... for they have their own thoughts - Multiworld India

2005 Goa, India27MANAV MUKUL DASAll the motivation to excel, in teachers and in students,is generated in school through competition.The means, fair or foul, hardly matter. Schoolsgenerally are a reflection of whatever is going on insociety. The emotions that prevail in schools areidentical with those that prevail in society: the killerinstinct, ambition, hatred, jealousy, rivalry, anxiety,and tension. The division of society between the richand the poor has given birth to schools for the richand schools for the poor, making the situation muchworse. Values are never learnt from a formal curriculum.They are imbibed from a school’s informalsocial atmosphere created by the network of relationshipswhich binds everyone and everything toeach other in the school.Every act of knowing is made up of a field that isknown, a mind that knows, and the relationshipbetween the two. Even the most prized Institutionsof education today which focus on excellence, lookonly at the field to be known, and strive to putmaximum pressure on the mind to absorb informationand intellectual skills. Unconcerned whetherminds are getting twisted or cracking up, whethersociety is filling up with venomous emotions, the millsof education grind on.Will there be a change? How will conflict end? Ifit cannot end at once in the whole of society, shouldthe process not begin somewhere on a small scale?And should not the school get interested in the mindthat knows, in the relationship behind the knowerand the known, and in the ultimate ending of thatrelationship where the knower is the known; thesinger, the song; the dancer, the dance; the philosopher,the thought; the meditator, the silence; thelover, the beloved; the devotee, lost in the deity.JINANWhen I lived with tribal communities in the northeastand in Orissa, I observed how the children of thesecommunities learn without being schooled. I foundthat rural, tribal children are basically left to explorethe world on their own. And this is not a bad thing atall. A rural child begins to feed itself by the age oftwo and partakes of most activities around thehome by the age of four. To the modern mind,doing things at home is labour, but to the rural childit is part of growing up. Learning and playing are nottwo separate activities. As a result, while growing upnaturally, the rural, tribal kid acquires all the basicknowledge needed for its survival. Cultivating,animal breeding and rearing, constructing, repairing,tool making, even basic medication, these areall part of everyday living and learning. Only this isnot termed education by our modern urban system.What passes off as education incapacitates, shuns“doing” and makes one a passive thinker.On the other hand the urban, modern systemdeliberately alienates the child. Modern houses arenot child friendly. Have you noticed that, in modernhomes all activities happen beyond the eye andhand level of the child. Children like to take part inall adult activities. But urban children are deliberatelydiscouraged from learning anything on theirown or through their own perceptions so that whenthey go to school they can be taught everythingand then they can be considered educated.I have come to the conclusion that there is lackof free thinking in children because of the strongconditioning from family, school and society.Through our so-called education, we are culturallyuprooted and our world views are totally altered.More important, our intuitive abilities get destroyedand distorted. I have found that people, who havenot been taught to draw or paint, do it better. Theyexpress themselves naturally and every line, stroke,hue and tone has its own rule, design and justification.The urban, modernsystem deliberatelyalienates the child.Modern houses arenot child friendly. Haveyou noticed that, inmodern homes allactivities happenbeyond the eye andhand level of thechild. Children like totake part in all adultactivities. But urbanchildren aredeliberatelydiscouraged fromlearning anything ontheir own or throughtheir own perceptionsso that when they goto school they can betaught everything andthen they can beconsidered educated.– K.B. Jinan