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ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Children, Parents and the Community

Observation of the children in Class I, II and III

Evolving a culture-specific description of child-friendly school systems, identifying the role of school authorities, Studying the influence of teaching methods on child-friendly learning, Understanding the role of teachers and understanding the children’s perception of child-friendly learning pertaining to the Primary Schools of Chennai Corporation were among the objectives of the present study. This was done at different levels such as studying the School facilities, authority including heads of the schools and teachers, parents and community. However the fundamental information for the study comprised of the Classroom Observation of the children belonging to I, II and III Standards and the Focus group Discussion with the children belonging to IV and V Standard. The very title of the study suggests that it attempts to learn about ‘Child-friendly Schools’ from the perception of the children. The classes to be observed emerged from the scores obtained by teachers for ‘Child-friendly Education – Teachers’ Perception Scale’ with 30 simple statements revealing the attitude of teachers towards education, child-friendliness and parents. The scores were arranged in increasing order. The ten per cent of teachers with topmost values and the ten per cent of teachers with bottommost values were chosen. Among this totally 16 teachers handled Standard I, II and III. Interestingly ten out of these sixteen teachers had topmost scores. On an average two class sessions were observed each for an approximate duration of thirty minutes. There were a few teachers who volunteered to teach more than one subject. In minimum number of such cases, up to three observations were made. Being young, the children were distracted with the presence of a new person and sometimes to the photographs taken. There was a huge demand to be photographed alone or with friends.

General Analysis

In the classes that were observed, the average attendance ranged from 75 to 80 per cent. The main cause for absenteeism was seasonal illness – such as cold and fever. The ailments like chicken-pox rain and festivals or family celebrations were the other causes. In some cases the teachers mentioned that dispute within families between parents was the major cause for prolonged absenteeism. In almost each of the observed class, there was at least 3-4 the children who were not in uniform. Out of the 16 schools only 25 per cent of the schools had teacher student ratio at or below 1:40. The remaining schools were marked by inadequate teachers, insufficient classrooms, combining Headmistress’s class with another teacher’s class, Combining the class of a teacher on leave, and combining the classes of teachers sent for training.
Teachers’ time was spent for some of the campaigns of the government, which implied loss of classroom teaching hours. Training during school working days and school hours caused severe pressure on the time and energy of the small number of teachers who were in schools. The family poverty was reflected in the children’s attire. There were the children wearing torn clothes. Approximately 2/3rd of the children were barefooted. The children carried cloth bags or old bags. ‘Use and Throw’ water containers became their school water bottles; ‘Use and throw’ plastic ‘Sweet Boxes’ were used as their pencil boxes. During examination times there were improvised ‘Writing Pads’ with Annual Calendar Cardboards and a Clip usually used to dry clothes. Apart from reflecting household poverty, such improvisations also reflected the creativity of families.

The Joyful Learning methods including the use of songs, dance and games have been in vogue for nearly 10 years. The Activity Based Training, a new method borrowed from the Rishi Valley Multi-grade teaching method was introduced in the previous academic year for class I and II. A few teachers have gone to Rishi Valley, Andra Pradesh and visited the rural schools where the method is functioning successfully. Other teachers have received this training through the Sarva Shikha Abhiyan Scheme. All (100%) the teachers have received this training. A brief write-up on this scheme is presented below:

This method introduced in the year 2003 makes use of the following principles and procedures. So far, only the children of standard II and I have benefited from this method. However it is planned that in the subsequent years this method would be applied for all the children up to class V. The learning ladder involves breaking each competency into its smallest units and promoting mastery of competency through a series of activities. Activity clusters for each competency are arranged in a sequence to promote learning though conceptualization, application and evaluation. The activities promote self-learning and reinforce the child in the learning. Activities are pictorially symbolized and placed on the ladder enabling teacher, parent and child to monitor child’s progress. Learning ladder challenges the child and gives her a sense of achievement. Each class had Charts and Cards. The walls were painted black up to three feet height. Each child was given a section of the painted wall space. The child had a board for it to write, practice and express itself.

Feed back about the Activity-based Training

During the observation sessions and the interactions with the teachers or even voluntary sharing by teachers, it emerged that teachers had difficulty getting used to the new method. Whereas some teachers were of the opinion that it is an excellent method however unsuited, if the teacher student ratio is more than 30 per teacher. This method combined class II and I. Teachers found this an unwelcome idea. The multi-grade teaching was difficult to implement since different age groups needed different kinds of inputs and attention. They affirmed that the method would be a success if applied solely with standard II or I. Some teachers were skeptical about the introduction of this new method as a multi-grade method. This, they feared would end fresh appointments in future. Thereby adding to the workload of teachers. Being the onset phase, teachers faced the difficulties voiced by them. There were efforts to make charts and logo cards in a more attractive way.

The summary of observations

To provide the entire spectrum of the observations, summaries are given under two headings viz. ‘Observation of Teaching-learning in the Class’ and ‘other observations’

I. Observation of Teaching-Learning in the Class

The children appeared enthusiastic and were involved in the learning. The teacher shared Flash cards among the children. They were the self-learning aids meant for English. Teacher consistently spoke in English and motivated every child to participate. The teacher said that her students always enjoyed English. Teacher made the children repeat whatever she said and asked them questions as well. Almost 3/4th of the children participated actively. Teacher managed to attend to every child and responded to the children who were slow-learners. The teacher encouraged and appreciated the children whenever they participated well. The teacher also encouraged the children to learn in groups.

Other Observations
Building construction was on. Temporary shift was made to accommodate the children. The Urdu Primary School, Tamil Primary School and another Primary School from nearby locality were located in a large hall. Therefore all infrastructure needs were very poorly met. No fan was available. The flooring was bad. There was no black board at all. Teaching aids were present but were sparingly used due to poor space availability. The teacher–student ratio was 1:24. However this was a single teacher school and one teacher was in charge of classes I, II, III, IV and V.

II. Observation of Teaching-Learning in the Class

The children appeared lively. This was a combination of two classes and the Activity-based Training method was adopted in the school. Some the children were observing and others were writing. The teacher requested the children to read from a book. She also gave fair chance for all the children to come to the blackboard and work out sums. The teacher encouraged the children to learn in groups. The children were given chance to move around and rearrange themselves during learning. The class had 82 the children. It was not possible for the teacher to attend to each child.

The teacher kept saying ‘Very Good’ and made the children clap. She also marked good and Star for those who had written correctly. The teacher was unable to be in tune with all the children. She was apparently proud of one child telling the whole story though in a low voice. She was unable to perceive the effect of the story from the perception of other the children. The teacher gave a variety of works for the children. She asked the children, “Can we locate a few words in the book?” The teacher gave dictation. She moved to the place of the children and corrected their dictation performance. The class was very interactive. The children were seated in four different corners as per ABT method and the teacher kept walking through all the 4 corners. The teacher said that they have a stock of slates and chalk because the children say they have not brought their slate or chalk since they dislike writing.

Other Observations

The class was huge. Therefore the Activity-based Training did not appear effective. However the teacher made best efforts to make the learning enjoyable for the children. The walls had attractive pictures. The Activity-based Method’s Teaching-Learning aids were kept in a huge wall hanging with sufficient pouches.

III. Observation of Teaching-Learning in the Class

Child-friendly seating arrangement was present. The children were not seated in rows one behind the other. They were seated in somewhat ‘U’ shape near the walls facing each other and the teacher. It was English class. There were 33 the children present out of the 38. The children enacted a scene from an English Poem. There was absolutely no beating. The teacher spoke in English and the children responded very well back in English. The children were found listening, attending to the class, doing action and volunteering. The teacher mentioned that the Activity-based training was very useful. There was a warm up session. The children were made to raise their hands and do sit-ups. The children sang an action song. The teacher ensured interactive learning by asking plenty of questions. All the children appeared very happy. Teacher pulled out a picture of a turnip from the string and showed it to the children. The teacher made the children act as grandpa and grandma. The children were longing to participate. The children enjoyed the enacting and all the children were fully engrossed. One by one, the children lined up and enacted as if they were pulling a turnip and falling down. The children visualised and enacted rat, cat, dog, grandma and grandpa.

Other Observations

The class had essential facilities. The teacher-student ratio was fair. All the children were involved in classroom process and learning. They appeared cheerful. The variety of activities such as a warm-up exercise, song and action and repeating the speech kept the children lively.

IV. Observation of Teaching-Learning in the Class

One teacher was in charge for 62 children and 50 children were present on the day of the observation. Teacher mentioned some of the child-friendly practices adopted by her. She mentioned that there were a few children who disliked reading and writing. They hated to be disturbed for anything. In such cases, the teacher adopted the method of giving oral tests and marking the children based on such tests. She said she gave them marks even if they pointed hand towards the right picture. Some children were busy playing with their bag and adjusting their dress. Many children were responding to the class. The teacher told the children, that she would count 10 and that they must go back to their places. The teacher asked the children to match pictures and cards. She gave words with missing letters and asked the children to identify the missing letters. The teacher made the children to imagine the hand-movement of an alphabet and write in action in the ‘Air’ in their own imagination. She corrected wrong hand movements. The teacher confidently said that she was able to manage the large class. It was the end of the day. A parent who had come to take the child back home was standing outside the class. Seeing a child sit on the teacher’s chair she walked in to tell the teacher, “Why they don’t have any fear?” Teacher instantly replied, “If they have fear, they cannot learn; only if they are courageous they will learn well. All other essential aspects being present, the teacher student ratio was the only area for concern.

Other Observations and sharing by the teacher

As warm up action song, the children were made to sing “ Bits of paper lying on the ground” and they simultaneously picked all the torn paper pieces lying inside the classroom and cleared the place. “When we end the rhyme, there should not be a single paper on the floor!” was the initial instruction given to the children by the teacher. The children sang a few more popular English Rhymes such as “Johnny, Johnny yes Pappa, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star etc. One child from the child-care center inside the campus was sitting along with the sibling inside the class. The teacher narrated the difficulty of having to clean the classroom whenever the young child dirtied the place. Lots of teaching aids were placed around the class in trays. Teacher had made effective use of the blackboard. Under the title “Match the name and the picture” the teacher had drawn good pictures of Apple, Cat, Bat, Flag, and Fish. The children repeated the spelling of each word. The teacher used an affectionate tone. There was a silence session. The teacher taught her the children to remain silent in ‘Chin Mudra’. She was trained in Yoga. The teacher later shared with the teacher that her own child studying in a Private Matriculation school in II Standard was not as bold as her students. The teacher then shared an incident where she failed a child in I standard because the child was unable to write her name and was very dumb in class. However the child somehow made up. She somehow started learning. Within two years, the teacher became that girl’s class teacher when the child moved to II Standard. The same child stood first in the class. There is another child who would not copy from any one but would write only her own points. When the teacher insisted on reading and writing, the child did not come to school. The teacher marked the child ‘Right’ for whatever she wrote and gave her oral tests.