Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Informal Education

It is long since I posted anything the reason being the onset of winter and the tendency to curl up on bed with a book whenever possible. I am reading an interesting book by Dr. Bruce Lipton – The Biology of Belief and it has given me an insight into the role played by the mind in shaping one’s health. No, I am not done with the book yet but being a biology teacher myself I realized that there was lot more to biology than what is being taught in its conventional form. It is like learning my subject all over again.

While dealing with Biology in its unconventional form I was inspired to think of the unorthodox modes of teaching and was forced to admit that those who broke away from the routine of class room teaching and practiced self learning in varies forms have actually benefitted from it. A look around me does identify a few people known to me who were criticized when they broke away from the tried and tested path but have indeed proved their critics wrong. Ramani was one such person.

Rmani was in class 9 when he ran away from school and returned after 24 hours saying that he was drugged and abducted by a stranger who offered him sweets in the local train while returning home. He managed to escape when he gained consciousness. Apparently his abductor had left him unattended and had gone off to have a cup of tea. The boy gave him a slip and boarded a train to Chennai to return home. His version was authenticated by the station master of Katpadi junction whom he had approached for help. The boy was brilliant but was never regular in class. He would not finish his assignments on time and ask his teachers pesky questions much to their irritation. He managed to finish school and joined a prestigious college in Chennai. He dropped out within a year saying that he found classes boring and he did not expect to benefit greatly by the outdated syllabus that was being followed. He wanted to be left alone till he decided on what was best for him. His parents almost fell at his feet asking him to first finish his course and ponder on what he wished to do with his life later. The boy was adamant and their pleas fell on deaf ears. Six months later he purchased books on computer technology and for the next 3 years did a lot of self study. Without a degree to support him, the boy started his career as a software consultant working for up and coming companies. He charged a pittance for his services if at all. Very soon word spread around and today he works from home earning not less than a lakh per month. He is invited to Latin America, Korea and Portugal to train those with engineering degrees and he has the final say on the structure and duration of the course. His wife is an MCA graduate but she gladly admits that he is more knowledgeable than her. He now admits that the story of his abduction in class 9 was not true. It was an experiment he tried out to escape the monotony of his school routine and simply an extension of his imagination.

Lalita was always drawn towards nature and believed that one could learn more from nature that all the conventional text books put together. She left home with her children - two of them minors – and lived in an aashram in the Western Ghats. She encouraged them to learn from their surroundings and at their own pace. She bought a lot of books for them and allowed them to apply the knowledge gained from books to their daily lives. Her children are now settled in life. To call them brilliant would be an understatement. With no formal education they are experts in their respective fields. When I think of them I wonder if we are doing the right thing by pressurizing our children to learn by rote or imposing a curriculum that has no relevance or application to their career or day to day life. Yet how many of us are willing to take a chance? I may appreciate such people from a distance and refrain from criticizing them but would I have the confidence to try it out on my own children/students? I am afraid not. The famous saying ‘better safe than sorry’ is perhaps more applicable to most of us.

Having said this it is only fair to add that informal education only benefits children that are receptive to it. I know of a father who was of the opinion that children ought not to be coerced into following any routine. He had a successful career and according to him, since his own father never imposed anything on him and he would do the same and let his children decide for themselves about what they would do with their lives. Unfortunately his son needed the guiding influence of a father and was unable to cope with the strain posed in the prevailing competitive environment. He was an average student with a flair for painting and music. With a little encouragement and a lot of appreciation the boy could have done well enough in class but the father being disappointed with him chose to blame his wife’s upbringing as well as her genes for his dismal record. His only argument was that since his own father had allowed him to study at his own pace and he turned out to be successful there could be nothing wrong with his method. He never even suspected that the method that worked for him may not be appropriate for his son. Today the son lacks confidence and longs for a kind word from his father more than anything else.

I haven’t yet finished the book but the title The Biology of Belief is impressive. Belief in one’s potential enables one to make an appropriate choice from the available environment. If a child is able to believe in his own capabilities he can make it big even if he is a school drop out because he imbibes life’s lessons by practical methods. If on the other hand he lacks confidence it becomes the duty of his parents and teachers to give the necessary moral boosting to acquire it. Whether the required training is formal or informal hardly matters. If the child’s potential has to be awakened a chain of mutual trust linking him to his environment on the one hand and his parent on the other has to be established. And once this chain is established it can work wonders to the internal system of an individual

5 comments:

Uma said...

"...it is only fair to add that informal education only benefits children that are receptive to it" - so true. I also crib about how imposing and sometimes irrelevant our structure is, but your observation is right.
What I would still crib about is the fact that children like Ramani are not always recognised for their expertise. Ramani probably was also a smart salesman, but I know a few who are 'experts' but not very good salesmen and hence haven't got their fair share of respect and recognition...

In many organisations, the recruitment rules insist on looking at consistent high scores from Class 10 onwards and do not recognise part-time and correspondence degrees. While they might have their reasons for it, it still excludes some really talented people who, owing to family circumsatnces have chosen to study so. And some of these people turn out to be better team players and problem solvers...

I think we should have a better way of determining merit than just academic scores...

Ramani seems to be a maverick and Lalita had the guts and the conviction to experiment with her children!! Whenever I think of homeschooling Pattu, I just chicken out...

dr.antony said...

Informal education tends to be unpredictable - we do not know where it might lead.The purpose of informal education is no different to any other form of education.In daily life we all act as educators from time to time. But there is also a need for specialists - educators who are skilled in, and committed to, working with people in everyday situations so that life can be more fulfilling and all can share in its fruits.Informal education is simply the process of learning for the joy of knowing. It's the process of doing to learn.

But then,your Ramani is interesting.I am surprised he faked a story to get out of school,at that age.Once grown up,he probably wouldn't have wanted others to think so.Because it is not such a good idea.If he were as smart as you mentioned,he would definitely have done much better with formal education and qualifications. But my feeling is that he is a liar.

Hip Grandma said...

Uma:Ramani may earn in lakhs but his parents had a tough time dealing with him as an adolescent. I would myself prefer a child who listens to reason and was all on the parent's side for wanting him to at least finish his graduation. Even now he takes decisions on a whim and somehow managed to survive. You are right. He does not come across as a normal person or may be we don't understand him.

dr. antony:Informal education is risky and not every one is lucky like the cases mentioned.However I would really like to know what makes it work in their cases.People tend to think home schooling and informal education are the same. Home schooling just makes parents more aware of their children's interest and they focus on these areas more. You are right about the need for specialists to guide children. As I have admitted informal education needs more analysis and is not everyone's cup of tea.

hillgrandmom said...

HHG, very brilliant people need to be allowed to go on at a faster pace, which is why I have heard in the US they have the gifted children programs and why here too, in the old days, children were given double promotions. I also know that in the US a large number of children are home-schooled for various reasons. I am against home schooling for only one reason, that children don't then get to interact with their peers. But the kind of informal education that you have talked about--especially in the case of Lalita, I think anyone of us can give that to our children, along with the regular education. We can encourage our children to read up, find out, ask questions, about whatever interests them; we can instil a sense of wonder in them for nature and the world around them and let them know that every question can be answered in more than one way. And regarding confidence in a child, that comes by itself, when the child feels loved unconditionally by someone--parent or grandparent or teacher.

Hip Grandma said...

hillgrandmom:You are right. Lalita could have encouraged her children to think for themselves and learn valuable lessons from their interaction with nature. Hers is an extreme step and it was good that her children turned out to be brilliant. But it is not what most of us would want for our children.I hear that Ramani has taken off his kids aged 6 and 8 from school and expects his wife to home school them. I do not know if the wife is competent enough but again he is the dominant but whimsical partner and she may not want to put her foot down for fear of annoying him.