Issue 7 | August 2020 Triannual | Bengaluru ISSN No.: 2582-1644 Every Child Can Learn Part 2 Editorial Commiee Prema Raghunath, Chief Editor Nimrat Khandpur Azim Premji University Azim Premji University PES College of Engineering Campus PES College of Engineering Campus Electronic City, Bengaluru Electronic City, Bengaluru [email protected] [email protected] Shefali Tripathi Mehta, Associate Editor Shobha Lokanathan Kavoori Azim Premji University Azim Premji University PES College of Engineering Campus PES College of Engineering Campus Electronic City, Bengaluru Electronic City, Bengaluru [email protected] [email protected] Chandrika Muralidhar Advisors Azim Premji University Hridaykant Dewan PES College of Engineering Campus Sachin Mulay Electronic City, Bengaluru S Giridhar [email protected] Umashanker Periodi Vinod Abraham Special Advisor to the Issue Anant Gangola Publicaon Coordinators Translaons Shantha K Translaons Iniave Team Shahanaz Begum Cover Picture Credit University Archives Editorial Office Designed by The Editor, Azim Premji University Banyan Tree PES College of Engineering Campus 98458 64765 Electronic City, Bengaluru 560100 Phone: 080-66144900 Printed at Fax: 080-66144900 SCPL, Bengaluru - 560 062 Email: [email protected] + 91 80 2686 0585 / + 91 98450 42233 Website: www.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in www.scpl.net Learning Curve is a publicaon on educaon from the Azim Premji University for teachers, teacher educators, school heads, educaonal funconaries, parents and NGOs on contextual and themac issues that have enduring relevance and value for them. It provides a plaorm for the expression of varied opinions, perspecves and stories of innovaon; and, encourages new, informed posions and thought-provoking points of view. The approach is a balance between academic- and a praconer-oriented magazine. All opinions expressed in this publicaon are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or posion of the Azim Premji University. FROM THE EDITOR This issue gives us great pleasure for several reasons. have given accounts of how just making thoughtful First, there was such a resounding response to the changes in approach can make children participate in statement Every Child Can Learn that we got many classroom activities. more articles than we had expected, to confirm, There are articles that discuss the problem of gender if confirmation were needed, that yes, indeed, inequality which is so rampant that it goes unnoticed children can learn and do learn, provided they get the unless it comes up for open discussion; and the encouragement, support, respect and dignity that is efforts to make learning available to minority groups, due to them during the process and after. This led to opening up whole new worlds to these children the creation of this, Part 2, devoted to the topic. in school. Writers have recounted their successful Second, one of the discoveries that teachers had attempts to make learning available through total made was that, as children learn, so do the adults inclusion and personal involvement. Learning English, who teach them. Over and over again, articles in both too long venerated as the language of the learned, the issues testified to the fact that thinking about how has been demystified into being a skill, easy to to make a concept or idea easier and more inclusive learn with the right tools and approach. Language made teachers look at things in a new light. So, the teaching via reading, being exposed to the excitement learning worked both ways. that exploring different environments bring finds Third, the varied ways in which learning is imparted expression in another article. cover a lot of ground, from the general to the The one thing that comes through in this, as in Part particular. The focus articles give us the broader 1, is that it is all about children learning and enjoying picture of the background required to make learning themselves in the process, rather than getting a formal possible. These include an account of a group of tribal education. Learning self-belief, being valued, getting children reclaiming their own culture and language the required support and reassurance that one does and realising the value of self-worth as an important not have to change in order to acquire another’s ideas component of learning; and, of the value of the right are all learning-enhancing experiences. Retaining nutrition to be physically able to handle the rigours one’s individuality, including, in styles of learning, is of the classroom and school. Another article refers perfectly acceptable. to the learning children already come with to school Another reason for our pleasure in this issue is that and how this is used to enhance subsequent learning. our new feature, Letters to the Editor, has seen the The hard work that goes into creating and sustaining light of day and we present a selection of the letters change and universalising it, in this case, a quarter- we received from our readers. We hope that this will century of experimentation, reflection, support encourage more readers to write to us. and constant renewal of methodologies has been described in another article. Prema Raghunath Fourth, learning uses all the faculties of children Chief Editor - physical, mental and emotional, and teachers [email protected] CONTENTS Rebuilding Self and Identity in Adivasi Schooling 03 Amman Madan Innovating Processes to Help Every Child Learn 07 Anil Singh Differentiating Instruction: One Size Does NOT Fit All 12 Ankur Madan Animating Children’s Energy and Engaging Minds 15 Asha Singh Understanding When and How Children Learn 19 Ritika Gupta Addressing the Nutritional Needs of School Children 23 Shreelata Rao Seshadri Children are Attracted to TLM as Butterflies to a Garden 28 Aditya Gupta Using Fun to Learn 31 Ankit Shukla Learning in a Multilingual Context 33 Binay Pattanayak English for Everyone: Programmes for First-generation Learners 37 Chandra Viswanathan Why Children Fear Division 42 Gomathy Ramamoorthy Tied with a Single Thread: Children, Community and Teachers 45 Jagmohan Singh Kathait The Idea of Pedagogy of Connect: A Strategy 49 Joyeeta Banerjee Language and Arts Interventions: The Nizamuddin Model 52 Jyotsna Lall and Hyder Mehdi Rizvi A Discussion on Addiction: From the School to the Market 56 Khilendra Kumar A Ray of Happiness in the Indian Education System? 58 Kriti Gupta CONTENTS Making Learning English Easier 62 Poulami Samanta Zeroing in on the Zero Score Group 64 Rashmi Paliwal Language Teaching in Pre-primary Classroom: Reading and Writing 69 Roshani Dewangan Teaching Early Language and Literacy: The Question of Relevance 72 Shailaja Menon Homework Vs Housework: How Some Children Cope 77 Shantha K Bringing the Last Child into School 79 Shivani Taneja Bridging Social Distance Through Curricular Interventions 84 Shubhra Chatterji Role of Missions in the Education of Girls 88 Srijita Chakraborty Why We Need Responsive Schools 92 Subir Shukla Shikhshamitra: An Experimental School and Resource Centre 95 Sudeshna Sinha The Second Sex? A Conversation on Gender in a Rural Classroom 99 Sunil Kumar Learning by Experimenting: Why Things Float or Sink 101 Umashankar Nali-Kali: A Step Towards Quality Education for All 103 Umashanker Periodi Will a Skills-Inclusive Education Enable Schooling for All? 107 V Santhakumar Children’s Literature and Child-Centric Practices 110 Vartul Dhaundiyal Letters to the Editor 113 Rebuilding Self and Identity in Adivasi Schooling Amman Madan The sociological study of everyday life experiences Adivasi Munnetra Sangam in the classroom has enriched our understanding of Background and history how students learn and or do not learn. Children The AMS has been working for several decades with are not mechanical beings. They construct their adivasis in and around the forests of Nilgiris. There emotions and ideas regarding teachers and school are five tribes there – the Paniyas, Bettakurumbas, subjects through a series of social interactions. The Mullukurumbas, Kattunayakas and Irulas. Earlier, experiences of a child within a society are what their livelihoods ranged from hunting-gathering to may lead her to begin to feel that geography is a farming and working in plantations. Forests were boring subject, while history is exciting. A child integral to their lives; they drew sustenance, both from a home where the language of the school is material as well as spiritual, from the forests. The spoken and where ideas of history are discussed arrival of increasing numbers of outsiders from and debated may find that it catches her interest Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sri Lanka into their region in school as well. She will speak up in front of the pushed them deeper into the forests. Things teacher and the rest of the class and say things which the others might not know and gain their respect. became bleak as the forests began to shrink and Her self-esteem will rise. Meanwhile, a child from then, the government denied access into the a family which does not speak the language of the forests altogether. Malnutrition and depression classroom will struggle and stumble. If he has not became widespread amongst the adivasis of this heard about, say, Aryabhatta before, he may be area. The Action for Community Organisation, silenced and may feel humiliated by the excited Rehabilitation and Development (ACCORD) began chatter of others. to work there in the 1980s and the AMS began to mobilise the adivasis to demand land and the right The meanings and feelings which are created in to use forests. Over the years, these have worked such encounters slowly accumulate and shape on strengthening and enriching adivasi culture and a student’s orientation towards school and its helping the forest-dwellers to come to terms with knowledges. The challenge for teachers and the city people and the government. educators is how to shape the meanings and interactions of a classroom so that they encourage The AMS believes that culture is at the heart of the and enrich a child’s learning.