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Indian School

I believe that education is not about telling children what to do but about allowing them to find out what they should do. Hence the space for reflection and self discovery has to be made in a school. This space is combined with space to make mistakes and correct them. Better to stumble and fumble in your interactions in the relatively safe environment of the school than later…

To allow this exploration within and without, we need to have faith in human nature and in human potential to learn, and of course teachers have to be ready with a mop to clear up the mess. I mean that learning from mistakes cannot be a neat and tidy process.

The oriental mind believes in one more chance to get it right. This has something to do with a deeply held belief in reincarnation. Nothing is over here and now. We will be here again to correct our karma.

Many schools in India do allow space for yoga, breathing exercises and meditation, all of which inculcate that stillness which is needed for introspection.

Transcendental Education tracks this process of learning about life and people, the process being far from over at the end of the episode... the journey for Rahul and the Barbets has just begun…

About the author

Madhavi Kapur is the head of the Rewchand Bhojwani Academy, one of the schools featured in Indian School. She has been a principal for 21 years and has worked as consultant to school projects across India.

Blogging about

Indian School

In Transcendental Education there are radical approaches to child discipline and teaching. By Indian standards these are considered to be very liberal. Indian schools tend to be very orthodox and disciplined environments with strict hierarchies and structures. However, the radical approach seen in this episode does achieve some positive results.

The premise is that all the children are good and any discipline problems can be addressed by a spiritual approach based on faith, chanting and meditation. Indeed, the most effective method of calming children down is by use of breathing techniques.

I’d describe the children as boisterous, rather than ‘bad’ or completely undisciplined. It’d be interesting to see if the techniques would work with more challenging behaviour both in India and the UK.

Some of the methods are accepted good practice, including empowering the worst-behaved children to become prefects and giving them responsibility. There was a slight contradiction in approach: some teachers were disciplining children by taking things away (house points), rather than rewarding good behaviour.

Interestingly, the child who caused most issues at school seemed very disciplined at home and worked at his studies with his mother.

I enjoyed the drama played out by the head teacher when she was disciplining the unruly class. She dissolved into a fit of giggles at the end after the children had gone, as she knew the act she’d put on for the kids wasn’t where she was as a person or teacher. However, she made some very pertinent points about arrogance and the poverty of the majority of the people in the country.

About the author

Billy Khokhar is an assistant director with the Open University, and an expert on cultural awareness and diversity. Billy used to be a teacher, and is interested in how education in India compares and contrasts with the UK.

Blogging about

Indian School

New Boy is a really telling snapshot of life in India – the school is a representation of society at large. All the tensions of everyday life are mirrored in the school. There’s almost a harsh competitive edge which the head teacher recognises and justifies as a form of preparation for the outside world. It’s important to recognise that good schooling in South Asia is seen as a privilege and therefore, for those fortunate enough to attend, there is real family and peer pressure to do well. The costs are usually astronomical and families make many sacrifices to allow their children to attend. Failure is not a consideration and the sheer quantity of students makes the whole environment ultra competitive.

Children in India learn from a very early age that they need to work hard and be extra-special to be seen to be above the rest. The school election illustrates this very well and shows the seriousness with which the candidates take their responsibility and position. This demonstrates a maturity not often seen in children of a similar age in the West.

It’s fascinating to note that the same types of pressures reach across cultures. The desire to succeed is universal, except that in India there is a fear factor that if good schooling is not taken advantage of, poverty waits around the corner.

About the author

Billy Khokhar is an assistant director with the Open University, and an expert on cultural awareness and diversity. Billy used to be a teacher, and is interested in how education in India compares and contrasts with the UK.