Where Life and Community Co-exist by Sunil Gill

A week after the teacher's monthly academic meeting at the complex school, I walked down the sloping pathway to the school. Through the doorway of the one classroom I saw, Mr Bansidhar, sitting on the floor with a group of children around him. The boys and girls, five to 11 years old, were busy doing needlework — binding little children's books and putting covers on them. One or two were cutting old newspapers and polythene covers with scissors after measuring with a ruler. It was a calm atmosphere with some serious work going on.

This was my first impression of the Government Primary School (GPS), Newari when I visited this during the “Gandhi Fellowship” in 2017. The class in the session was on measurement and covering textbooks for the next first graders. Bansidhar got his direction for classroom practice and educational philosophy from Rabindranath Tagore. He is a man of varied talents and skills — he is a skilled farmer, carpenter, and mechanic often found in the workshop; he can play the drum; he can teach mathematics; he is well known for his work in art and theatre; and the list continues. All this found expression in the school with the children.

One important aspect of the school that is also being currently discussed in academic circles is the multi-grade class in government schools. It is seen as a disadvantage for the teacher and for the child. In GPS Newari, teaching staff believe in a mixed age group approach and a multigrade environment is being practiced even now. Generally, in primary school, language is taught without linking it to what is spoken fluently by the child. Mathematics is introduced as a subject that is difficult. However, in the daily morning circle, students have opportunities to talk and discuss their surroundings in their own language i.e. their observations and questions on varied changes happening in the village environment and ecology. The pairing of upper-grade students with early graders helps both in learning.?

The children, for the most part of the day, were together in a mixed-grade environment, doing their work. For subjects like environmental studies and mathematics, a topic was introduced to all the groups simultaneously but the follow-up tasks were done individually or in pairs or in small groups. The groups were formed according to the subjects depending on the child's level of work. For example, a child may be with the older group for the language class but with the younger children for mathematics. Wherever they were, what was important? to make an effort to learn. In this school, children are never treated as if they are blank slates who cannot turn a page in the textbook without clear instructions. This school was a place where being a human being mattered, being a member of a community mattered and being an individual was also important.?

At the beginning of the month, teachers shared the priorities of schools and listed out the activities needed for children to volunteer. Cleanliness & hygiene maintenance, watering plants, waste management, and mid-day meals, taking care of bird feed, home visits to irregular children, librarian and morning assembly coordinator are just names of a few activities which were led by students. Often I glanced at groups of children playing with clay, pondering creatively on boundary walls, portraying unintentionally on the blackboard with delight. As teachers, they moved around to help only when required. They also throw questions to guide the group's progress and deepen their understanding. At times, parents or others from the villages wanted to see how their wards were learning. The morning circle time was used to welcome them. Sometimes community artisans, people from diverse occupations, were invited by teachers to bring life into the classroom. As a teacher, Bansidhar, used to have nature walks through the Aravali range and made learning tours to nearby nurseries, farms, and solar houses.

To do so, teachers need to keep their biases aside; they can learn from the work and life of many indigenous communities, individuals and organizations that have done path-breaking work in education. For this, we need to challenge the assumption that all children can learn the same thing, at the same time and in the same manner. Each person brings into the school his or her unique self. Our schools need creative teachers who can put on multiple hats (for e.g. artists, poets, musicians, carpenters, needlework, construction, sports persons and many more) to bring out the best in their students.

Can such practices be replicated? If one wants to, one can change the school environment — it is not that very difficult. The teacher and others working in schools need opportunities to think through ideas, look at unexamined feelings and have classroom skills, so that they can arrive at a practice that nurtures learning in children. The sole purpose of education is to enable children to become aware social beings. Bansidhar used to call himself the gardener of the children's nursery. His affection, care and genuine concern for their future help each child blossom in their own way.