Another Big Picture in Educational Practice: Collegiality and Collaboration

I want to return to my earlier observations about the collegiality in this public school and illustrate it with an example: Pyari tells me that he was hospitalized in June for five days with Dengue fever and that his illness coincided with the demands of planning for our program.  While he was supposed to be sending out itineraries and making arrangements for our visit, he was languishing with fever and sickness.  I learn for the first time that much of the communication from him that TGC, Cheri, and I received at that time was made from his hospital bed!

But it didn't matter that he was confined to the hospital - his colleagues stepped in and made it all work.  And I truly believe we got the most amazing program offered to any TGC fellows!

We see this collegiality in all that we do in Poonjar.  Most days, we travel with an "entourage" of faculty members and support staff, all of whom we have grown to love. Their openness and collegiality is evident in all that they do for us:

Colleagues and friends sharing lunch at Shiny's

• Vinod, Nandan, Pyari, and Josit, among others, bring Cheri and I to visit a "working" elephant who is in his resting season at the teak sawmill near town, as well as helping me climb a very difficult mountain to witness a spectacular waterfall.
• We have eaten in more homes then I can count, including that of Anuja, Nandan, Shiny, Josit, and many, many others.
• Josit and Lincy hosted us for an overnight visit in their spectacularly appointed home.  Just as we do, they kicked their oldest children out of their bedrooms to do so!  :)   (Many, many thanks to Josh, Joselin, and Jeswin!)We are invited into classrooms to speak with, and learn from, their students, as well as observing lessons.  Even the "student" teachers are willing to be watched, because they know that their efforts will be nurtured and respected.

Pyari is our Renaissance man, with a vast knowledge of science, literature, and spirituality, that he imparts to us throughout our stay.  I learned more about Hinduism in a half hour car ride then I have learned in all of my life up until now.

Kerala is unique in its religious history, with 50% of the residents being Roman Catholic, and robust populations of both Hindus and Muslims.  Pyari, Sunitha, and Nanda are Hindu, Josit and Lincy are Catholic.  All students attend all schools here and their appears to be a culture of mutual respect amongst the religious identities.  In fact, Pyari explains that proselytizing is illegal in India, and everyone seems to believe that religious practice is simply one more piece of one's identity, not a cause for division.

Pyari describes how their practices "bleed" into one and one of the best illustrations of this is the fact that all churches, temples, and mosques have a tall flagpole of brass that was originally a part of Hindu practice.

Cathedral in Kerala with Hindu-style flagpole

The Big Picture in Educational and Economic Practice: Inclusion and Access

I need to return to my essential question of inclusion and access.  I recognize that I am only seeing a small snippet in my travels here, and will try not to overgeneralize.  The fact that the majority of my experience with the educational system has been in the most economically and educationally progressive state, that of Kerala.

Students engaged in traditional dance at Poonjar assembly

But as India works through its economic and infrastructure issues, I see evidence everywhere that they are striving more and more toward a model of economic and educational inclusion.  In the Poonjar school, we have students with varying degrees of both mental and physical disabilities, and I never witness exclusionary practices.  Pyari tells me that many of the students are extremely poor, by Kerala standards.  They appear to receive an equal amount of attention and love from their teachers.

As we learned earlier in the week, caste still plays a subliminal role in society, despite its banishment in the Indian constitution.  But it is not the degrading caste system of old, at least not in the Kerala that we see.  When we finally have time to discuss societal issues on a deeper level, Pyari tells me that caste continues to play a subtle role in their social groups, but that today it is more a single piece of one's ethnic identity.  Jobs and seats in educational institutions are reserved for those of the lower caste, a practice in affirmative action that is as controversial here as in our own country.

Two additional educational practices legislated by India's federal government mirror efforts in our country:

1. The Midday Meal Scheme (MMS) attempts to do the same thing that our free and reduced lunch program does in the United States, guarantee that the poorest students receive at least one substantial meal a day.  India implemented not only for its nutritional benefits, but for the incentive that it might give to families (particularly in rural areas) that wouldn't see value in sending their children to school otherwise.
2. The Right to Education program (RTE) is far more controversial.  It requires all private schools in India to reserve 25% of their student seats for children of poverty.  This was intended to address the wildly uneven quality of public schools in India (because of this, most families who can afford to do so send their students to private schools) and the resulting educational inequities in some areas of the country. Two points of controversy: RTE increases the tuition of those who can afford to pay, since they are covering the additional costs with some help from the federal government, and (like the U.S.) the underlying concerns of some families about sending their children to school alongside students of other economic classes.  The entire discussion and research we looked at was surprisingly parallel to the controversy in Massachusetts regarding the manner in which charter schools are funded.

Students from cadet corps (SPC)

Despite the philosophy and legislation that is clearly directed at improving educational access, India still faces some enormous issues "on the ground."  While the government purports to support education for all, there are still a huge percentage of children, particularly in rural areas and poorer states, who do not attend school.

And sadly, we saw evidence, even in progressive Kerala, of an ongoing blindness to the issue of educational access.  For example, every middle class family seems to have at least one servant, most of whom appear to be adult residents of the surrounding area. However, we did occasionally come across servants who were well below the age of 18.

When I asked Pyari about it, he explained with disapproval that there are agencies who will send service people from poorer states (in one case, Bengal) to work in economically better off areas for a percentage of the servant's pay.  He was concerned about the risks these families were taking, bringing strangers into their homes.  But I am not sure that anyone I meet in Kerala, even those who are clearly progressive in their politics and practice, notice that some of these servants from other states should be attending school based on their age.

It reminds me of the disconnect we have in the United States with regard to our knowingly buying clothing and other commodities from companies that utilize child labor in other countries. I wonder if the vast diversity in language and culture that occurs between states in India makes it easier to ignore the plight of citizens from other areas of the country, in a similar manner too our oblivion to the plight of citizens in other countries.

SMV HSS Poonjar: our school

On Monday, we visit Pyari's school and meet students and faculty for the first time.  I am very excited and nervous.  Everyone here tells me that "guests are like Gods in India" and I'm feeling a quite unworthy...

We arrive at our school - immediately (and continually!) Cheri and I are overwhelmed by the incredible adulation which greets us... we are rock stars!

It turns out that for 99% of the population, we are the first Westerners they have ever seen - it's humbling!  They love us and it would be easy to let it go to our heads.  :)

Morning assembly begins in the courtyard with all of the school children lined up in tight rows by grade (standard).  Standards 5 to 12 are the grades that are here, with Cheri and I stationed primarily in the buildings that house Standard 8 to 12 (just like Dennis-Yarmouth).

This is the opening line that Shila, the principal for the younger standards, uses to introduce us after the singing of their national anthem and opening prayers: "Finally, the day that we have been waiting for for so long has arrived - our guests from the United States are with us!"  Wow..... Repeatedly we are told, "In India, guests are like gods and goddesses."  And I would agree that that is how guests are treated - it's amazing.

The children are enthralled and so excited!  Every time we pass a classroom, an uproar ensues - and it's unavoidable in these open air classrooms - the only thing dividing them from the passageway that runs down the side of the building is a low-lying wall.  (Later in the week, we realize that, in order to create an auditorium, all they do is move the thin barriers that divide the  classrooms from one another.)  We are continually apologizing for disrupting everyone's classes, but the teachers appear to be equally interested in us and are not at all upset.

But don't assume that the uproar or the simplicity of the setting indicates a substandard approach to the art of teaching.  You would be mistaken.

We visit Pyari's Standard 10 English class.  Pyari is a physics teacher, but his U.S. teaching experience has made him remarkably fluent in our language. He was a fellow in a companion program to IREX that brings teachers from elsewhere to the United States for six-week immersion in university education programs.  Pyari lived in Orlando and attended the University of Central Florida and worked with their teacher education program.  Pyari interned at Hageraty High School in 2012-13.  This is a photo of our host in front of his classroom.

His students are so welcoming - they start the class by greeting us with roses (this happens repeatedly throughout the week - students beginning a class by presenting gifts of flowers or little gifts).  One of Pyari's students has made Cheri and I beautiful paper craft earrings.          

Once they recover from their bashfulness, they ask us questions about the U.S. and we ask them questions about their lives.  We discover a diversity of aspirations that is at equivalent to that of our U.S. students.

Tuesday and Thursday are spent moving from class to class and we observe numerous instructional practices that are familiar to us.  In a physics class we watch student groups set up a demonstration of Newton's 3rd law with a toy car and a balloon.  Once they carry out the demonstration, they are asked to discuss three questions that require higher order skills among themselves.  When the instructor is satisfied that they are finished, he asks one member of each group to "report out."

Another class taught by our good friend, Vinod, is that of the local language, Malayalam.  He uses a combination of drama, good literature, and expressive calling and repeating to help the children better understand their native language.

Our friend Josit, the state of Kerala's "Coach of the Year 2014," invites us to watch his after school wrestling teams practice.  Wow.  Two things strike me:

• Every match, no matter how brutal, ends with a genuine embrace between the two combatants - they leave the mats with arms around one another. 

• There is a women's wrestling contingent, coached by a female faculty member.  Josit explains that it is not as populous as the boys team because of a natural reserve, but it is getting there.  The match that we see is aggressive and as competitive as the boys....

And it continues.

Finally, on Thursday, I have an opportunity to speak more deeply with Pyari about the instructional practices in his building.  We had come to expect through our workshops prior to Kerala that a public school might rely more heavily on the traditional practice of teacher as "dispenser of knowledge" and student as "receiver."  Particularly since some of the class sizes reached over 50 students!  But that was clearly not the case and I was curious.

It turns out that the TEA program that sent Pyari to the United States was incredibly effective.  He watched and learned and practiced while in Florida and returned to Kerala with a new "toolbox" of instructional ideas. Pyari's school, much like my own, is peopled with faculty members who embrace collaboration and common planning.  He brought back ideas, just as he had shared his own with the teachers in the U.S.  And the teachers embraced them.

This collaborative spirit is one that I have always felt is somewhat unique to my high school - in other places and schools that I have taught, teachers mostly jealously protected their own "superstar" lesson plans, and chose not to use common planning or materials.  Since my arrival at Dennis-Yarmouth 22 years ago, I had always been impressed by the collaborative and collegial qualities of our faculty and believed that it was one of the most important characteristics that defined our success with students.

Now I am convinced more than ever that that is one of the keys to the educational craft that we all practice, regardless of our geography.

July 20, 2014: Kottayam, Kerala

July 20, 2014: Kottayam, Kerala

We flew into Kochi airport and our host, Pyari, and his brother-in-law, Hari, picked us up.  They had to borrow a vehicle large enough to accommodate Cheri and I (and our luggage!) and it took them 2-1/2 hours to drive us to the area of Kottayam that where his school is located.

Kerala is amazing!  Forgive my "single story" approach to things, but it looks far more like the  images of India that I hold from childhood. (Jungle book, etc.) than anywhere else we've seen thus far.  Lush and green and tropical.....

There is so much to say about the state of Kerala.  Pyari, our host, explains to us that overall the economic conditions in Kerala are much better and more stable than other areas of India because of the rubber plantations and other agricultural commodities.  So far, we have seen teak, clove, cinnamon, tapioca, pineapple, nutmeg, cacao - I could go on and on!

And he is right - you simply don't see evidence of the grinding poverty that we witnessed in Bengaluru.  There are incredible houses here (we are staying with one of the teachers overnight on Thursday and his house is spectacular!) and everywhere we look there are people moving to and from work, many carrying their crops to market, etc.

As I mentioned earlier, the states of India are divided based upon linguistics and the language spoken in Kerala is Malayalam, one of the modern languages that arose from Sanskrit.  We're trying to learn, but phonetically it can be challenging to wrap our mouths around the language - they have 56 letters to our 26!  We learn immediately that instead of "namasthe" we learn to greet our friends with the traditional "namaskarum," which delights most, but gives pain to the teachers of Malayalam that we meet along the way...    :)

I am concerned that we will never want to leave.  The climate is mostly delightful, something that we had not expected, and the people are absolutely heavenly - warm, intelligent, beautiful - and always, everywhere, we are welcomed with grace and enthusiasm.

The Purnapramati School, Centre for Integrated Learning - an alternative school

Friday, July 18th

The first school we visit in Bengaluru is absolutely amazing.  While my westernized eyes are first struck by the simplicity of its setting and comparatively simple resources, I come to realize that these educators are immersed in an experiment of epic proportion.

When we arrive, we are first welcomed by athletes playing a most challenging game of "kho kho," a fast paced test of speed, agility, and pure grit.  To learn more about it, follow this link:
Kho Kho (கோ கோ)

Upon our arrival and greetings, the coach informs us that kho kho is better than any other for increasing a person's agility and speed.  Fresh off of the World Cup games, I am skeptical but determined to keep an open mind.

The children were amazing players and after a while (and with substantial help from Jesse) I began to understand the nuances of the game.  The kids were delighted  when Jesse, Laura, Anastasia, and Emily decide to join them in a round.

Kho kho not only demands the skills of other sports - it demands that you display them while playing barefoot on a rocky field! Despite our teachers' substantial athletic abilities and valiant efforts, they are summarily tagged out by their young opponents. It is eye-opening and I am thinking that our U.S. PE teachers and coaches might want to consider kho kho as a spectacular conditioning exercise for their charges....

And the school's approach to academics is an eye opener, as well.  Their web page can be found at this link:  The Purnapramati School, Centre for Integrated Learning

We enter the school with little understanding of India's educational structures - that program will be occurring the following day.  But we are immediately struck by the warmth and caring exhibited between faculty and students, and the fact that these classes are phenomenally student-driven.  The first class I observe is one where students are being taught Sanskrit.  Notice that he sits on the floor with the students, as they engage in their learning.

My understanding of the philosophy that was shared with us by faculty members is probably oversimplified, but here it is:  At the Purnapramati  School, teachers facilitate in the process of students pursuing learning. And the platform for their learning is a tapestry of three strands:

• the traditional culture
• the natural world
• the spiritual 

Every year brings a new theme around which student learning is built - this year's theme was the rivers of India.  We are impressed by a video of a traditional dance choreographed collaboratively, and danced by the students, that illustrates the conflicts inherent in industrialization and the desire to preserve the rivers.

My big takeaway for today?  We are struggling with many of the same educational issues that our colleagues in India are.  We recognize that a student-driven, collaborative classroom has more meaning and relevance then one that is dominated by a "sage on the stage," where the teacher acts as a dispenser of knowledge.  But an authentic student-driven classroom requires robust staffing and more material resources - something that is clearly a universal need in education...  

My Essential Question - Educational access and benefits

As one part of the Teachers for a Global Classroom responsibilities, we were asked to pose an essential question for ourselves - one that would focus our attention as we explored the educational system of another country.

It was only fitting that mine would revolve around the disenfranchised.  As the director of the programs at Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High Schools programs for students who are identified as being at risk for leaving school before earning a diploma, making education relevant and attainable to all learners is an "essential" issue I ponder every day of my working life.

My essential question, therefore, is one that won't simply guide me on my trip, but help to guide me professionally and this is it:

"How are children with substantial issues of poverty, familial discord, social ostracism, and/or trauma nurtured within their communities, and how do they access and benefit from existing educational systems?"

Starting on Friday, we will be visiting a variety of schools and classrooms, and attending workshops intended to increase our understanding of the educational systems currently found in India.  I am hoping to use my question as one tool of observation and understanding.

An Introduction to the History and Culture of India with Mr. Chiranv Singh

July 17th

On the afternoon of our first full day in India, Mr. Chiranv Singh, a former Ambassador of India to UNESCO, speaks to us about the incredibly rich historic, cultural, and geographical diversity of India.  I am finally beginning to put all of my reading into a primitive framework, and while my understanding is still vastly limited, am coming to appreciate both the beauty and the challenge represented by this infinite variety.

The essentials....(limited by my meager understanding!)
In 1956, the country was geographically reorganized along linguistic lines.  This means, for example, that in the state of Kanartaka, where we are currently stationed, Cannada is the official language, while the state of Kerala, where Cheri and I are headed, the official language is Malayam.

A map of India, showing political boundaries

There are 29 different states and provinces, and 18-20 language traditions!  It isn't unusual to meet people who are fluent in their state language, Hindi, and English, as well as one or two of the other languages...

For me, the visual confusion of all of these scripts and English is overwhelming - I can't imagine what it must be like to have to process life through all of these different filters.  I asked Anita, one of our lovely guides: "What language do you think in?" She responded with, "Well, when I think about this, I think about it in English, while I think of these things, it is in Cannada."

Incidentally, not only are these languages learned as spoken language, many of them must be learned as a written script, as well. Mr. Singh took one of our teachers' names, Shirley, and wrote it in five scripts on the board: Kannada, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, and English.

I am impressed and humbled.

And the conflict between cultural traditions and the progressiveness of the India constitution (that was written along the lines of that of the U.S.) lends itself to an endless dialogue pitting the identity of the community with a progressive value structure.  He illustrates this with the examples of the caste system and dowry, both outlawed in the constitution, but practiced in varying degrees around the country.

Mr. Singh speaks of karma as one of the unifying concepts in India, and describes the conflict between the emphasis upon family and communities in India versus the rights of the individual stressed in U.S. tradition.  He speaks of three streams of consciousness that are woven throughout, that of metric, somatic, and tribal.  I could go on forever....

My Big Picture "takeaway:"

I don't pretend to understand a hundredth of all that we discussed today, but my overarching impression is that the diversity of language and tradition is India's beauty and power, as well as the root of the thorny issues that the country faces, particularly with regard to education.