On Educating Children
By Muhammad Sarwar
Let me share with you a terrifying experience that is both funny and serious in nature. As a kid, I was very shy and taciturn. At school, I neither asked any questions nor answered any. The funny part is that when I stood up for the first time and said something, a gigantic hand met my face with a thundering slap. The serious part is that the violence was a totally unjustified criminal act that deflated my confidence and put me in a miserable situation.
It was in the third grade when one of our teachers mispronounced the word ‘uncle’ as ‘unsel.’ I stood up and corrected him. Instead of thanking me, his face turned livid with anger, and he swooped upon me like a vulture ready to take an innocent life. For a short time, the barrage of slaps left my ears deaf, and I struggled to hear anything except a buzzing sound. A few moments later, as I was recovering, I faintly heard the word ‘balloon’ reaching my ears as ‘balan.’ Amid the cascade of tears dripping down my cheeks, I stood up again, corrected him, and met a similar fate once more. It was an unwelcoming welcome, not once, but twice in a day.
Anyways, time has passed. It is said that ‘time heals all wounds.’ However, wounds and traumas inflicted in childhood can ossify into organic diseases later on in adulthood. I do not blame the teacher entirely for his cruelty. Perhaps, he also suffered a similar fate from his teachers, parents, and others, which morphed him into an abnormal adult. I use the word ‘abnormal’ as an adjective for him because he treated me abnormally as a student.
It is a common observation that our society is extremely intolerant. And intolerance is like a fever: it is not only a disease but also the symptom of a disease. Most often we convince others not through dialogue but violence and force. From settling our individual issues to conducting our politics, violence pervades every aspect of our lives. The level of intolerance reflects the intensity of a sick society. The higher the intolerance in a society, the sicker it is.
It is difficult to point out the singular cause of intolerance in our society. It would be like the chicken-and-egg debate, with no one knowing which of them came first. However, I believe that society does not exist in a vacuum; rather, social and political configurations of power create our society. In other words, social relations make and break any society.
If we look deep down, there are some agents that have a major share in making or breaking our society. Currently, I am attending a training workshop in Islamabad designed for the prospective teachers under the auspices of the FDE in collaboration with the American Board. The training program chiefly addresses an important question: how can we better educate our kids? The discussion revolves around two important agents that make or break our society: teachers and parents. If one of them fails, normal kids may be turned into abnormal adults, thereby creating fuel for an intolerant society.
It is true that an atmosphere of pessimism is plaguing our country. Everyone wants to go abroad because it is believed that nothing can be fixed here. It is also true that life here is becoming increasingly difficult, and people are worried about the security of their families and their future. Therefore, a healthy degree of pessimism is justified, and individual choices should be respected. However, it is also true that there are no quick fixes. There is no antibiotic available to swiftly heal every malaise. We have to live with the reality we are creating for ourselves. Our past has led us here; our present will lead us to our future.
I remember a nice conversation with a chemistry professor in the Oval Ground at GCUL. The erudite professor told me that ‘ the garments of our profession has to be earned and re-earned in order to be valid.’ He explained that a doctor earns her profession for the first time by wearing the symbolic dress. However, the dress must be re-earned to show the validity of her profession. If a patient is satisfied, then the doctor has truly validated the symbol and re-earned her profession. Similarly, the symbolic gown of a teacher will only be validated and re-earned if she succeeds in teaching and bringing out the best in students. I learned this lifelong lesson from a teacher while laughing and enjoying the sun in the winter season.
I believe that optimum learning can be achieved effectively in an atmosphere free of fear. In an environment where kids feel fragile, learning becomes a distant dream. Neither a teacher nor a parent should create an environment where kids are vulnerable to drowning in fear. Fortunately, violent episodes in schools have considerably decreased as compared to when I was in school. However, a lot of work still needs to be done. More training programs like the one offered by FDE and American Board should be encouraged and supported in order to create a better future for our country.
The author is an MPhil scholar in English Literature. He can be reached at Email: msarwar2069@gmail.com
