Do this to foster learning, creativity, and relationship
As I wandered before beginning the first sentence of this post, I was reminded of an interesting moment from my days in rural Maharashtra (India). It was the year 2016, and I was part of an emerging K-12 chain of schools.
I worked as a school head then. A beautiful small school with around 70 students and 12 teachers. As the school had just started, the administrative tasks were relatively low. I spoke to the Co-founder, and engaged myself as a literacy teacher for Grade III students.
I love being in classroom.
Thus, despite all administrative chores, a 45-minutes session used to the most exciting part of my position at the school. Apart from meeting the curricular objectives, students and I had engaging sessions — there was space for everyone to speak-up, share, and question. It was obvious, that sometimes I handled challenging tantrums too.
One day as I was doing a usual round of checks during lunch break, a grade II student came up to me, and asked with a smile “Sir, are you the principal”?, “Yes, I am” I responded back with a smile. She smiled back and walked back to her class. She made me think about what young children perceive of an ‘authority figure’. Undoubtedly, this post is an outcome of that very moment.
The above-mentioned instance made me think about a few things: first and the obvious one is about students’ perception of the authority (principal/ teachers, etc); second of principal figure being elderly and strict in character. This view didn’t suprise me as I too grew up in a system where the ‘principal’ is quite sacred and holds high power (often everyone, including teachers, are scared of that position holder). The principal’s office is sacred too. Any student summoned to the principal’s office signified action for some wrong deed, even if it wasn’t, the preassumption was so.
Contrary to the conventional thought (or perception), I was a school leader who frequently walked around, and visited classrooms. Whenever a regular subject teacher was absent, I would fill the time, narrating interesting, humour-filled stories, and sometimes conducting quizzes.
It could be possibe, as I was of younger age than the usual perception of a ‘principal’ figure, the students assumed me as a teacher who is friendly; one with whom they could speak without hesitation.
I had built a good rapport with the students, and for them, I was not that conventional ‘principal’. Nevertheless, I sounded affirmative that day when the girl asked me whether I was the principal. I had responded, “Yes, I am the principal”. But deep in my heart, I felt happy that I was not perceived as one. Because I knew how the conventional idea of the principal elicits anxiety, and consistent fear each day at school. It just acts as the ‘fear facor’ or walls for young minds.
That day onward, I often use to say this sentence to myself — “Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high”. (First line from Tagore’s poem ‘Where The Mind Is Without Fear’). I felt proud of making this the foundation in building the school climate. My honest intention was to have the learning space where children were free from any kind of fear. The overarching policy in the school was also the ban on corporal punishment.
Fear is counterproductive in the learning process.
As educators, we all believe and acknowledge that students come with a lot of prior knowledge, however, it is often underutilised due to the approaches we follow. And one of the barriers to students expressing themselves is the fear they have. The fear of authority, the fear of making mistakes, and most importantly the fear of consequences. These fears could possibly put up walls to their imagination, expression, and creativity.
As school leaders, we can break down these imaginative walls created due to the unconducive school climate. It may not be an easy thing to do, but it is important to do. The gradual step could be starting conversations with teachers as well as students. As with the principal, there could be fear of the ‘teacher’ as well. Again, not all students might have the same perception of an authority figure. But we all those who have been in a classroom, we know it, the fear exists in varying degrees. For instance, the nightmare of not completing assigned homework. Can you imagine the fear? Sometimes, the fear could be due to factors outside of schools or not within the control of the school.
School is a dynamic space with social, emotional and behavioural development having their influential roles, learning is critical, but maybe not at the cost of nurture. Because meaningful learning can only happen when the learner is in a state to learn. When the learner is happy. Happiness at heart is the key. The real love for learning is encouraged by that state of happiness and the trust in the relationship between the teacher and the student.
Apart from the relationships that can be fostered, there can be other approaches to build or improve the school climate. Like Rita Pierson said every student deserves a champion, I believe starting with a conversation to nurture the relationship between the teacher and student could be the first step towards achieving the larger goal.
