries that can come to our mind as parents and teachers must be:

    .  What can be the better way of teaching learning process?

     . What is lacking in our preschools?

     . What can be our contribution as parents?

          . What should we demand from the existing early childhood   programmes ?

             The paradox is that the normality lies in what is being followed by majority.  Any digression from the set scheme is considered as aberration , even if it  is appropriate.

             While going through the curriculum of several  preschools of my city,  I inferred that most of them follow the  curriculum which make their students admission ready for formal schooling, constructing a vicious circle for parents and children.

      For instance one of my friends who lives in Mumbai, went for the admission of her 1 year old son, in the city’s ‘best play school.’

   While filling the admission form , she overheard an ongoing class, which went on as  :

   

Teacher: What is the colour of leaf?

     Kids in chorus:  Green.

Teacher: Can leaf be of any other colour?

Kids in chorus: No

Teacher : Yes the colour of the leaf is only green.

Teacher: What is the colour of Sun ?

Kids in chorous : Yellow.

Teacher : Can the colour of Sun be blue?

Kids in chorus : No

Teacher:  Yes, the colour of the sun is only yellow.

      The teaching learning process in this class clearly manifest the need for overhauling the early childhood education.

          Play way activities in early years of child development are to  be meticulously designed with appropriate learning objectives.  We need to critically analyse  the curriculum comprising of  mundane  routine, which makes students do writing work or unsupervised activities in the name of play way .

      The roots are invested deeper than they appear to be. Our preschools are well decorated with well established , infrastructure, fee structures, counselling sessions etc.  but they lack qualified ,  teaching staff. This can be attributed to the fact that education in early years is not given due importance.  We are clueless so as to what should we expect and demand from our preschools .  Although, its not possible to fathom the depth,  just by viewing its pelagic part. We need to dive deeper to come to elucidate a solution.

           So, the questions lingers on:  What should we expect from the preschools for our children.  How important are ’ Early childhood programs’ in our education system ?

            

    

              Playschool is the first place where a child is separated from the comfort and secure zone of their parents.  So, our preschools should have enough material to attract and make the child feel comfortable. It is the place where a child opens up as individual, interacting with peers and teachers. As per researches ‘Early childhood programmes’ have long been shown to create improvements that last for a lifetime. The earliest years of a child’s life are most critical. This was well stated by Bill Gates “the first five years have so much to do with how the next 80 turn out “. These years determine the survival and thriving in life, and lay foundations of child’s performance later. Instilling passion for learning besides good habits is imperative for holistic development of child as an individual.

           We have to understand that performance is the function of expectations.  Accordingly, we need to design and establish our strategy.  To attain these objectives , we have to create efficient moulds right from the early years for our kids.  We need to ‘Move Beyond Academics’(MBA) for the building of a progressive society.

What could  be the essential characteristics of this mould is the question to ponder upon.  For instance lets take the example of nursery rhymes in our play schools, the same old London Bridge is falling down since last 200 years , Johny, Ms muffet ,  Humpty Dumpty have become familiar names of our household even if they do not contextualise with our praxis .  I wonder , why are we still carrying this age old ,irrelevant rhymes from British legacy. ( refer to the previous blog ‘Modernisation illusion or reality’?) .

           Can’t we endorse the rhymes highlighting  child’s surrounding like change of seasons, child’s praxis , nurturing child’s self esteem, critical thinking.

     Some of the rhymes written by Shel Silverstein beautifully illustrates this concept.

     Listen to

Listen to the mustn’d, child.

Listen to the shouldn’ts,

The impossibles,

The won’ts.

Listen to the never haves,

Then listen close to me….

      Anything can happen, child.

Anything can be.

         

Don’t tell me

 Please don’t tell me I should hug,

Don’t tell me I should care.

Don’t tell me just how grand I’d feel

If I just learned to share.

Don’t say,” its all right to cry,”

“Be kind”, “Be fair”, “Be True.”

Just let me see YOU do it,

Then I just might do it too.

Just can’t believe

You just can’t believe

Everything they tell you

Just’ cause they teach it

And preach it and shout.

They say you can’t eat nothin’

Bigger than you are….

You’ve really got to check

These things out.