Dear Mili,
Hope you’re doing well. As I sit down to write down this letter today, in the process I realised that writing a letter to a friend can never go out of fashion, even in this world of emails and WhatsApp. Don’t be surprised if I directly take you to a topic about which I have been thinking since sometime – creating inclusive and compassionate learning space.
First of all I think children should not be judged on the basis of their appearance. If we don’t judge a book by its cover why do we judge a child by their appearance. Each child is born with some ability and we must hone that. A quiet child doesn’t have to be labelled as introvert and introvert has a negative connotation.
Mili I feel that the learning space must provide each child to grow and progress in the skill they are born with. Children must learn to respect each other irrespective of how smart or dull they may look. Tell me what do you think will change if we tell children that they don’t have to worry about scores or grades. Fun in learning is the key. Remember how we learnt games in the park when we were kids. There was no grading system, only fun, and how we invited anyone to play with us without any reservations. We learnt things so quickly and on our own.
Another things is that the weakest child must also be given an opportunity to have his say. Some children come from homes where they are scolded or even abused. And when they come to school they are scolded by their teachers. They start believing that’s how the world is going to treat them. We have to change that thinking by doing the opposite. Never react to a violent or indisciplined child with verbal violence. Instead make the child comfortable and talk with compassion. Hear him out and try to be his cushion. What say?
We should teach our children to share with others – pencils, food, snacks, clothes, anything. This can be best taught best by doing it yourself irrespective of you being a parent or a teacher. That will become their habit when they grow up and also make them feel part of the society.
Another thing I really want changed is names. Shocked? Remember our friend Amar Phogat? Irrespective of who did the mischief, the culprit was Phogat. The culprit actually is the second name. We stereotype people by their surname. How can we have inclusive learning space if we segregate people on the basis of their caste or tribe? We should just do away with the second name.
Sometimes the greatest gift you can give to the ‘other’ person is to simply include them.
Give my regards to Megha.
Take care,
Love
Divya
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