Teachers' Voice
28th
January 2015, Wednesday
This
was the first practicum of the semester. The school that we went was the same
as last semester, Government Urdu Primary Middle School, DJ Halli, Banglore. I
was glad to see that teachers and students recognized us, and welcomed us
warmly. This friendly bond helped us to have a dialogue with them as they were
expressing themselves freely.
When
we went there, we planned to divide ourselves in groups of two. Bhavini and I
got together and went to the girls’ school. As per the task, we had to pick one
subject and talk to the respective subject-teacher about how they feel about
the subject. We decided to have a dialogue with the mathematics teacher. The
reason for selecting mathematics was the statement that many of us have come
across since our childhood- ‘I am afraid of math.’ Also, it has been the
experience of many of us. So, we wanted to understand how teachers see this.
When we went to the school, we first had a chance to interact with students.
And it was interesting to note that there the trend was not same. Students
neither liked nor disliked mathematics. Thus, they had ambiguous and mixed
responses. And suddenly, some of them started sharing about how they like
English and do not like Kannada. So, we changed our plan and talked to language
teachers instead.
The
major reason for learning language as per the teachers was it is the medium for
learning anything; it is needed to get a good job nowadays (specifically
English teacher). The school follows the three-language formula as recommended
in the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005. Since this is a minority
school so, it offers Urdu as first language, English as second Language and
Kannada as Third Language. We tried to have conversation with all the subject
teachers. The responses were really unexpected for me. The English teacher
shared with us that the students are really excited to learn English, since it
is something new for them. This was confirmed by students as well, when they
said ‘जब कोई इंग्लिश में बोलता है तो सुनने में अच्छा
लगता हैं’.
But, the major challenge in front of English teacher is that the students are
equally afraid of speaking in English. Another major concern was the lack of
exposure of that particular language. And to overcome it she made it a
compulsion that at least in her class, every child should speak in English.
But, both teachers and students agreed that because of this compulsion,
students tend to avoid speaking in English class at all. Also, she expressed
that since the medium of instruction in other subjects is Urdu, children do not
get any other opportunity to talk/read/write in English. Students also told us
that they are comfortable in writing and listening English, but not in reading
and speaking. However, the teacher’s experience was total opposite to it. According
to her children don’t comprehend the language while writing (or should I say
copying), thus they are uncomfortable while speaking as well. She added by saying that it is because of this
problem of comprehension that she has to explains things in their mother tongue
at times.
The
Kannada teacher faces a lot of challenge. Even the students showed their
dis-interest and dis-like towards the language. The major problem faced by the
teacher is lack of exposure, students have at home and school and hence lack of
motivation for both- students and teachers. The teacher seemed to be a little
isolated from the rest of the school staff which makes her demotivated to work
her best. Similar to English teacher, she uses translation when needed,
otherwise speak in Kannada only. This makes it difficult for students to keep
themselves connected with the language. The school did not have any Kannada
teacher for a long time and now it has only one in the whole school, which makes
it even more challenging, as it is completely failing the idea of
three-language formula as well. As there is critical age of acquiring any
language and after that it will have reduced (or less) effect.
The
Urdu teacher did not really have any challenges with her subject and nor do the
students. Since, Urdu is their mother tongue and they have enough exposure of
the language at home, neighborhood and school. But, she expresses her concern
that children don’t truly appreciate the language. The logic behind this might
be the difference in the written and oral form of the language. Since, what we
say and what we write is not always same. And this problem persists with every
language. For instance, in Hindi, in day-to-day conversation we say pohachien (पूहचिएँ) but write it as pahoochien (पहुचे). Thus, students
study Urdu as a subject only. However,
the major challenge that she talked about is how the socio-economic condition
of children is influencing their over-all learning. Also the cultural capital
they are exposed to at home, where the parents don’t take care of child’s
learning rather focuses on earning money, can be seen as a reason for
children’s lack of interest in teaching-learning process in general (as per the
teacher).
The
common challenge across all language teachers is the lack of exposure, which
could have been up to some extent be taken care of, by proper use of library.
But, the resources of school does not support them. As the library has course
textbooks only. Another challenge that was raised by both-English and Kannada
teachers is the way these languages are introduced in class I and II. Till
class II students have Math, Urdu and EVS and are not formally introduced to
English and Kannada as subjects. Rather teachers are oriented to introduce it
informally, without paying too much stress. And it is left open-ended to deal
with. Thus, it is taken so informally that both the languages are not dealt at
all, till class III!
Keeping
in mind the perspectives of language teachers, one can see that a lot of things
have to be taken care of while planning the curriculum. Thus, pedagogy, resources and
learners’ context go hand in hand and should get a special place in curriculum planning!
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