My family went to Genting over a weekend some time ago. I was extremely
excited to leave the country, even if it was just to Malaysia. Sitting on the
luxury coach, reading Life of Pi, blasting Korean pop songs in my ears was
extremely relaxing. On the way there, I was observing how 3 mothers (who seemed
to be sisters) were handling their young children in the bus. The fathers were
relatively quiet through the trip as they were resting. But the mothers kept on
repeating the same phrase over and over again in response to their children’s behavior.
“SIT DOWN!,” they kept screaming.
When we arrived at the base of the hill on which the resort was on, one
of the little boys, probably 4 years old, looked out the bus windows and made
an extremely astute observance. He said, “Mummy, look! There’s smoke in the
air. There’s smoke on the mountain.” The mother looked at him nonchalantly and
said, “SIT DOWN!” For a moment there, I was quite amused and stunned. If my son
(if I should ever have one in the future), makes such an astute scientific
observation, I will probably respond to him by affirming him for making a good
observation, then find some way to guide him to understanding that the white
clouds are not smoke, but fog.
It seems to me that education has been mostly confined in the classroom.
Whatever happened to the knowledge and skills impartation that should be done
in the home? Perhaps the mother’s response is a manifestation of what sterile
education can do to a person’s ability to respond with interest and excitement
to what he or she observes in the daily routines of life.
Just as I started NIE, I started to re-read Totto-chan: The Little Girl at the Window and have discovered new
joy and passion from devouring its pages. It is beautiful how the parents of
Totto-chan were so supportive of her growth, never condemning her for what she
could not do, but rather found her a place where she could blossom and grow
into her own. The school is an amazing place. If I should ever get the chance
to see it, I probably would not be able to forget it. Tomoe Gakuen develops each child into his or her
unique potential. The headmaster, Sosaku Kobayashi, ensures that there is a
luxury of time and space to allowing every child, regardless of their perceived disabilities, to develop at
his or her own pace. He understands the different needs of the children, their
unique personalities, dreams and ambitions, family background, strengths and
weaknesses, and finds a way to cater to their needs and at the same time,
challenge them. The children revel in the joy of learning through exploration,
whether it is through fieldtrips, sowing rice, climbing trees or playing in the
brook.
What is most appealing to me is that even though the school represents
an ideal model that perhaps can no longer be completely replicated in our
modern world today, there is so much to be learnt from the style in which Tomoe
Gakuen was run. The headmaster’s style of teaching is extremely simple yet
methodical and thoughtful. Sosaku Kobayashi adopts an unconventional approach
to education and is consistently innovative in the way he responds to the
children.
Some thoughts that I had after reading the book:
Can we accept that our students are different, unique? Can we plan our
lesson to meet the students at the physically, emotional, mentally, social and
moral level at which they are at without labeling or shortchanging them just
because we think that their abilities are limited? Can we remain calm in the
face of the various unexpected and unpredictable challenges our students will
give us? Some students like Totto-chan will dig out (pardon the language) s***
when they attempt to test boundaries, try new things and new ways of doing
things. As teachers, will we remain calm and creative, allowing and guiding the
student to, eventually, put all the s*** back into the manhole from which it
came? (That episode is too funny to be erased from my memory) Can we help
students to understand their social and civic responsibilities through creative
ways and not forcefeeding them values which we ourselves, as teachers, cannot
model (Students of Tomoe Gakuen do not vandalize because they are given the
curriculum time to draw on the wooden floors of their hall. Afterwhich the
difficult cleaning process makes them aware of how vandalism can create great
problems for others). Even though Tomoe
Gakuen is an ideal, and not everyone can be a Sosaku Kobayashi, can we be
brilliant in our own ways through innovation and practice?
Good review :)
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